Replacing laptop hard disk

  • Thread starter Thread starter David Kinston
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David Kinston

I need some advice in replacing my laptop's disk, which is too small.
Will Winsdows XP accept the new hard disk?
How can I save my current system, and restore it to the new larger drive?
eg will Norton Ghost 9 do this?

Thanks for all advice.

DK
melbourne.au
 
Notebook drive replacement isn't hard, but the connector that goes
on the back must be removed/re-inserted carefully. Make sure you
get a drive with the same physical height. Some drives may not fit
into the access slot on the notebook. Best to take the old drive with
you to your vendor/shop to get a match.
Ghost to a set of DVD/CD-R disks will work. Just be sure to run
a verification pass on the image and do not format the old drive until
you've got the new installed and operating.
Also newer 2.5" drives spin at 5400+, instead of earlier drives. Be
sure to check the drive's specifications (Operating Temps) and make
sure it won't overheat your notebook.
 
If you have Ghost 9, that would be just the thing. If you would have to
purchase G9, and you would have no further use for it beyond this task, then
you might want to shop for something less expensive. I am certain some
suggestions are on the way.

As to whether you can just plop the G9 images onto the new hard drive, it
just might work with at least a few driver "Murphy's" to deal with. Again,
suggestons are on the way. However, if it were my machine, I would take the
opportunity to inventory what I truly wanted for my new space and do a nice
squeaky clean install from the factory CD's for my nice shiny new hard drive.


One nice feature of G9 is it's outstanding image browser which lets you
browse compressed backup files in a familiar GUI--much like Windows
Explorer--and then selectively restore those files you want to populate your
new space. Any files you did not restore right away would still be there
anytime you wanted them.

Good luck ... Mark
 
David Kinston said:
I need some advice in replacing my laptop's disk, which is too small.
Will Winsdows XP accept the new hard disk?
How can I save my current system, and restore it to the new larger
drive?
eg will Norton Ghost 9 do this?

Thanks for all advice.

DK
melbourne.au
Click to expand...

There are a number of utilities out there such as ghost,
Terabyte's Image for DOS etc. One thing to watch for
is a "hidden partition" -- if your laptop came with the
software "pre-installed" from Dell etc, there is usually
a hidden partition (fairly small) that is used for the
"restore feature". Where you get into trouble is you
make an image of the normal windows partition, put
that on a new drive and now the boot.ini file points
to the wrong partition number because you didn't
put the hidden one back also. I understand some
systems have drivers in the hidden partition, but have
no experience with that aspect of it. Usually, changing
the partition number in the boot.ini file will fix the problem.
As others have said, do NOT do anything to the old
drive until you have everything up and running on the
new one.

mikey
 
8:02 PM 5/28/2006

Excellent point by Mike. Anyone know how to reveal if this partition exists
prior to mirroring? As far as I know, none of the utilities mentioned so far
would help with this or any partition task. PowerQuest Partition Magic
likely would reveal it. If it exists, you would need to partition your new
hard drive in a fashion similar to your old hard drive and then fill'em up
with your backup images. PM would do this as well. The potential for driver
& other complications seems to be growing, eh? I vote for a clean, fresh
install!!!

COLLABORATORS WANTED ... let's create software that will slurp up all the
info from the old drive, then partition/format and re-create the whole thing
on a new drive without unintended consequences. We'll call it "Hidden
Industry Partitions Placed On System" (HIPPOS for short) and make us some fat
cash!! see http://www.Call_Mark_A_HIPPO.com
 
I recently replaced my notebook's hard drive with a kit from Hitachi, which
comes with a new hard drive (obviously), an external enclosure, and Apricorn
ez-Gig II cloning software. I had cloned the old drive onto the new,
installed the new drive and booted without incident within 30 minutes. Now
my old drive is in the enclosure as a secondary storage/backup drive.
 
Hi ... I have this forum website just for notebooks , You even might find
steps in how to dismantel your model , And you can probably find all the
answers you need , Just join the forum and create a free account ...

http://www.notebookforums.com/

.....
:I need some advice in replacing my laptop's disk, which is too small.
: Will Winsdows XP accept the new hard disk?
: How can I save my current system, and restore it to the new larger drive?
: eg will Norton Ghost 9 do this?
:
: Thanks for all advice.
:
: DK
: melbourne.au
:
:
 
R. McCarty said:
Notebook drive replacement isn't hard, but the connector that goes
on the back must be removed/re-inserted carefully. Make sure you
get a drive with the same physical height. Some drives may not fit
into the access slot on the notebook. Best to take the old drive with
you to your vendor/shop to get a match.
Click to expand...


I thought most laptop HDDs sat in a caddy.......in which case you can't fit
the wrong type.....
 
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