IBM R51E: Formatting New Hard Drive

Hello,

I have a IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad R51e that has a 40GB hard drive. I'll soon be at the capacity limit and I'm going to upgrade the internal hard drive to an 80GB.

My laptop is under warranty until May 2009, will it void the warranty because I'm not buying the hard drive directly from IBM? (IBM's price is $261.00 compared to my purchase of a Hitachi Travelstar 80GB 5700rpm PATA interface for $47.00)

Prior to installing the 80GB hard drive I hope someone can help me with some of these questions.

The Windows XP Pro was factory installed by IBM/Lenovo. Will it recognize the program to install it?

Will all of my Product Recovery CDs still work with formatting the new hard drive back to the Factory Default setting?

Will I need to create any additional disk that I may need prior to restoring to Factory Default setting?

I have read about problems of hidden partition and password issues. I did try to research the issues, but the more I read the more my head started spinning.

I'd truly appreciate any knowledge that any of you may offer.

Sincerely,
Kat

 

Is your HDD filling up because of programs which are installing or data saved ie photos. music, etc.

If the latter then why not just buy an external USB HDD. Just make sure that your laptop has USB2.

Good Luck

 

I agree with risk_reversal. An external drive would work well, and there would be no chance of voiding the warranty. If you do decide to change the drives, I would call IBM/Lenovo and ask about the warranty.

If you do decide to replace the drive, you should look into a drive cloning program. Norton Ghost, Acronis(sp) are popular. I use XXClone http://www.majorgeeks.com/XXCLONE_d5534.html I don't think it works with Vista yet.

E

 

[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Good morning![/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva] [/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]I thought I would pop in and post that I got the new hard drive installed and everything when well. I actually surprized myself. [/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Good news, IBM/Lenova will honor my warranty until it expires in 2009. [/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Thanks for your attempts with trying to get this issue with my laptop resolved. [/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]I'm sure there are many people that are an asset on this forum with giving help to people with computer problems.[/FONT]
​

Please keep up the great work Team Major Geeks!​

[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva] [/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Respectfully,[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Kat[/FONT] :wave

 

This is just a quick side note. When I had problems with my laptop and had to send it back, they requested that everything that came with it originally be in it. They told me they would only repair it if it had all the original equipment inside. I know you will not get rid of the old HD but if you have to send it back you may have to put it back in their before they do warranty work