[GLLUG] Preparing an Old Laptop

[Charles Tower]

I just bought an old WinBookXL (PII, 64MB RAM) that might be difficult 
to get running with a modern Linux, but it was cheap.  I would like to 
back up the 2GB hard disk and it's Win2000Pro and MS Office 
installation, so that, if I decide to resell the laptop I can offer it 
just as it is now.  The drive is a little over half full.  It has a 
CD-ROM, not a burner; it has a floppy drive, but I'd hate to back up 
using that.  I hope to use a 512MB flash drive to transfer the backup to 
another hard disk for safekeeping, but I do have a serial cable I could 
use with DirectConnect or whatever they call that LapLink wannabe.  Do 
any of you know of free tools that would allow me to restore the hard 
disk to its current condition, able to boot Win2000Pro and run MS 
Office, after a complete reformatting?  Being able to create back-up 
files no larger than 500MB would be pretty handy, too.

Another question I have concerns hard drives for laptops.  Are they 
standard, so that I could easily get a replacement, and just swap them 
out rather than back up what I have?

                                Chick