Re: [Thinkpad] T41p: reinstalling Windows, what HD to use?

Another list member dropped me a note (I think he meant to post it to the
group) saying that my "option 3" is wrong and would lead to the loss of all
your data. Either he misunderstood what I said, or more likely I didn't make
it clear enough.

To avoid any further confusion, what I recommended is exactly the same as
your first option: Remove your old drive from the machine, install a new
blank drive, and install Windows on that blank drive.

The only difference is that I'm also recommending that you get an external
USB enclosure and put your old drive in it, instead of (or after) using your
existing USB cable kit to pull your data from the old drive. That way you
get the advantages of both of your original two options: a brand new drive
in the machine, and an external USB drive with your old data on it.

Everything clear? :-)

One other point: Make sure your old drive does not have an HDD password. It
won't work in a USB enclosure if it does. Boot the machine into the BIOS
settings (F1 at the first ThinkPad logo screen), go into the Security
section, and remove the password(s) from the drive.

-Mike

> From: Michael Geary
>
> Given those two options, the choice is clear: Go with option number 3.
>
> Get a new internal HD and an external USB enclosure. Mount
> your old drive in the external enclosure, and proceed as in
> your first approach.
>
> Now you have the best of both worlds: a brand new internal
> drive and your old drive as an external USB drive.
>
> You can get a variety of nice USB enclosures from newegg or
> zipzoomfly for around $20 delivered. I think you have an IDE
> drive, right? Here's an enclosure that I like - it's well
> built and easy to work with:
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817145658
>
> Actually, I have the SATA version of this enclosure, not the
> IDE, but mechanically it would be the same. The only bad
> thing about it (and most of these small enclosures) is that
> it has no padding inside - so don't bounce the drive on the
> table when it's running!
>
> -Mike
>
> > From: Andrew Webber
> >
> > I'm having enough problems that it may be time to re-install WinXP.
> > Specifically Bluetooth won't work properly any more (that's
> few quite
> > a while back, but I didn't need it in the short term and
> put it off)
> > and also I'm finding things are slow and sometimes unstable.
> >
> > If I re-install Windows (someone please convince me not
> to), I either
> > need to:
> > -- get a new internal HD and mount the current internal as an
> > external, to get data and other stuff from it; or
> > -- get a new external HD, back up/image everything to it then
> > wipe the current one and start over.
> >
> > Benefits of the first approach are, (a) I don't have to do
> the initial
> > imaging, and (b) I get a new HD (current is ~2.5 years old, 100GB
> > Seagate).
> >
> > Benefits of the second approach are, (a) I end up with a useful
> > external HD, and (b) well I guess that's all. I already
> have a cable
> > and AC adapter (somewhere) to hook up the 2.5" drive as USB.
> >
> > My instinct is to get a replacement internal drive and keep the
> > current one as a backup for a while. But I wonder if that's either
> > wasteful or unnecessary.
>
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Received on Fri Apr 25 23:08:07 2008