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Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
HP Recommended

Hi all,

 

I'm going to upgrade the drive on my 4730s, and was wondering if any of you have any tips or hints regarding the process. I have read that some (not necessarily HP ) machines are not always straightforward. My machine is only a few months old, but runs a Core i5, with 8 GB RAM, and Win7 Pro 64-bit.

 

I'm getting an OCZ Vertex 4 @ 256 GB to replace the 500GB Toshiba drive I currently have.

 

I have read through the FAQ document and it suggested I use Macrium Reflect Free to clone my  current HD to the new one. How will this cope with the smaller HD - will it be looking for an idnetically-sized partition on the SSD?

 

Is a more reasonable way to use Win Backup to back up my current OS and then restore it to the new HD?

 

There is no data on my machine that I can't live without - I store it remotely, and back it up regularly.

 

Any help gratefully appreciated. Links are fine - I can read! :Wink:

 

Cheers,

 

Michael P

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HP Recommended

Hey Michael,

 

Here is the service guide for your laptop: http://bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c03054480/c03054480.pdf

 

I think the hard drive removal process start on page 52. A for cloning the hard drive, it does not need to see a partition the same size, just need to make sure the drive has enough storage space to accommodate the cloning.

 

If you really dont need the data that is on the drive that is being replace, I would go ahead a do a fresh installation of your OS. This allows for a much cleaner install and typically has better results.

 

Hope this helps!

Sean

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HP Recommended

Hey Michael,

 

Here is the service guide for your laptop: http://bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c03054480/c03054480.pdf

 

I think the hard drive removal process start on page 52. A for cloning the hard drive, it does not need to see a partition the same size, just need to make sure the drive has enough storage space to accommodate the cloning.

 

If you really dont need the data that is on the drive that is being replace, I would go ahead a do a fresh installation of your OS. This allows for a much cleaner install and typically has better results.

 

Hope this helps!

Sean

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HP Recommended

Hi Sean S,

 

since my last post, I have happily installed the SSD and all is well. I also elected to do a fresh OS install, for the identical reasons you quoted - I guess great minds think alike! My BIOS kept reporting "no drive installed" and this was causing me a headache, but in the end, I decided to just boot into the Win 7 install disk and the rest is history.

 

 

All this despite the thoroughly inept advice I received from HP tech support saying it cannot be done. I have never encountered such a collective group of incompetents in all my life - this was not my first encounter with HP TS, and I dearly hope it is the last, for they struggle with even the most basic questions and are good only for corrupting existing systems.

 

Many thanks again for your help Sean.

 

Cheers,

 

Michael P

HP Recommended

Hi MetalMick

 

I am about to replace the HDD in my 4730s with an SSD in much the same way that you did. Planning a fresh install of the OS (Win7 64) to make it clean and free of HP bloat. I will be using the original HDD as a second drive - removing the optical drive and using a caddy.

 

I have a couple of questions if I may...

 

1. Can I use the Win 7 install disk from my PC and just enter the 25-didgit key from the laptop?

 

2. Will I still be able to use the fingerprint scanner? (I use it all the time for logging in and locking/unlocking)

 

3. Any issues that you had with the install?

 

TIA for your help

 

Nigel

HP Recommended

Hi Nigel,

 

1. Yes. Your best bet is to put in the SSD and then boot to the Win7 DVD. I did not need to enter the key - it all installed pretty smoothly. I was delighted.

 

2. Yes, you can use the fingerprint scanner. You will need to install separate drivers though. Be very cautious regarding applications and drivers, because the HP software is, I have found, quite flaky and prone to causing problems. I have moved to a Dell laptop because I was sick to death of problems caused by the HP drivers/software. The last straw was when I found I was losing network connection, but retaining internet connection periodically, and I had to wait till the network drivers woke up to themselves again. This happened after I did  a driver upgrade. Avoid the HP power management utility - it is known (here in Australia) to screw up other parts of the machine performance. Also, once you have a fresh install, backup the partition immediately, and then install minimal drivers and HP software. My machine (i5) from a fresh install, booted in about 12 seconds, but with the software, this doubled. Still quicker than the HD though!

 

3. I found no issues caused by the SSD at all. I did find the already excellent battery life was extended even further and the whole machine felt a lot snappier. The task of installing the SSD is straightforward - get a good set of screwdrivers and little bits of blu-tac to make handling the screws easier, and take care not to damage screw threads, but there ought to be minimal chance of that happening.

 

I think the machine had a lot going for it, but the SSD sweetens the deal even further. All the best, and if you have any further queries, just get back to me.

 

Cheers,

 

Michael P

HP Recommended

Hi Michael 

 

Thanks for the prompt and helpful reply. Didn't expect to hear so soon - you being in Oz would make it the wee small hours right now. Are you an insomniac??!!

