Drive cloning: have I got this right?
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Drive cloning: have I got this right?
I have a comparatively elderly Lenovo T61 laptop which I like a lot: compact, chuckable (titanium frame) reliable… and it works.
Having obtained a newer Lenovo lappie, I’m planning to have a play with the old one: put Linux Mint on and learn how to use it; maybe dual-boot with Windows X - again, to have a play in an isolated environment: at present I can’t see any reason to leave W7.
However…
However, the thing only has a 75 Gb HDD, which is getting pretty full already. So would this strategy work:
Having obtained a newer Lenovo lappie, I’m planning to have a play with the old one: put Linux Mint on and learn how to use it; maybe dual-boot with Windows X - again, to have a play in an isolated environment: at present I can’t see any reason to leave W7.
However…
However, the thing only has a 75 Gb HDD, which is getting pretty full already. So would this strategy work:
- buy a larger - say 250G - solid-state drive
- clone new drive to exist drive using Clonzilla (or can anyone suggest better?)
- hope that the machine would work
. (and what about the hidden partition that Lenovo puts on the drive for recovery?)
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Yes, that would work. There are a couple of programs that some people find easier to use than Clonezilla, such as Easeus, Macrium and Paragon, but they all get the job done. If you pay very slightly more, you can get a drive with the cloning software supplied. Maybe useful with a new SSD (see below).
The only minor caveat is that if you are cloning to an SSD, then you need cloning software that understands the target is SSD, or some time soon after swapping, run a utility that can fix up the SSD. I mention this since you do state SSD.
With some of the utilities (e.g. Easeus) keep a beady eye on any other junk they offer during the installation process.
Re hidden partitions, do a disk-to-disk or sector-to-sector clone, not a partition-to-partition.
There are a few more bells and whistles which you probably don't need to consider: one computer I upgraded, I cloned as VM, then cloned, then checker the clone and VM were both working, then replaced the clone with the new OS :-)
Also, Windows, you can back up the Windows validation with various tools if you don't want to phone Microsoft to revalidate. If you do phone, there's a semi-trick question that needs a specific answer.
The only minor caveat is that if you are cloning to an SSD, then you need cloning software that understands the target is SSD, or some time soon after swapping, run a utility that can fix up the SSD. I mention this since you do state SSD.
With some of the utilities (e.g. Easeus) keep a beady eye on any other junk they offer during the installation process.
Re hidden partitions, do a disk-to-disk or sector-to-sector clone, not a partition-to-partition.
There are a few more bells and whistles which you probably don't need to consider: one computer I upgraded, I cloned as VM, then cloned, then checker the clone and VM were both working, then replaced the clone with the new OS :-)
Also, Windows, you can back up the Windows validation with various tools if you don't want to phone Microsoft to revalidate. If you do phone, there's a semi-trick question that needs a specific answer.
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Cloning your hard drive is a 'very good idea'™
As all drives will eventually fail, without a lot of warning, having a alternate boot choice will save you a lot of grief. For my Mac I use Carbon Copy Clone which used to be be freeware, then shareware and now software. It'ss not expensive and it does automated clones every night while I am sleeping.
As all drives will eventually fail, without a lot of warning, having a alternate boot choice will save you a lot of grief. For my Mac I use Carbon Copy Clone which used to be be freeware, then shareware and now software. It'ss not expensive and it does automated clones every night while I am sleeping.
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Unless your laptop has a SATA 3 HDD interface, I would suggest that you save your money and buy a 7200RPM conventional HDD - the performance gain with an SSD on SATA 2* isn't worth the extra cost. Yes to SSD on SATA 3, definitely.
Of course there are other reasons for SSD - less susceptible to shock damage, quieter and cooler, so if these are important then fine.
The disk cloning software that comes with HDDs is generally OK - Acronis worked OK for me recently, but the best I've come across was Samsung's own utility, which was an absolute doddle to use with one of their SSDs. I've not had any issues with cloning to SSD when using reasonably recent versions of cloning software - no special precautions / steps required at all.
I would recommend getting a USB caddy to put the new drive in so that you can connect the new disk to the PC for the clone operation - you can then put the old disk in it as a portable USB disk. Worked very well for me when cloning the disk on my Lenovo laptop recently.
HTH
SD
* note particularly that Lenovo crippled the SATA 2 interface to run at half-speed on the T61, so you are actually limited to max 1.5Gbps - an SSD would be truly wasted in this situation. You can buy a equivalent size 7.2K drive for 1/3 - 1/2 the SSD price, or spend the same money and get a much bigger disk.
Of course there are other reasons for SSD - less susceptible to shock damage, quieter and cooler, so if these are important then fine.
The disk cloning software that comes with HDDs is generally OK - Acronis worked OK for me recently, but the best I've come across was Samsung's own utility, which was an absolute doddle to use with one of their SSDs. I've not had any issues with cloning to SSD when using reasonably recent versions of cloning software - no special precautions / steps required at all.
I would recommend getting a USB caddy to put the new drive in so that you can connect the new disk to the PC for the clone operation - you can then put the old disk in it as a portable USB disk. Worked very well for me when cloning the disk on my Lenovo laptop recently.
HTH
SD
* note particularly that Lenovo crippled the SATA 2 interface to run at half-speed on the T61, so you are actually limited to max 1.5Gbps - an SSD would be truly wasted in this situation. You can buy a equivalent size 7.2K drive for 1/3 - 1/2 the SSD price, or spend the same money and get a much bigger disk.
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Even our old Linux netbook booted 3x faster when I put an SSD in there. First thing I did when I bought my new laptop was pull out the hard drive and put in the SSD from the old one.
