Replacing hard-drive...

Carlimited

My hard-drive crashed on my pc (boo!). I can only afford to replace the drive, and not buy a new computer. Since I only have recovery discs that came with the machine (it's an HP), I will have to also get a new copy of Windows (I have been told that recovery discs rely on a clean copy of Windows that is hidden on the hard-drive (that is now useless)). Is this going to be a "easy" as installing the new drive, and then booting from the new version of Windows (the CD), and then changing the boot order in the BIOS once the operating system is installed? I understand that I will need to install video/sound/network card drivers, but I have also heard that I will have to install MOTHERBOARD drivers. Is that true, and if so, how can I install these drivers when I have no operating system installed??? Will the new copies of Windows have all the "basic" drivers for me to at least get this thing up and running? For the record, I am thinking of sticking with Windows 7, as I have heard that Windows 8 is designed mainly for touch-screen computers. Any help would be appreciated. I am SOMEWHAT techy, but please go easy on the nerdy stuff-thanks!

the_syco

Tell us what it says on all of the CDs/DVDs that you got with the machine. All may not be lost. Also name what HP model you have. Someone may be able to point you towards a legit HP site that has the OEM windows which only work on HP machines.

Carlimited

It doesn't say anything on them-I had to burn my own when I bought the machine (I was only allowed to burn one set). So, I guess technically they didn't send discs at all-I had to use the "Recovery Manager" utility to create them. I have used them before though. When the drive crashed, the bios didn't even recognize it in the boot order, but it DID say "Windows is loading files", and then there was an error screen that said it needed the installation media to boot from. I was HOPING that the statement "Windows is loading files" is some type of boot-disc application (I had to install a new hard-drive once before, but I had a boot-disc).

the_syco

Carlimited wrote: »

It doesn't say anything on them-I had to burn my own when I bought the machine (I was only allowed to burn one set).

Hrm. You should be fine if you get a new hard drive, and then install from the discs. It'll be trial and error to see which is the first one if you have nothing written on them, though.

=-=

Your location is Windsor, Ontario, so maybe check out RadioShack (I get their spam for some reason), and the Western Digital 1TB drive is $68. It's about 3 or 4 dollars more expensive than the the 500GB version.

Skatedude

You will probably see a prompt during booting to hit f9 to start recovery, or something similer.

riclad

IT should have most of the drivers ,built in,to the windows install disk.
GO to hp support ,laptops, your model,drivers,
eg hp model 2390gh for example, drivers ,download.
IF you knew someone with the same pc,
you could copy, the restore file from the drive,
I have a hp laptop, my restore file is about 5.5gig windows vista.
You,d also have to make a restore partition on the hardrive to store the file in.
Not in the primary boot partition.
MY experience with windows 7,is it installs 99 per cent of drivers,on a pc,
it may be necessary ,to download 1 or 2 drivers ,from hp support .
I,M missing 3 drivers ,from my sony vaio laptop , after win7 ,reinstall.For bluetooth ,etc but i,m not gonna bother to download em,as they are for devices i do not use.

Carlimited

Maybe I'm not making myself clear enough. I have to REPLACE my existing hard-drive with a new one. The drive will, of course, be empty. The recovery discs that I have are numbered (1-3). My question is, do I just install the new empty hard-drive, and then boot from the recovery disc that I have (#1)? Are there such a thing as "motherboard drivers"? If I have to buy a new operating system, will the new CD have all of the drivers needed to at least get this thing up and running?

riclad

IF you made those recovery disk from the pc,
before the hard drive crashed ,
they,ll reinstall the windows operating system on the new drive.
They,ll should also install all the drivers you need as part of the install process.
The problem i see is you may need to format the drive,
full ntfs format before you install the os.
OR recovery disk 1 may format the drive ,before it installs the os.

http://ntfs.com/


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It's a bootable CD/DVD/USB disk that allows you to boot up any computer and fix most startup and PC configuration problems. Full access to non-bootable PC Image-based physical or logical disks backup and restore. Lost folders and files recovery. Create, delete, format partitions on SSD/IDE/ATA/SATA/SCSI hard disk drives Deleted partition recovery by editing partition table


see here.

Create, delete, format partitions on SSD/IDE/ATA/SATA/SCSI hard disk drives

YOU could make a livecd , active boot disk,
use it to format, the drive.

Fits on 1 cdr disc.

OR just put in the recovery disks,
see does it format the new drive as part of the recovery process.


