want to upgrade my Dell XPS M1530's HDD - advice, please?

[AlienBZ]

My laptop currently has a 320 GB HDD, which I upgraded from the ~200 GB HDD back in 2012 after I bought it on ebay.  this laptop has a Core 2 Duo @ 2 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 256 MB Nvidia graphics card, I'm very glad I bought this laptop, all's fine with it, etc.

but I'd like to upgrade it to a 1 TB HDD using this drive new HDD I bought and a month ago I bought a SATA HDD enclosure for notebook HDD's. My Dell laptop can be set from the BIOS either for IDE or SATA. currently I have it set for IDE b/c of the 320 GB HDD upgrade I did on it after I got it. this laptop has XP_sp3 on it, and I hope to keep it that way as the host OS so I can use a number of guest OS's on it thru VMWare Player, and use other applications on it.
 
I understand that in order to use this new 1 TB HDD I have to set it to SATA, but before I do this, I'd like to clone my OS/desktop using one of these cloning utilities ***here***   on my current OS/installed applications/desktop/settings/device drivers, etc so before I do anything, could you guys please chime in and let me know which of these cloning software (I wish to stick with this free software on this webpge I linked to, please) I should use that would best fit my needs?

Additionally, could you please tell me what to do step by step please (I've never did this before, but I'd love very much to do so)?

thanks in advance.

[DaveLembke]

I have Ghosted Windows XP Pro SP3 from a smaller drive to a larger drive using a USB external drive before, but havent played with Ghost and drives larger than 500GB.

Its too bad its not Windows 7 because windows 7 has a great built in image utility that I was introduced to by a member here when i was looking for a way to Ghost Image 7, and it works really well and its free.

Acronis True Image you might be able to use if your hard drive is WD or another brand that supports its use as part of the drive purchase.

What is the make/model# of the 1TB hard drive ... to see if there is a tool available to make this as painless as possible for you?

[Calum]

Keep your BIOS settings the same - it sounds as if it's in IDE emulation mode at the minute, changing it to SATA (probably meaning AHCI) will mean the storage driver won't cope, so it involves a bit more messing around for no gains on a HDD.  If you were upgrading to an SSD, I'd say differently, because AHCI mode makes a huge difference on those.
Anyway, I would recommend Macrium Reflect, I've been using it for years and never had a problem.  The basic process is as follows.  Format the drive you want to clone to, and have it connected up via USB.  Open Reflect, and there's an option, simple as that, to clone the entire drive.  Clone your current drive to the drive connected via USB, wait for it to finish.  Power down, swap the drives, power on, and you're good to go.
It really is that simple, Reflect makes this sort of thing really easy.

[AlienBZ]

What is the make/model# of the 1TB hard drive ... to see if there is a tool available to make this as painless as possible for you?

OK... the make/model of the 1 TB drive is: Seagate Momentus 1 TB SATA, 8 MB cache, 5400 RPM, internal drive, a 2.5" HDD internal kit, not sure what model it is, but I see this number: STBD1000100  PN:9JB1A3-574, SN: S2R8J9CC908632.

Did I give you enough info?

If/when you find this tool to make this as painless as possible, could you please make sure this tool is a free d/l with no d/l hassles?

[AlienBZ]

Keep your BIOS settings the same - it sounds as if it's in IDE emulation mode at the minute, changing it to SATA (probably meaning AHCI) will mean the storage driver won't cope, so it involves a bit more messing around for no gains on a HDD.  If you were upgrading to an SSD, I'd say differently, because AHCI mode makes a huge difference on those.

 Shortly after I got my laptop when I first upgaded its original Windows Vista 200 GB drive it came with and and put this 300 GB drive (got it from New Egg) in it and tried to install XP Home and do a format prior to XP installation, it wouldn't even see this new drive, b/c IIRC it was set to SATA in the BIOS, and at the time I was told by a tech on one of the adventure gaming forums I was on at the time to switch the BIOS to IDE, well I did this and the laptop saw the new 300 GB HDD I put in, and I started to install XP Home, clean install, brand new HDD, install device drivers, etc, etc,

Anyway, I would recommend Macrium Reflect, I've been using it for years and never had a problem.  The basic process is as follows.  Format the drive you want to clone to, and have it connected up via USB.  Open Reflect, and there's an option, simple as that, to clone the entire drive.  Clone your current drive to the drive connected via USB, wait for it to finish.  Power down, swap the drives, power on, and you're good to go.
It really is that simple, Reflect makes this sort of thing really easy.

