Hard Drive upgrade

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bobby
  • Start date Start date
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Bobby

I need to replace the hard drive in my dell latitude L400
notebook b/c it is running out of space. I found a
compatible 30Gb drive and want to get all of the data from
the old 6Gb drive to the new one. Can anyone point me in
the right direction? Would I just back the data up to
another PC in my workgroup, install the new drive, install
the OS, and restore the data from the other PC in the
workgroup? Or is there an easier way to accomplish? Any
suggestions will be appreciated.
 
What you really want to do here is image copy the existing partitions on
your old 6GB HD, so you can restore them to the new 30GB HD once installed.
If you try to simply save specific data files and configuration settings, it
will work to some extent, but of course, you then have to reinstall the OS,
redo all your app installations, etc., and hopefully, not missed anything.
Not the end of the world, but if all you're trying to do is migrate to a new
HD, it's not the best way. By imaging the old HD, you retain EVERYTHING,
making the migration process trivial, and the results predictable.

Now the issue becomes, do you in fact have any place to "store" the image
copy? (we'll worry about how to make the image copy later). Note, you can't
image copy while using it (not easily or as reliably, anyway), so a network
storage area NOT ideal, it should be "local" storage. Does your system have
a CD/DVD burner? Can you write to an external HD, say over USB or Firewire?
If so, you can store it there. Another option is to remove the old HD and
get yourself an external 2.5" enclosure, so you can access it as an external
HD! ( http://www.dealsonic.com/25usb20.html ). This is even better, since
THEN, all you need to do is COPY the old partition to the new HD, extremely
simple to do. They're not all that expensive either, but it is one other
option to consider. You may want to do this anyway if the old drive is
still working, perhaps use it as a data store.

Anyway, you need to tell me what storage options you have before I can
comment further (if you have none, your options will be severely limited).
Btw, I can think of one way to use a network store, but would prefer to
avoid it since it gets a little messy (will work, but a bit of pain to
implement).

HTH

Jim
 
I can't imagine anything easier than what you propose unless you have a cd
burner on that laptop and could dump your data to a cd or have some app like
Drive Image that you could use to create an image of the 6gb on the network
and then be able to restore it to the 30gb drive.
 
I need to replace the hard drive in my dell latitude L400
notebook b/c it is running out of space. I found a
compatible 30Gb drive and want to get all of the data from
the old 6Gb drive to the new one. Can anyone point me in
the right direction? Would I just back the data up to
another PC in my workgroup, install the new drive, install
the OS, and restore the data from the other PC in the
workgroup? You could.
Click to expand...
Or is there an easier way to accomplish? Any
suggestions will be appreciated.
Click to expand...

If you can install the new drive temporarily on the laptop, simply do
a clone from the old drive to the new...then switch them when done.


Have a nice week...

Trent

What do you call a smart blonde?
A golden retriever.
 
You can get an adapter to allow you to connect the laptop
2-1/2 drive in a desktop. You can also get an external case
and use USB to connect the old drive.

I think I would install the new drive and do a clean install
of the OS and all the applications I currently use. This
would include making such partitions as I wanted for data
separate from the OS and apps.
Then I would connect the old drive and copy the data files.

The external case would be great for backup.

You might check the Dell site for any special advice.


| On Fri, 19 Mar 2004 14:13:04 -0800, "Bobby"
|
| >I need to replace the hard drive in my dell latitude L400
| >notebook b/c it is running out of space. I found a
| >compatible 30Gb drive and want to get all of the data
from
| >the old 6Gb drive to the new one. Can anyone point me in
| >the right direction? Would I just back the data up to
| >another PC in my workgroup, install the new drive,
install
| >the OS, and restore the data from the other PC in the
| >workgroup? You could.
|
| > Or is there an easier way to accomplish? Any
| >suggestions will be appreciated.
|
| If you can install the new drive temporarily on the
laptop, simply do
| a clone from the old drive to the new...then switch them
when done.
|
|
| Have a nice week...
|
| Trent
|
| What do you call a smart blonde?
| A golden retriever.
 
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