How to Upgrade a Laptop hardrive

This is where Dan Goodell's second rule of cloning applies.

If you break this rule and don't remove the old HD prior to the first boot from the new HD, the new HD boot process freezes at the Welcome Screen stage, because it has a partition signature for the old WinXP (referencing C: drive) in its registry and it can see that partition. If the old HD had not been present, new XP would have ignored that partition signature and assigned C: drive to itself. After the first boot from the new HD you can reinstall the old HD as a slave and there won't be any drive letter problems.

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/partsigs.htm

 

Thanks for the link Brian, that helped explain things very well. I find these topics interesting, and relatively easy to understand once you find proper documentation on the subject. Now I understand why I've heard some people say you can't have two active OS partitions simultaneously, and others say you can. If you set it up properly, it will work, but if you don't know the potential pitfalls going in you don't know what to avoid.

The problem I find with most of this stuff is the inner workings of a PC aren't typically documented where the average user can find it easily, so you don't know what you're up against most of the time.

 

dwalby,

You may not be interested in multi-booting but there is great general knowledge information here...

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/index.htm

 

Hi

I'm planning to install a new hard drive in my laptop.

Just have a few questions on the method i'm planning to use

I was planning to do this by booting with the TI CD , my new HD being connected by USB . Is that the correct way to do it ?
My Old Drive is 60GB so is it ok to create the first partition with 60GB ?

As an aside ..
Could I make any number of partions at this stage , as long as I deleted the first one , and put the image in the second ?

I think at this stage i will then have 2 partions on my new HD. Is that correct ?

Thanks to everyone for the great info so far !

 

Joeythedude,

I assume the new HD is larger than the old.

Do it from Windows Disk Management if you don't use partitioning software. I assume you mean the partitioning?

You can make it 60 GB or any larger size you desire.

Yes. Any number. You can put the image on any partition you like.

At restore time, prior to the restore, you will have 60 GB + of unallocated space and as many other partition as you created.

When you restore, have the new HD mounted internally and the old HD in the USB enclosure. Run the restore from the TI CD.

 

Thanks BrianK

Yes its 250GB

Yes the partitioning.
Oh so I can do the partioning of the new drive while logged into windows itself ?
I have TI Home 2009 so I think I can do the partition with that.
I don't think I have Windows Disk Management - I have XP and don't see it.

Thanks for your help.
I was wondering whats your views on partioning in general for this sort of size drive 250 If I split it say I go 60+ 100 + 90say.
I read a quite good article on it , and think might give me a small performance boost over a 250 unparitioned drive.

 

Right click My Computer, Manage, Disk Management. But use whatever method you find easiest.

I use less partitions now than in the past. What do you plan to put in that non OS area? Personally I'd just have a single partition. That is, an OS and a data partition. On modern HDs, partitioning has no subjunctive performance benefits and may even be detrimental if the free space in a partition is less than 15%.

 

Brian K, My laptop is a HP Pavilion AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core TK57, 3GB Mem.

 

dan_yo, thanks for the info. Theoretically a HP laptop should have failed to clone properly. But it did work. Oh well, so much for theory.

Do you know if your laptop has 240 heads geometry?

 

Cheers

I'm still debating partitioning myself.
On the one hand
1) a lot of backup tools seem to want a partiton for storing images.
2) have half an idea about creating a seperate one for storing downloaded files, giving that partition only certain access rights , so I could download and scan something safer. Also put the temp folder there. Thats very up in the air though yet.

On the other

All I really want is some sort of reboot and restore capabilty.
Some software seems to have that ability without having to create "Real" partitons
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/Review/97850,paragon-hard-disk-manager-85-pe.aspx

However this seems to be dodgy and risky as some reviews of TI Home 2009
have found problems with its startup recovery manager

 

You will have that. An OS partition and a data partition. You can create images of your OS to the data partition. A copy of the image should be also stored off the HD in case you have a HD failure. But if you have a software issue with the OS, you can restore your image from the data partition. No external HD will be needed.

That data partition can be used for anything. Video, music, downloads, temp files, you name it.

 

No, I'm not sure if has 240 heads geometry. Where would I find that information...bios?

I'm not much of a theory guy, more of a do it guy.