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Few people care about disk throughput, they care about disk latency, which is why an SSD boots Windows 10x faster than a hard drive, as the disk head seeks all over the disk as it struggles to load all the crapware the manufacturer installed.
Even our old Linux netbook booted 3x faster when I put an SSD in there. First thing I did when I bought my new laptop was pull out the hard drive and put in the SSD from the old one.
Even our old Linux netbook booted 3x faster when I put an SSD in there. First thing I did when I bought my new laptop was pull out the hard drive and put in the SSD from the old one.
Of the 3 Win 7 home systems I upgraded recently with SSD boot disks, the two older desktops with SATA 2 interfaces did not gain significantly in bootup time, even one that had previously been booting off a PATA HDD. These are entirely self-built, btw, and do not suffer from "crapware" as you so eloquently put it.
However, my laptop - which has a SATA 3 interface - is unbelievably fast to boot Win 7 after the SSD upgrade, compared to the 7.2K disk it replaced.
In my case, the lack of heat, noise and vibration of the SSDs in the desktop PCs were factors as important as the speed. I was not expecting earth-shattering improvements so I was not disappointed. I would say that there is a discernible improvement, but not nearly enough to warrant paying a lot more for a comparable size disk, unless other factors are considered.
Having researched this before I did the upgrade, I'm by no means alone in finding that SSDs are limited by the speed of the underlying interface.
SD
Thread Starter
Ooo-er! What an encouraging set of messages. Thank you all. I'll ponder. Probably persist with the ssd, as (I probably already implied) the T61 has a fairly hard life, and anything I can do to improve its reliability even further must be a bonus.
Thank you all.
Jim
Thank you all.
Jim
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T61 is a fine machine!
I fitted an SSD to my desktop - that speeded up boot-up from several minutes to under a minute.
The only mistake I made was choosing an 80GB SSD. I had to shuffle stuff off the old C: drive to get it under 80GB before the drive cloner would work. I put all my "stuff" on drive D and told the software to look there for it. Most obeyed, apart from Apple, which churned the SSD rotten till I got fet up and symlinked it all to the "Apple" drive - drive G (for "gotcher!).
If I did it again, I'd go for a bigger SSD.
I fitted an SSD to my desktop - that speeded up boot-up from several minutes to under a minute.
The only mistake I made was choosing an 80GB SSD. I had to shuffle stuff off the old C: drive to get it under 80GB before the drive cloner would work. I put all my "stuff" on drive D and told the software to look there for it. Most obeyed, apart from Apple, which churned the SSD rotten till I got fet up and symlinked it all to the "Apple" drive - drive G (for "gotcher!).
If I did it again, I'd go for a bigger SSD.
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Can I ask a related question? I have a Win 7 machine with a IDE hard drive containing Windows but which is starting to show signs of age (occasional crashes and failure to start) so I'd like to clone it to a spare SATA drive I have which is also a lot bigger (115gb vs 40gb) and use that as the boot disc in future.
Plan to use Seagate Disk Wizard (to the earlier comment, ALT TO before clicking OK will allow it to be used on non-Seagate drives. Stands for Technical Override)
However, I'm a little concerned about one of the earlier comments that implies I would have to get the installation re-validated by Microsoft and there is maybe a trick question I need to give the correct answer to?
Advice from the experts out there would be very welcome!
Plan to use Seagate Disk Wizard (to the earlier comment, ALT TO before clicking OK will allow it to be used on non-Seagate drives. Stands for Technical Override)
However, I'm a little concerned about one of the earlier comments that implies I would have to get the installation re-validated by Microsoft and there is maybe a trick question I need to give the correct answer to?
Advice from the experts out there would be very welcome!
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If it's just the hard drive, it should be fine.
If you do need to phone, the "trick" questions aren't really tricks: you just need to know how many machines you're allowed to install your version of Windows on: usually one. When they ask you how many it's running on, say "one", nothing else. For example, don't witter about "well it's a new hard drive and I'll keep the old one as a backup". They'll refuse to revalidate without telling you why. They're following a script, they have no leeway.
If you do need to phone, the "trick" questions aren't really tricks: you just need to know how many machines you're allowed to install your version of Windows on: usually one. When they ask you how many it's running on, say "one", nothing else. For example, don't witter about "well it's a new hard drive and I'll keep the old one as a backup". They'll refuse to revalidate without telling you why. They're following a script, they have no leeway.
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That matches my experience.
When I cloned the old HD to the SSD, it "just worked", with no need to contact MS.
When I replaced the old PC with this one, I used the same DVD to install and had to phone MS. I said "old PC replaced, scrapped" and they did the codes thing with no further ado.
The old one was used as a Linux try-out for a while, but that got boring. It went for scrap (minus the hard drive, which I buried with full military honours).
When I cloned the old HD to the SSD, it "just worked", with no need to contact MS.
When I replaced the old PC with this one, I used the same DVD to install and had to phone MS. I said "old PC replaced, scrapped" and they did the codes thing with no further ado.
The old one was used as a Linux try-out for a while, but that got boring. It went for scrap (minus the hard drive, which I buried with full military honours).
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Few people care about disk throughput, they care about disk latency, which is why an SSD boots Windows 10x faster than a hard drive, as the disk head seeks all over the disk as it struggles to load all the crapware the manufacturer installed.
Even our old Linux netbook booted 3x faster when I put an SSD in there. First thing I did when I bought my new laptop was pull out the hard drive and put in the SSD from the old one.
Even our old Linux netbook booted 3x faster when I put an SSD in there. First thing I did when I bought my new laptop was pull out the hard drive and put in the SSD from the old one.
