Laptop hard drive upgrade

Hi.

I'm looking at upgrading my IBM thinkpad hard drive to give me more space. Is there a simple way of transferring all the data, OS etc from the old to the new?

I've looked at the Apricorn data transfer kit here Apricorn EZGIG data transfer kit which looks like the simplest way of doing it, is there another way that is simpler or cheaper?

I have an external 2.5" USB case that I could put the new disc in. If I were to put the disc in it and copy C: across then just install the new drive in the laptop would this work? I know it would take some time as I have about 40 gig of data on the old disc, but if it saves the cost of the Apricorn thing then I could handle the time.

Cheers.

Matt

 

Anyone got any ideas? There doesn't seem to be ANY info anywhere on the net about this!

 

A quick search showed me this
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/fast.php
I think it is what your trying to do, sorry if im off base
Jaza

 

Thanks Jaza, that's interesting but looks like I need a Win XP cd for it to work.

What I'm looking for is a method where I can transfer all the data to a new HDD from the old then plug it in. I'm thinking I might need some kind of bootable media other than the HDD, it's a long time since I did this even with a desktop so I'm not sure what the procedure is with XP.

 

You could just leave the OS on your smaller drive and start using your new drive as your storage.
Otherwise I believe you will need a xp cd. I have never tried the file settings transfer wizard but could attemt it without the cd(like i say dont know if it will work)
goto start >all programs > accesories > system tools and file transfer wizard, possibly it wont ask you for the cd. I just dont know forsure, but you could give it a shot.
Jaza

 

If you have a desktop pc at hand, then a couple of these cables

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-5-HDD-to-2-...ryZ74941QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

together with HDD partitioning/copying software ie Partition Magic or BootIt NG, should do the job nicely.

Good Luck

 

Never easy is it!

Just wondered if there was a simple way of connecting the new drive up via USB and copying the drive contents across then just swapping the drives across. Surely if I can copy it across using those cables I can do the same via USB? ? ?

I guess it's just not going to be that easy. Oh well, I shall see if I can get hold of a couple of the cables. Which imaging software would you recommend?