[GLLUG] Preparing an Old Laptop

[Matt Graham]

On Sunday 21 January 2007 23:23, after a long battle with technology, 
Charles Tower wrote:
> I just bought an old WinBookXL (PII, 64MB RAM).  I would like to back 
> up the 2GB hard disk and it's Win2000Pro and MS Office
> installation

They fit 2K and MS Office on a 2G disk?  Whoa.

> 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

Don't do that.  Serial is slooow.  It might be easier/better/involve 
less sneakernetting if you put in a PCMCIA NIC.

> 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.

partimage will do this.  It has an option to split its backup files into 
files of N meg in size, and to wait after each volume change.  I think 
it'll allow you to umount a backup medium and sneakernet it somewhere.  
If it doesn't, time to hook up a PCMCIA NIC.

> Another question I have concerns hard drives for laptops.  Are they
> standard, so that I could easily get a replacement

The vast majority of laptops use 2.5" disks with a modified IDE pinout, 
though this is changing as newer laptops are using SATA 2.5" disks.  
The thing to worry about is whether the laptop's BIOS will accept disks 
that are larger than a certain size.  You should be OK up to 8G and 
probably 32G, unless the manufacturers were evil and put 
a "compatability list" in the BIOS so the machine will only work with 
certain models of disk.  That and swapping out 2.5" disks on some 
models of laptop (iBook) is a complete PITA.  HTH,

-- 
  ...many people in this group spent their school years taking pointless
  orders from morons and having their will to live crushed.  And people
  say school doesn't prepare kids for the real world.  --Rayner, in ASR
There is no Darkness in Eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see