I was unable to find anything that specifically stated how the alignment tool does its job, but what I have read suggests that the alignment is done on a drive that has already been formatted and had data stored to it. You might ask the technician if running the tool again would cause problems, and if not, try it again now that you have the partition expanded to the size you wish.
I did find this on the WD site: Acronis Align Tool. Note the caution to be certain you have everything backed up before starting.
EDIT: Also note this for future reference: Advanced Format Software. The thing that caught my attention is that Western Digital's version of Acronis True Image has been tailored to support Advanced Format drives. See the paragraph on cloning.
The D630 uses SATA hard drives and the BIOS supports 48 bit LBA. Any presently available 9.5mm SATA hard drive should work in this machine, which includes drives up to about 750 GB. Larger capacity drives are available but so far as I know the height is 13.5mm, too high for the D630.
It has been a while since I used Norton Ghost, but assuming that your version has drivers for your hard drive controller you should be able to restore the image you made of the previous drive. Look for an option to expand the existing image into the full size of the drive. If you would rather have a smaller partition, you may be able to tell Ghost to do that as well. If it would not make a smaller partition you could always use your Windows installation disk to make a partition the size you wanted and restore the image to that.
EDIT: I made the assumption that your Windows XP Professional installation disk has at least Service Pack 2 incorporated into it. This is only important if you wind up performing a manual installation; to support hard drives larger than 137 GB you must have at least Service Pack 1, and since the D630 has a PCI-E video bus, you need Service Pack 2 in order to have the appropriate drivers for the video bus. A disk with Service Pack 2 would meet these requirements. Your installation disk may also need the SATA drivers slipstreamed into it, but if you are using an installation disk that was delivered by Dell with the computer I have found that Dell often does this for you.
One caution on that one, however; according to the spec it uses the Advanced Format Technology. If you choose that one make sure you read up on the drive requirements. Last time I checked it was necessary to run a special alignment program and possibly configure the jumper block on the drive in order to be used with Windows XP.
After I restored the Ghost image on the new drive, I downloaded the advanced format utility program from Western Digital. It ran up to 99%, then crashed. Got the old blue screen. When I tried to boot, the drive was unbootable. Restored the Norton Image and it is running fine. Now the only remaining problem is the backup image was of a 75 GB drive, and the restored image on the new 750 GB drive still shows a disk capacity of 75 GB. Apparently I need to increase the size of the partition in order to use the full 750 GB capacity. How do I do this?
There are several applications that can be used to adjust the size of existing partitions. Look for applications made by Paragon, Easeus, Acronis, and probably a multitude of others.
Ghost almost certainly would have made that expansion for you had you found the option. I have used Ghost in the past and found the option, and I presently use Acronis True Image which also will adjust the partition on the destination hard drive.
Ghost did have this option but it was unselectable. I had a Norton technical support chat, and they were unable to understand by this option could not be selected. Step by step, we will get this transition completed. This is a great forum with quick and technical support. Way to go, Dell !!
Older versions of ghost don't like partitions bigger than 80 gigs. Spend $40 or less on a SATAWIRE and use its cloning software.
APRICORN ASW-USB-500 SATA Wire USB Cloning Kit - Dell <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed / replaced from this post by Dell
Overview
Looking for a simple solution to upgrade your laptop drive- The Apricorn's SATA Wire provides a USB connection to ANY 2.5-inch SATA laptop hard drive or SSD (solid state drive). This enables you to upgrade your laptops hard drive in simple steps. It comes bundled with Apricorn’s Cloning Software for both PC and Mac. With this, you can connect the SATA Wire to your drive and to the USB port on the computer, and then run the included cloning software to copy all of your data, email, settings and OS from your laptop to the drive. Packaged with Upgrade Software, this SATA Wire allows you to clone, image, or backup your laptop drive in a snap. If your laptop is running out of space or you are looking to upgrade to a high performance hard drive or solid state drive, Apricorn’s SATA Wire is the convenient tool you can go for.
OK... mission almost accomplished. I bought the Acronis Disk Director Home and increased the partition from 80 GB to 750 GB. The Acronis tech thought I would not have to run the re-align program as the Disk Director increased the partition size. However, the system, particularly Outlook, seems to run and load slower than before. Could it be that 750 GB partition is slowing down the seek operation, even though it is not fragmented at all? (run Diskeeper Pro). If I would create two partitions, say one 250 GB for the operating system and programs, and the rest for data, would that speed up things?
Well the drive is installed, and used Acronis Disk Director to resize the partition. Pretty cool software. Even purchased their back up program for image backups. Thanks for all the help, guys !!
jackshack
6.4K Posts
1
September 16th, 2011 12:00
I was unable to find anything that specifically stated how the alignment tool does its job, but what I have read suggests that the alignment is done on a drive that has already been formatted and had data stored to it. You might ask the technician if running the tool again would cause problems, and if not, try it again now that you have the partition expanded to the size you wish.