Ok, is Macrium Reflect free?

If its free, can I have the link, please?

I also have a internal hard drive upgrade kit, super speed USB 3,  works with Windows Vista, 7 and XP, works with 2.5 inch sata 9.5 mm hard drives, ez gig cloning external hdd enclosure, (package contains: ez upgrade enclosure; usb 3 cable compatible with usb 2; apricorn upgrade suite cloning software (Apricorn EZ Gig Cloning software for windows); quick start guide printed on reverse, from the local Best Buy store.

wow, I didn't know I had all this in a single package, it looks like I'm good to go, huh? it even says has data select, to clone my os and apps and select the data that i want to include.

[Geek-9pm]

A word of caution.
Are you sure you can put a 1TB drive in that laptop? Did you contact the maker?  Have they ever offered a 1TB version o f that model?

Why do you think a 1TB drive with benefit you?

IMHO the risks far overshadow the possible benefits.

Five years ago some 'expert' said:

currently the maximum storage capable in a laptop hard drive is 500GB this is because the hard drive platter (disk) is smaller than a desktop hard drive and so less space is available..

That was the wrong answer.
You have to know if the laptop can don it.
If the maker never offered it, assume it is not feasible.
Just my two cents.

[AlienBZ]

Well, I can tell you, I'm finally doing it. That new 1 TB drive does fit nicely into my laptop's HDD bay, and currently, the cloning in in process. I used the cloning software (was incl. on disk that came with the EHD enclosure, also USB cable included). After I finally got the new drive connected to the upgrade enclosure everything's going as easy as pie.

[Geek-9pm]

Glad to hear it works for you,. 

[AlienBZ]

Well, the new 1 TB drive is in my laptop, everything's on the new drive exactly the same as the old drive. Computer saw the new drive OK, it told me to do a restart for settings to become effective, I did this, didn't even have to go into my BIOS at all!

Superboy stuff! This, I believe, (this is my MHO) is the kind of stuff Clark Kent would probably do if he were a scientist like Peter Parker (Spiderman) only if he was a college soph taking classes for a degree in computer information science & had a tech workshop, instead of being a high school student having a chemistry lab in the family basement (yes, I'm also a fan of the Superman/Spiderman, etc superhero comics).

and the techs on that adventure gaming forum where I was at wasn't sure that this drive was going to work in my laptop, but, I kept believing in this, that it would work, like I was believing in myself, sort of, and now that it did work, I'm so thrilled!

[Calum]

Why in the world would they believe it wouldn't work?  I would hazard a guess they may not be as technically competent as they like to think they are.

Anyway, glad it worked out for you, exactly as we predicted no need to change anything, just clone the drive and away you go.

[Geek-9pm]

Why in the world would they believe it wouldn't work?  I would hazard a guess they may not be as tech......

Because the OEM did not offer it. If the OEM cold just take an off-the-shelf component and improvbe3 and old product, they would. Some body in their R&D said "forget it" and moved on to something else. (The  newer drive has a different power, ambient and thermal requirements.) Competent engineers do not just try it ans see it if flies. 

My point is that engineering choices should be made by engineers, not marketing pressure. Still, I am glad it worked for him.

[Calum]

The thermal and power requirements hardly differ between drives, certainly not enough to make a drive incompatible.  The only "gotcha" I usually advise to watch out for is on very slimline laptops using 7mm thick HDDs or SSDs, where the more common 9.5mm thick drives don't physically fit.
It was possibly not offered as an OEM choice because it wasn't released yet, or the OEM didn't deal with that particular manufacturer, or they thought it wouldn't be a popular choice so didn't make financial sense.
Sorry, but following that logic, building your own computer would be impossible, and upgrading machines whether desktops or laptops would be almost impossible too.

[Geek-9pm]

Calum, you have made your point well.
I will drop out here, but I still think my concerns are significant.

As for myself, I ruined a laptop drive by not paying enough attention  to lambent conditions. And yes, I did replace it with a drive that has much oarger capacity.

And no, I will not ignore the ambient limits again.

And yes, I shooed have know better.
I used to work in Hard Disc R&D.   

I am sure the OP will use common sense.