 

JoeyTheDude,
You can find Disk Management in XP as optioned below:

Create a desktop or startmenu shortcut
%windir%\system32\diskmgmt.msc

Or, you can go the long way around via
Control panel/administrative tools/Computer Management/Disk Mangement

You will see little performance gains but many of us feel there is much to be gained by having at least two partitions. System & programs only on the first partition; personal data, MP3, videos, etc on the second partition. This makes the backup for your system drive much more compact and a restore can be easier. Yes, you could also have a third partition for storage of your backup archives which would make routine backups and routine restores take less time. CAUTION: If your hard drive fails, any backus stored in the 3rd partition will probably be not accessible. You will still need to store some backups on an external or network drive for security. Also suggest that you create & maintain at least one backup archive which is a disk option backup to include all of your partitions within the single system disk. You could exclude the *.tif files on the 3rd partition so as not to include them inside your backup archive. The disadvantage of having one large partition for everything is that you will be repeatedly performing backups on personal data files (pictures-audio-videos) which have not changed.

As for the Secure zone & Startup recovery manager, these are not required. Do not install these optional features until you investigate their features & limitations. These features are discussed inside the sticky listed on the first line of my signature below.

TrueImageHome does not require special partitons for storage. The backup files are normal files and best stored inside a folder or group of folders, etc. All files based on one series of backups must be stored together. There are numerous postings about whether to have multi-partitions or just one partition. Many of us use more than one type backup software and store our backups in multiple locations for safety. If your hard drive fails, you will need to have a backup archive stored somewhere other than your computer. One bad electrical jolt will destroy all the hard drives attached to your computer.

You may have an interest in this thread:

Instead Of buying an external drive, consider buying a combination item.
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1419603&postcount=26

Xpilot backup/restore procedure using multiple caddies:
Post #7
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1414684&postcount=7

Post #221
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1272558&postcount=221

PS: Don't forget to occasionally check all your hard drives for file errors or bad sectors. You want to prevent this type errors being included in your backup archives.

Brian has already answered some while I was typing a response.

 

dan_yo,
BrianK mentioned in post #16 about ptedit which another thread shows this location
Powerquest's free ptedit.exe or ptedit32.exe
http://www.multibooters.co.uk/links.html

 

Download...

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/tools/pq/utilities/PTEDIT32.zip

Unzip and double click ptedit32.exe. You will see the number of heads on the Hard Disk line at the top of the window.

 

Brian K, got an error trying to start the program..error 5 starting powerQuest engine.

 

Thanks Grover

Just to double check something -

If I create an Image of of whole drive , don't I need a seperate partiton , or an external drive , to save it to ?

Thanks for the links.

J

 

dan_yo,

Maybe try it again after a restart.

You could add ptedit.exe to a DOS floppy/ DOS USB flash drive. That is if you have DOS disks.

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/tools/pq/utilities/ptedit.zip

 

The last link got the ptedit,exe. Wouldn't run, said the system didn't support full screen mode.

I don't have any DOS floppy, so that isn't going to work for me.

How do you isolate one sentence or part of the thread with quote. I've tried to use the quote and I keep getting the whole thread as the quote.

 

hi dan_yo

Best way is to copy the line what you want from the browser and paste it into
a new post. Then highlight it and click on the little speech bubble in the the options at the top.
preview the message and you should see your quote

 

Joeythedude...thanks, that worked.

 

good stuff

luckily all forums seem to have the same software running them these days .. i only figured this one out myself a few months ago , and i work in IT !

 

dan_yo & JoeyTheDude,

All kinds of text coding info here.
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/misc.php?do=bbcode

The answer is both Yes and No. Yes, TI will allow you to save the backup file on the same partition as being imaged. This is usually done for temporary storage reasons. But it makes no sense leaving the image there since a drive failure will cause the loss of your backups. Also, TI is unable to restore a disk restore if the archive is being stored on the same disk.

It is best to save your backup archives in multi-locations. This would include external drives, network drives or additionally other different internal disks and even additionally include DVD as a storage medium. In other words, don't put all your eggs in one basket--spread the risk.

The backup set should be stored in the same folder. A backup set is everything that relates to that name assigned to the backup. It will include full-incremental-differential backups over a period of days or weeks--but all the same base name. examples below.

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=184414#6

 

Interesting site with Drive Cloning Hardware-Software Solution for notebooks
http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=4