Use DD or Time Machine to Upgrade PB 17-inch HDD

[Amethyst1]

I'm sure it would have actually worked, seeing as I can boot both Tiger and Leopard installers from USB, but the performance would be woefully slow, in fact, I might try it later lol

That's the point

 

[bobesch]

Yepp, this is what I should have started with, but my USB SATA to IDE connector didn't get enough power to work on the PowerBook, sadly. So I added an extra step and used a USB stick, worked well in the end lol

As @Amethyst1 said, a USB-Y-cable would have come in handy ...