Better hard drive for laptop?

[~misfit~]

1GB.

Ok. It'll take 2GB and, if it were mine and I were planning on keeping it a
while, I'd max it out now. It takes DDR RAM and it's going up in price and
is only going to keep going up as it becomes scarcer. I have 2GB in my R51
and 1.5GB each in my two R40s. My T60 is also maxed out at 3GB. With laptops
even more than desktops they're choked by the bus and HDD access so benefit
more from as much RAM as you can give them.

By swap file do you mean the hiberfil thing? Something else?

Swapfile, pagefile, virtual memory... it depends on what Microsoft want to
call it today. The theory is when you run low on RAM Windows 'pages' some of
the RAM content to the HDD to keep RAM free for use by applications.
However, in practice it's not as well implemented as it could be. Windows
will 'page' to HDD even if you have gigs of RAM free, it's the coding of the
beast.

Hence, especially with laptops, I max the RAM and turn off virtual memory.
As long as you're not running multiple instances of photoshop as well as
other apps then you should be just fine to run on RAM alone. So much faster.

Hiberfil.sys is a system file that is exactly equal to the amount of RAM
that you have. It's an area Windows uses to copy the contents of RAM to when
the machine hibernates. I use ThinkPads but at home so I don't hibernate and
have it turned off.

I'm thinking the problem is the failing hard drive. Got a new one
coming so if I can get the switch made I'll know for sure.

Cool, good luck with that. Hopefully you've got a Seagate ordered and you
can download their free cloning software, DiscWizard I think it's called.
It's a cut-down version of Acronis True Image and works really well. Best if
you download, burn the CD, remove the old HDD, fit it into a USB enclosure,
fit the new HDD and boot from the CD and then clone onto the new HDD. Works
a treat.

Cheers,

 

[~misfit~]

I ordered a Seagate 160GB this afternoon. Cost a little more than a
SATA 320GB.

Excellent, see my other post about DiskWizard.

I have a Momentus 5400.4/160GB ATA100 in my R51 (I see it's outdated now and
I only got it six months ago) and it cost more than the Momentus
7200.4/320GB SATA 3.0 that I put in this T60 last month.

Like I said with the RAM, if you're going to keep the machine for a while
(and why not? it's still a useful machine) then it's best if you max it out
now, before parts get dearer.

Cheers,

 

[JimL]

It'll take 2GB and, if it were mine and I were planning on keeping it a
while, I'd max it out now.

I didn't even know what it would hold. I'll check it out. Both slots are
in use now so I'd have to buy 2GB.

I max the RAM and turn off virtual memory. As long as you're not running
multiple instances of photoshop as well as other apps

Hopefully you've got a Seagate ordered
Yup.

you download, burn the CD, remove the old HDD, fit it into a USB
enclosure,

Looks like I'll have to do it without CD. Imapi is falling down on the job
and I can't burn anything. I understand Ghost has a hot-copy feature. So
the new one will go in the USB external.

Thanks

 

[JimL]

However, I'll keep this excellent 3:4 ratio 15" IPS screen T60 T7400 C2D
machine going for as long as I can.

A few days ago I asked directions on the TP forum where to get an 18.74 inch
laptop. Nobody even bothered to reply. They must have remembered my Lenovo
question!

JimL

 

[JimL]

I have a Momentus 5400.4/160GB ATA100 in my R51 (I see it's outdated now
and I only got it six months ago) and it cost more than the Momentus
7200.4/320GB SATA 3.0 that I put in this T60 last month.

I think that's what I ordered. Outdated? What about my 40GB original?

 

[~misfit~]

I didn't even know what it would hold. I'll check it out. Both
slots are in use now so I'd have to buy 2GB.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:T42

2GB max. IMO it's worth doing.

Looks like I'll have to do it without CD. Imapi is falling down on
the job and I can't burn anything. I understand Ghost has a hot-copy
feature. So the new one will go in the USB external.

Ok. I gave up Ghost for True Image a couple years ago after trouble with
Ghost. I find that, wherever possible, it pays to put the new drive in the
machine. Can you put the old drive in an enclosure, connect it and hit F12
during boot and select it as a boot device?

Thanks

You're welcome. Good luck.

 

[JimL]

I'm curious at what Ghost version you dropped it. I've read that from
version 12 on it has changed. I have version 14. Frankly although I bought
Acronis 2 or 3 years ago I could never comprehend its procedures. I fully
realize how many people declare it to be as simple as falling off a log, but
I got nowhere with it. I recall a LOT of steps to take, but no clear
explanation of what steps to take in what order. It reminded me of
networking. A lot of stuff to keep in mind at one time - while I go on
multi-tasking overload very, very quickly. I need an ordered 1, 2, 3 list
since my stroke.

