Swap hard drives in work laptop?

[Darknite39]

I've just received a long-term job offer that I'm likely to accept, but I'm trying to figure out what to ask for in my startup allotment (it's an academic job). I'm considering a request for a new Thinkpad to replace my personal T61 as my daily driver, but I'm sure that IT would lock it down, and that will annoy me to no end (this is the main reason I don't ever use the desktop they gave me as a visiting faculty member). My inclination would be to swap in my own SSD as a boot drive, but I wanted to ask if there are any issues with this plan I'm not considering (e.g., IT flipping out on me). I appreciate any advice!

 

[biostud]

Why not ask for a laptop with a SSD?

 

[Darknite39]

The issue isn't the drive, but, rather, the fact that I can't even install firefox extensions on my current work machine, and I wish to avoid that annoyance with the laptop I might request. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

 

[biostud]

Why not ask for privilege to do so, or let IT install them for you?

 

[Carson Dyle]

Apart from just annoying IT, it could also be a violation of university policy. Be very careful.

Doesn't sound like you've tried to deal with their IT department as yet. Is it too much trouble to get approval for the installation of things like extensions and new software, or just something you haven't put any effort into?

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

*shrug* It's what I did with my work-provided T530. They did provide a crappy 64GB SSD, but I wanted to roll my own Windows / *nix combo, so threw in an old 240GB Sandisk Extreme.

It's worked out so far. Whenever they notify me of upcoming maintenance, I just swap the original drive back in. The only thing the IT guy has remarked about was how clean my OS is (no extra programs, junk on desktop, etc.)

Then again, work does allow us to BYOD (typically Mac laptops).

 

[Darknite39]

Yeah... I guess you might be right. I suppose I was initially thinking that it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission, but being straightforward with them might save me a headache later. As for having others install things for me, I was just hoping to avoid the (admittedly minor) annoyance.

Feedback appreciated!

 

[Darknite39]

I've dealt with IT a few times, and they're actually nice, but it's just annoying when I want to, for example, install an update, but I don't have the rights to do so under my account. Scheduling an appointment for something that I can so easily do myself is frustrating, so I just went back to my T61.

And I hadn't actually considered the policy violation issue. I guess it really is in my best interest just to send the folks an email and see what they might allow me to do. If they won't allow it, I'll just spend part of my raise on a personal machine. Probably better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback! I'm glad I asked here instead of just doing it.