I THINK those discs are the same as the files on my hp laptop,
recovery partition,
ie contain a full copy of the os,
plus all the drivers needed,
eg motherboard, chipset drivers.

i went thru the recovery process 3 weeks ago,
Took 35 minutes ,
complete os reinstall, including all drivers ,
from the recovery partition.
I pressed start recovery, partition 1, ok,
pressed a few buttons, that was it.
Then i downloaded all the security updates,turned on the firewall,
installed avast antivirus ,free,
Chrome browser,firefox, browser , vlc player ,
and thats all i did.

Full NTFS format of a 300gig drive takes about 20 minutes.

Carlimited

I've done the "normal reformat" before (I usually do it once a year just to clean it up). I'm just going to try to put the new disc in, and then hope the recovery discs can do what they're supposed to do. Thanks for the site/info!

riclad

http://www.ebay.ie/sch/sis.html?_kw=Windows+7+Ultimate+SP1+Dell+Installation+32+and+64bit+Disc%27s+%2B+COA+key+%21%21%21

Try the recovery disks,see what happens.
if YOU WERE to buy windows 7 ,
i think it would have all the drivers built in to the dvd disk.
I cannot gaurantee that you might need to download 1 or 2 drives from hp,support,
Post back here if you need more advice.

The last new pc i bought was a hp, about 3 years ago.

Carlimited

Thanks!!!

Clearlier

Windows will have at least basic drivers for most of your equipment. BTW you don't mention how you know that it's the hard drive. It would be unfortunate to spend the money on a new one to discover that something else is causing the problem.

riclad

See here ,

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&docname=c01867418#N712
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&docname=c01867418
PrintPrint

read from,
middle of the webpage.

Recovery from recovery discs

i have used recovery discs on a hp pc, and it worked out fine.

Carlimited

Clearlier wrote: »

Windows will have at least basic drivers for most of your equipment. BTW you don't mention how you know that it's the hard drive. It would be unfortunate to spend the money on a new one to discover that something else is causing the problem.

The hard-drive isn't spinning (the light flashed once on start-up), so I know it's getting power. It also isn't getting recognized by the bios (it's not in the boot options).

Clearlier

Carlimited wrote: »

The hard-drive isn't spinning (the light flashed once on start-up), so I know it's getting power. It also isn't getting recognized by the bios (it's not in the boot options).

Does sound like the Hdd. Have you swap tested to make sure that it's not the controller on the Mbb?

riclad

THE new hard drive is not detected?
You may have a faulty motherboard,
plug out ,sata data cable,from drive,
and the motherboard,
the plug it back in.
IS the dvd drive detected.
go to bios.
set Autodetect all hard drives, ON.

First switch off pc,
take power cable out of power socket,
cos power Still goes thru pc ,when its knocked off.



I there any other drive you can try.?
IF there,s a fault in the motherboard ,
it could DAMAGE any drive you connect to the pc.

IF i plug a SD card reader into my sony laptop,thru the usb port it destroys the reader .
Otherwise it works fine .

Carlimited

No, I don't have a spare drive to swap it out. I'll just keep it anyway if it's something else-HDD's are cheap enough nowadays anyway.

riclad

IF you have two broken hard drives ,its likely, you have something faulty in the pc,
probably the motherboard .Which is damaging hard drives plugged in to it.
I have to plug sd cards into a pc to put music on them, as my laptop damages them .
otherwise my laptop works fine.

riclad

My advice is, download a live cd,
eg linux live cd pc 32bit , fits on 1 cdr disk.
You can use it to browse ,the web, play music, and maybe test if the pc is working normally.
it can be booted from a usb 1gig drive,or a cd disk.

See
http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.10/
click pc x86 desktop link to download the iso is 699meg.
burn iso ,at 2 x speed, use burn image file ,in imgburn program to make the
livecd bootdisk .

bonzodog2

OP, have you tried booting from your recovery disc #1 ?

riclad

I think he has not got a hardrive that,s working normally,
at the moment, so no point in booting up the recovery disc,s .

Carlimited

I do NOT have a new hard-drive yet, as I haven't had the time to attempt anything. All I ever wanted was to know if the discs that came with the computer (recovery discs) would have enough information on them to put the OS back on the NEW hard-drive (just as if I had done a system recovery, which I have done a few times before). A few years ago, I changed hard-drives, but I had a boot-disc (it was for Windows XP), but the new hard-drive accepted the recovery discs. And, if THAT wasn't an option, would there be enough information on a Windows 7 (or 8) disc to get the machine up and running, as I have been told that there are motherboard drivers needed (not including the vidoe or audio etc drivers). I'll keep you all informed!!!