New Hard Drive

[y2ktiger]

Hello

Am running win7 on an HP desktop; recently the HD has started to churn when turning the comp ON, but is alright after the initial start, running a bit slower as well; no new progs or peris added; NOW if I replace the HD with a new one, would I be able to run the recovery DVD's on the new HD ? Thx

Nick

ps: linney > Nice to know a familiar name

 

[BadBigBen]

that would depend on what type of Recovery CD it is... some manufacturers create a separate partition, where all the data is stored, and use the Recov. CD to access that area, now with a new drive that area is not there and would therefor not work...

My suggestion: Image the drive over to the new one, and remove the old one...

Free Image Tool & Partition Manager:

GParted found on some Linux LiveCDs, e.g.

http://partedmagic.com/

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[linney]

Hello.

I have a Retail DVD, so in my case if I had a new hard drive (and ignoring the fact that my partitions are regularly imaged) one option that I would have is to reinstall the operating system as per normal. As Ben has stated if your hard drive contains any Recovery Partition then that would go the way of the old hard drive.

So the answer is to make an Image of what you have while you still can. I could be wrong here but I always thought that if you purchase a new hard drive, it came with such software necessary to copy the old to the new, or that such applications would be available on the manufacturers web site.

Besides a failing hard drive the reason your machine is slowing down maybe is because the hard drive is using the slower PIO Mode rather than the faster DMA Mode due to all the errors.

Troubleshooting: Enabling/Checking DMA in Windows Vista, XP, 2000, Me, 9x

http://club.myce.com/f61/troublesho...ndows-vista-xp-2000-me-9x-101616/#post1712831

 

[stduc]

linney,

Personally I have never received any software with a new internal HDD. You can normally download a self booting diagnostic image (floppy and/or CD ISO) from the manufacturers website.

I don't believe you get the DMA info in Windows 7 - I think it works a different way. I'm not sure though. All I can say for sure is I don't see it!

I agree with most other posters. Image the entire drive, replace it and copy the image back. Use a bootable CD/DVD to do the imaging so you are not imaging a running system. Norton Ghost, Shadow Protect, Acronis and for free EASUS all offer the capability to so this.

[navy]When I married "Miss Right" I didn't realise her first name was 'always'. LOL[/navy]

 

[stduc]

I don't believe you get the DMA info in Windows 7 - I think it works a different way. I'm not sure though. All I can say for sure is I don't see it!

Forget I wrote that - I have all SATA - I can't have been fully awake!

[navy]When I married "Miss Right" I didn't realise her first name was 'always'. LOL[/navy]

 

[y2ktiger]

Linney > BigBen > Stduc

Thx to all; haven't imaged a drive before but shall try and find a free version and give it a shot, hope I do it right

Nick

 

[linney]

See what comes with Windows 7, you should be able to create a System Image with what is already installed.

Back up your programs, system settings, and files

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/windows7/Back-up-your-programs-system-settings-and-files

 

[stduc]

Your easiest solution I think would be to download & install the Acronis free trial. Build & burn the bootable CD. Install the new HDD but do not format it. Boot to the Acronis CD and select the clone option. Clone the old HD to the new one. The drives do not even have to be the same size.

If that fails - and I have found Acronis to be a real pain at times then I would try EASUS - which is free.

From person experience though I have found shadowprotect, from Storagecraft to be the most reliable and flexible imaging tool I have used. They too do a free trial.

[navy]When I married "Miss Right" I didn't realise her first name was 'always'. LOL[/navy]

 

[y2ktiger]

Hello
Alright this is the thing ~ For a backup/clone tried to use windows prog for system backup without any success, tried the EaseUs backup prog and it worked fine, now I have an exact copy of my existing HD in case of a failure.
Thx to all for your input. Nick