 

Wise advice witht he blu-tac 😉

 

As for the HP Power Management I will avoid. 

 

The 120 GB SSD currently resides in my PC but I am replacing the PC with a NAS. The PC had the SSD and two 1TB drives. I will rebuild the PC with the drives set to RAID1 and I will re-install the OS before giving it to my son who is a University student.

 

On the laptop I will be replacing the optical drive with the current 500GB HDD (when the caddy eventually arrives on a slow boat from China). Do I need to keep the two HP partitions (E:\ HP_RECOVERY and F:\ HP_TOOLS) or can I just delete all the partitions and re-partition as a single partition?

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

HP Recommended

Hi Nigel,

 

firstly - no, I'm no insomniac:smileylol:!  My reply was made in early evening. I do tend to stay up a bit, though because my urge to write sometimes bites at odd hours. It's Saturday morning in Oz right now.

 

I'm pretty sure the machine created its own recovery partition on the SSD. Can't recall what happened with the HP Tools partition, but it ought to be easy enough to recreate on the SSD, if you want them. In my case, I'd decided to just place the OS on the entire HD and would backup to an external HD with Windows Backup. Later, I found the Recovery Partition there, so the HP DVDs seem to trigger creating it. I only had my machine for 8 months before frustrations got the better of me, so never used the Tools.

 

Thought: The combined OS/Recovery/Tools only takes up around 40GB, so you might be wise to leave the OS as is, create a new partition for data on the 500GB drive as big as you can. If something fails on the machine, you can easily swap the HDD back into the bay, and diagnostics/repair can take place leaving your SSD OS intact and safe. I decided early on that the only files on my machine of size were media files, and I regard them as "volatile" or non-essential. Those I place on an external drive and use as needed. All other data I access via my NAS, and to be honest, there is very little data that I access on a day-to-day basis. Just my novels, in fact, now that I've moved to a Gmail account. My Dell came with 2 1TB HD, and so far, I haven't accessed anything other than the SSD.

 

If you need to take a lot of data with you and don't want an external HD, then perhaps a larger SSD might be the go? Just a thought.

 

Good move replacing the PC with a NAS. Caution though: a NAS is data storage/collection, and without external backup can be as vulnerable as a drive on your PC. I set up my (QNAP) NAS to have a WD HD hanging off it, and weekly backups of data go there, with occasional testing. If your PC is becoming a NAS, then you have a little more flexibility - you can easily put an extra HD in there and set backup software to save to that. RAID helps, but my understanding is that if a drive fails, you need to replace it with another of the same specification. (Of course, that knowledge might be dated! <smile>)

 

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

 

Michael P

 

 

HP Recommended

Thanks again Michael

 

I used the Win7 CD from my PC for the install - not the HP disk. Gave me a very clean install - so clean loads of the drivers were missing! Just went to the website and got the latest versions onto a usb stick. Working fine now.

 

The NAS is working OK - 2x2TB drives in raid 1. I have also got a 2TB external drive to take backups of the NAS. It already had all of my data from the PC on it so I plugged it in and hit the backup button and it copied everyting onto the NAS - 650GB - it took  23 hours!!

 

What do you use to backup the NAS TO the external drive?

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

HP Recommended

Hi Nigel,

 

I have a QNAP NAS, and this hangs off my able-modem/router via a switch that gives me a few extra Ethernet ports. I connect a WD (something)Book (sorry, I've forgotten exactly what it's called) via a USB2 port on the NAS. QNAPs have a large amount of inbuilt software, and I use the backup utility for that - it works very well, and it sniffs for changed files and updates them only.

 

My directory has all my downloaded software and patches in it, it used to contain my emails (since moved to Google Mail), and of course, my data - stories, photos, miscellaneous documents, etc. I ought to move my photos to my HTPC, but haven't got around to it yet...

 

My QNAP is basically set up as a JBOD (though there is a RAID term, and I've forgotten what that is), because I didn't want to buy a third 1TB drive at the time as a reserve in case one drive failed (there are two in the NAS).

 

I understand why you've used an existing disk for the Win7 install, but I would have used the HP disk, because the activation code is built in the install, and it would have created a recovery partition for you. It would not have installed all the software HP gives you - that is on a separate disk. (It says a lot about the amount of bloat ware that it needs a separate DVD). The (outdated) drivers would have been there too, but that's no loss.

 

Anyway, if you do a complete image of the install, you ought to be fine. Just look up how you need to re-image from the backup at some stage - WinBackup is a little bizarre in its requirements and many have stumbled initially. Including me!

 

All the best Nigel, and if you have any further questions, please get back to me.

 

Michael P

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