Win 7 to new hard drive

bones1 said:

Hello, which drives are you referring too here?

I'm referring to the original OS drive to be imaged then replaced
and
the new clean HDD which will become the replacement.

But if you have other drives connected, I suggest you disconnect the sata cables on all of them until the process is completed.

Yes 132GB I'm imaging, thanks for the help so far....Windows Imaging was almost completed but just crapped on me so I'm just gonna use Macrium and back up all 3 at once to my HDD

Also, will be removing my current HDD and putting in the exact replacement, and my external hdd will be connected for the imaging part

wbeans said:

Yes 132GB I'm imaging, thanks for the help so far....Windows Imaging was almost completed but just crapped on me so I'm just gonna use Macrium and back up all 3 at once to my HDD

Also, will be removing my current HDD and putting in the exact replacement, and my external hdd will be connected for the imaging part

If you have a system reserved say "Yes" when Macrium askes to replace the MBR. Say "No" for the other partitions.
If you have no Sys reserved and just the one OS system partition say "Yes" to MBR replacement here and "No" elsewhere.

You may (????) need to format the new HDD first when using Macrium for everything.

By the way what error did Windows imaging give you?

Shouild be able to restore macrium images directly without needing to partition/format the drive.

Well from what my parents just told me the imaging through Macrium failed too. I already got all the files I need backed up, might need a few more.

When I get the new HDD can I just use the recovery disk I burned to re-install Win7?

When you get back to your computer post a screen shot from "Disk Management" - type it in the lower left search box. Use the snipping tool on windows which makes a jpeg. Click on the little paper click on the posting screen to upload.
Many systems have a small 100MB partition with no letter which can be seen in Disk Management but not windows explorer. It contains important boot files and Windows looks after it.
If Windows imaging is going to play up on you just stick with Macrium. Take note of my earlier instructions with regard to the MBR. The MBR is an important 512 bytes at the very beginning of your HDD. It also contains vital information about the disk and is also important for booting. Macrium always automatically keeps a copy of this and you just need to make sure you tell Macrium to put a copy of it back on your new HDD.

Like I said, the Macrium failed too

wbeans said:

Like I said, the Macrium failed too

Missed your post in between typing.
Well that's a worry! Maybe your HDD is very sick indeed and the cause of image failures by 2 different apps..

The system repair disk will not reinstall Windows 7. If you made recovery disks when you bought the PC then they should restore to factory condition. Failing that for a modest cost order the restore/recovery disks from the manufacturer.
If it was in warranty you'd let them fix the lot.

When you get your PC running again I would strongly recommend you try using both Windows imaging and Macrium. I don't want to preach but imaging should be done periodically as part of general backup.