Replacing a IBM ThinkPad Laptop Hard Drive

Q: I'm looking to replace the 60GB hard drive (on IBM ThinkPad, Centrino 1.6-GHz, 60GB HDD, 5400 rpm) with a new one, and I do want to make a drive image. I have successfully imaged desktop hard drives several times using DriveImage software, but a problem arises with laptops.

In desktop computers you have two or more IDE or SATA connections, and it is easy to copy the data from the old hard drive to the new hard drive. But my IBM ThinkPad laptop appears to have just one socket, for one hard drive attachment. Any ideas on how I can connect two IDE drives and have the IBM ThinkPad laptop recognize them?

A: One thing you can do is to buy a compact USB case designed for 2.5-inch laptop hard drives.

If you go this route, you'll simply install the new hard drive into the USB hard drive case, then boot from your DriveImage CD. From there you'll perform the familiar task of copying the image from the internal drive to the new USB drive. (This is assuming that your version of DriveImage recognizes external USB disks; if not, you may have to upgrade.)

Once that's done, swap the internal drive for the one in the USB case. You'll be able to boot from your new drive, and as a bonus, you'll now have a small external hard drive for backup.

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