New HDD in lappy...

[jjmIII]

Hi Everyone .

I'm putting a new 320gb 7200 WD Black in my laptop. It currently has a 160gb WD. Can I use Seagate Tools, or something else to do this for free?

Are the power/sata connectors the same as a desktop drive? Can I just hang both (2.5's) off my tower, or do I need to buy a usb case and hang the new drive off my lappy?

All help (links) apprteciated.

Thanks -Jim

 

[Don66]

Originally posted by: jjmIII
Hi Everyone .

Are the power/sata connectors the same as a desktop drive? All help (links) apprteciated.

Thanks -Jim

I can answer that as, Yes they are the same.

 

[corkyg]

You need to use a cloning function. Sometimes called disk copy or copy disk. It should exist in free tools. The best today is Acronis TrueImage 2009 (not free), and it's locally prepared bootable CD.

Cloning is always best done with bootable nedia so as not to involve the OS.

You can hang both drives on SATA ports in your desktop, or use an external case on your laptop. I use the latter option with a eSATA Express card link to a NexStar 3 eSATA case. (Much faster than USB)

I made the same transfer last year from a 160GB HDD to a 320 WDC/7200. Well worth it. Here is my setup for that operation:

Clone

What I do is clone my laptop HDD to the bigger 3.5" external. When done, I remove the old lappie HDD and put in the new one, then clone back from the external 3.5 to the new laptop HDD.

That way I don't go in an out of the external case, and always have a good backup copy of my laptop drive handy.

 

[jjmIII]

Thanks for all the good ideas guys.

I'm going to try cloning with the free Seagate DiskWizard. I'm pretty sure it works on WD drives too.

 

[jjmIII]

Originally posted by: corkyg
You can hang both drives on SATA ports in your desktop....

I did it that way with FREE Seagate DiskWizard. It is made by Acronis and worked awesome! Very easy and took no time at all. My disk only had 30-40 gb to image.

I like the new 7200rpm. Usually I switch out much faster, but the old WD 160gb 5400 wasn't that bad.

 

[craftech]

Hi Jim,

Here is what I ended up doing. See this thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2297448&enterthread=y

My final solution is at the end.

Hope that helps. I probably used the same drive as you bought. Works well.

John