I did find this on the WD site: Acronis Align Tool. Note the caution to be certain you have everything backed up before starting.
EDIT: Also note this for future reference: Advanced Format Software. The thing that caught my attention is that Western Digital's version of Acronis True Image has been tailored to support Advanced Format drives. See the paragraph on cloning.
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
September 13th, 2011 19:00
The D630 uses SATA hard drives and the BIOS supports 48 bit LBA. Any presently available 9.5mm SATA hard drive should work in this machine, which includes drives up to about 750 GB. Larger capacity drives are available but so far as I know the height is 13.5mm, too high for the D630.
It has been a while since I used Norton Ghost, but assuming that your version has drivers for your hard drive controller you should be able to restore the image you made of the previous drive. Look for an option to expand the existing image into the full size of the drive. If you would rather have a smaller partition, you may be able to tell Ghost to do that as well. If it would not make a smaller partition you could always use your Windows installation disk to make a partition the size you wanted and restore the image to that.
EDIT: I made the assumption that your Windows XP Professional installation disk has at least Service Pack 2 incorporated into it. This is only important if you wind up performing a manual installation; to support hard drives larger than 137 GB you must have at least Service Pack 1, and since the D630 has a PCI-E video bus, you need Service Pack 2 in order to have the appropriate drivers for the video bus. A disk with Service Pack 2 would meet these requirements. Your installation disk may also need the SATA drivers slipstreamed into it, but if you are using an installation disk that was delivered by Dell with the computer I have found that Dell often does this for you.
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
September 14th, 2011 05:00
There is now at least one 1000G drive in a 9.5 mm format as well:
www.newegg.com/.../Product.aspx
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
September 14th, 2011 10:00
One caution on that one, however; according to the spec it uses the Advanced Format Technology. If you choose that one make sure you read up on the drive requirements. Last time I checked it was necessary to run a special alignment program and possibly configure the jumper block on the drive in order to be used with Windows XP.
Paul Kronfield
6 Posts
0
September 14th, 2011 11:00
After I restored the Ghost image on the new drive, I downloaded the advanced format utility program from Western Digital. It ran up to 99%, then crashed. Got the old blue screen. When I tried to boot, the drive was unbootable. Restored the Norton Image and it is running fine. Now the only remaining problem is the backup image was of a 75 GB drive, and the restored image on the new 750 GB drive still shows a disk capacity of 75 GB. Apparently I need to increase the size of the partition in order to use the full 750 GB capacity. How do I do this?
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
September 14th, 2011 11:00
There are several applications that can be used to adjust the size of existing partitions. Look for applications made by Paragon, Easeus, Acronis, and probably a multitude of others.
Ghost almost certainly would have made that expansion for you had you found the option. I have used Ghost in the past and found the option, and I presently use Acronis True Image which also will adjust the partition on the destination hard drive.
Examples:
Easeus: Partition Manager Home Edition; this has the advantage of being free.
Paragon: Paragon Partition Manager Free Edition; the on-line home edition is free, but they also have a paid for version.
Acronis: Disk Director 11 Home; this one must be purchased.
Paul Kronfield
6 Posts
0
September 14th, 2011 12:00
Ghost did have this option but it was unselectable. I had a Norton technical support chat, and they were unable to understand by this option could not be selected. Step by step, we will get this transition completed. This is a great forum with quick and technical support. Way to go, Dell !!
speedstep
9 Legend
•
47K Posts
0
September 16th, 2011 08:00
Older versions of ghost don't like partitions bigger than 80 gigs. Spend $40 or less on a SATAWIRE and use its cloning software.
APRICORN ASW-USB-500 SATA Wire USB Cloning Kit - Dell <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed / replaced from this post by Dell
Manufacturer Part# : ASW-USB-500
Dell Part# : A3663931
Paul Kronfield
6 Posts
0
September 16th, 2011 09:00
OK... mission almost accomplished. I bought the Acronis Disk Director Home and increased the partition from 80 GB to 750 GB. The Acronis tech thought I would not have to run the re-align program as the Disk Director increased the partition size. However, the system, particularly Outlook, seems to run and load slower than before. Could it be that 750 GB partition is slowing down the seek operation, even though it is not fragmented at all? (run Diskeeper Pro). If I would create two partitions, say one 250 GB for the operating system and programs, and the rest for data, would that speed up things?
speedstep
9 Legend
•
47K Posts
0
September 16th, 2011 09:00
I think the 4K alignment is the issue. The Satawire kit has an option for that when cloning.
Satawire kits are $39 or less. I've seen them on sale at Microcenter for $20.
Paul Kronfield
6 Posts
0
September 22nd, 2011 14:00
Well the drive is installed, and used Acronis Disk Director to resize the partition. Pretty cool software. Even purchased their back up program for image backups. Thanks for all the help, guys !!
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
September 22nd, 2011 18:00
It has been our pleasure. Best of luck to you.