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    How to replace T500's 80G drive with T61's loaded 200G hard drive?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by MDDZ, Sep 16, 2008.

  1. MDDZ

    MDDZ Notebook Deity

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    Today I just got my T500 (15.4-in). I like it.

    I bought it with a 80G hard drive. The reason I did not buy one with bigger capacity is that I am planning to use the 200G disk on my T61 to replace it.

    I have lots of data and applications installed on the T61's 200G disk and I need to keep them. How should I do for the replacement with minimal effort?

    Thanks for your help!!!

    Cheers!

    P.S. I already created a set of R&R disks for T500.

    Edit:

    This T500 machine comes with WinXp (but has a Vista logo). My T61 has WinXP too.
     
    MDDZ, Sep 16, 2008
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  2. Faruk

    Faruk Notebook Evangelist

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    Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think there's any way to escape a fresh format. Even if there was a way, your best bet would still be to do a full format to make sure you are at full performance and you don't have any device driver conflicts.

    This is what I would do:
    1. Do a Ghost image of your 80GB HD, burn it onto a DVD (probably won't need more than 1 or 2).

    2. Back up the data from your existing 200GB HD.

    3. Ghost the image of your 80GB HD onto the 200GB. This is the only way to actually avoid doing a full install of Windows, if that's what you want.

    4. Restore your data from your backups.

    And lastly: I would recommend you take your 80GB drive and keep it in a safe place, in case you need to send your T500 back for warranty.
     
    Faruk, Sep 16, 2008
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  3. jaredy

    jaredy Notebook Virtuoso

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    Remove the storage/chipset drivers if it is XP. Then it should let you boot on the new machine. You can always do a repair install as well. I am not sure if the same technique could work in vista. But I believe lifehacker had some article about moving a vista drive.
     
    jaredy, Sep 16, 2008
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  4. MDDZ

    MDDZ Notebook Deity

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    Faruk and Jaredy,

    Thanks sooooo much for your input.

    I forgot to mentions that my T500 has WinXp. My T61 has WinXP too. Does this new info affect your suggestion?

    Regards.
     
    MDDZ, Sep 16, 2008
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  5. MDDZ

    MDDZ Notebook Deity

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    Jaredy,

    My T500 comes with WinXp. My T61 has WinXP too. Could you please be more specific in terms of steps? I am a little lost. As you know, the last thing I want to do is to backup the 200G HD and install and copy everything.

    Thanks!!!
     
    MDDZ, Sep 16, 2008
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