Replacing Laptop HDD

[PhilipM]

Hi,

Looking at replacing a sony vaio laptop hard drive with a bigger one. My question is, what's the easiest way to get all the data, apps and OS onto the new drive? Reinstalling is not an option as I don't have original media!

Thanks,
Philip

 

[semi-pro waster]

The easiest way is probably to get a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter and connect the new hard drive to that then copy all the data across, once done put new hard drive into laptop and that should be it.

 

[PhilipM]

I'm confused. If I'm replacing a 2.5" HDD with another larger 2.5" HDD, where does the 3.5" adapter come into play?

How do I copy the whole hard drive? Does windows copy set up the boot record and things like that?

Thanks,
Philip

 

[rpstewart]

Not sure where the 2.5" to 3.5" convertor comes in either.

What you need to is get both disks conected to the laptop and use something like ghost to copy the old disk in its entirety to the new one. Windows copy won't copy things like the boot record, open system files etc.

The best bet is probably to get a 2.5" USB caddy and use this initiall for the new disk until it's set up OK and then you can reuse the old disk in the caddy as a backup drive.

 

[semi-pro waster]

I'm confused. If I'm replacing a 2.5" HDD with another larger 2.5" HDD, where does the 3.5" adapter come into play?

Sorry I didn't make it clearer, I forget that not everyone thinks like me.

I was figuring on using a desktop PC as an intermediary for the copying so you would need the adapter for that, a 2.5" caddy would do the same job and would certainly be easier if you don't have a desktop computer although it is a bit more expensive normally. Ghost is probably the program I'd use as well for the actual copying.

 

[PhilipM]

Ah, excellent, I like both ideas. I must check with my other half to see if she wants to keep the old drive for backups, or if we're going to ebay / members market it.

As a matter of interest, roughly how long would 40GB take? I'm guessing a few hours on a USB devide and maybe 10-20 mins on an IDE connection?

Do OcUK sell a 2.5->3.5 adapter? I don't see one in the shop (or am I blind)?

Thanks,
Philip

 

[semi-pro waster]

OcUK don't sell them as far as I can see but they are fairly cheaply available, if anyone asks much more than £5 take a look elsewhere as they are pretty simple.

I'm not sure exactly how long the data transfer would take, USB2 has a theoretical maximum of 480mbps but you aren't likely to get near that as a sustained rate. I'd just plug it in and forget about it for a few hours/maybe a day if there is no rush.

 

[mosfet]

Average laptop drive will get 30MBps or so, althoigh this one appears old, lets say 20MBps with overheads. That's about 1200MBpm, so you're looking at half an hour or so if it sustains that. Give it an hour and it'll be happy