I find that, wherever possible, it pays to put the new drive in the
machine. Can you put the old drive in an enclosure, connect it and hit F12
during boot and select it as a boot device?

I guess I'll find out! I've never used any kind of boot selection or even
read about it. Not that I'd necessarily remember it if I had read it.

Thanks

 

[~misfit~]

I'm curious at what Ghost version you dropped it. I've read that from
version 12 on it has changed. I have version 14.

Hi Jim. Sorry mate, frankly I don't remember, it was about two years ago and
a three year old version of Ghost. I switched to Acronis TI Home ver. 11 and
have found it easy to use and foolproof. It's never let me down.

Frankly although I
bought Acronis 2 or 3 years ago I could never comprehend its
procedures. I fully realize how many people declare it to be as
simple as falling off a log, but I got nowhere with it. I recall a
LOT of steps to take, but no clear explanation of what steps to take
in what order. It reminded me of networking. A lot of stuff to keep
in mind at one time - while I go on multi-tasking overload very, very
quickly. I need an ordered 1, 2, 3 list since my stroke.

Ok. I just point it to the partition I want to back up and the folder I want
it in. I only do complete backups., not incremental and I accept the
defaults for everything else. Works like a charm.

I guess I'll find out! I've never used any kind of boot selection or
even read about it. Not that I'd necessarily remember it if I had
read it.

Heh! I'm pretty sure that it's F12 on a ThinkPad, during the BIOS screen.
(If not try F10...) It then lists all available possibly bootable devices
including networks. Just select your chosen device and hit enter. That said,
I've never tried putting the HDD from inside the machine into an external
enclosure and booting from it so aren't sure it'll work. Good luck.

 

[JimL]

Ok. I just point it to the partition I want to back up and the folder I
want it in. I only do complete backups., not incremental and I accept the
defaults for everything else. Works like a charm.

I must have had a version published on Mars.

But I must say, I'm sorry I mistook someone's comments here as a
recommendation for Ghost. Seems like it cost something like $50. If I had
it to do again, I wouldn't take it if they paid _me_ $50. You click on an
option named "Copy My Hard Drive." You get an operation better named "Copy
A Partition." On Norton Chat they clearly told me Ghost cannot copy an
entire drive.

OK, maybe none of them can. I don't really know. But I can get a _free_
utility that will copy a partition. They call it XXCLONE.

 

[~misfit~]

I must have had a version published on Mars.

But I must say, I'm sorry I mistook someone's comments here as a
recommendation for Ghost. Seems like it cost something like $50. If
I had it to do again, I wouldn't take it if they paid _me_ $50. You
click on an option named "Copy My Hard Drive." You get an operation
better named "Copy A Partition." On Norton Chat they clearly told me
Ghost cannot copy an entire drive.

OK, maybe none of them can. I don't really know. But I can get a
_free_ utility that will copy a partition. They call it XXCLONE.

Jim, I already told you, Seagate have a free tool that I'd trust ahead of
that unknown (to me at least). It's called DiskWizard, is downloadable from
Seagate's website and is a cut-down version of Acronis TI. (Cut down in the
fact that it only clones drives, doesn't do incremental backps etc.)

That's why I said "I hope you bought a Seagate" a while back. It checks and,
as long as one of your HDDs is a Seagate (or Maxtor) then it will function
just fine. I would strongly recommend it ahead of an essentially unknown.

G'luck,

 

[JimL]

Jim, I already told you, Seagate have a free tool that I'd trust ahead of
that unknown (to me at least). It's called DiskWizard, is downloadable
from Seagate's website and is a cut-down version of Acronis TI. (Cut down
in the fact that it only clones drives, doesn't do incremental backps
etc.)

1. I ordered Ghost before you wrote that.

2. I recall dismissing the DiskWizard idea anyway thinking you had said it
required running from a CD. I replied at that time that my burner had quit
working.

3. If I had seen that this "tool" was 129MB download I probably would have
ignored it anyway. XXCLONE is less than 1.2MB. Call me old fashioned.

I would strongly recommend it ahead of an essentially unknown.

I've noticed that a lot of these unknowns "try harder" and do a better job
than old companies who have turned everything over to the bean counters.

BTW, I'm working from my XXCLONE copy on the Seagate now.

Thanks