New
#11
OK, now the drive looks like this...
I did not attempt to format the drive. Is it ready to go into the laptop and install Windows 7?
Thanks
Re-purposing an old hard drive
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New #12
Looks OK to me. I'm assuming it's not broken and has the appropriate connectors. Boot from the Windows installation disc. Within a few screens you'll come to one that asks "where do you want to install Windows"? You point Windows to that unallocated space.
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New #13
No worries. I think I may have it! I'm doing a Quick Reply so I can't preview.Sorry if I got in the way.
Cheers
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New #14
Well, it didn't go very well. Perhaps there is a problem with the drive. The installation was "cancelled" and the error message reads....Looks OK to me. I'm assuming it's not broken and has the appropriate connectors. Boot from the Windows installation disc. Within a few screens you'll come to one that asks "where do you want to install Windows"? You point Windows to that unallocated space.
"Windows cannot install required files. Make sure all files required for installation are available, and restart the installation. Error code: 0x8007045D"
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New #15
Describe what you are installing from:
A burned disc your friend gave you?
A factory disk you got from Ebay?
A USB thumb drive with installation files you got somewhere?
A burned disc you made from something?
A factory disk you bought from Best Buy?
Tell us about its pedigree with as much detail as you can provide.
When you begin the installation, you should only have 1 hard drive connected: the one to which you are installing Windows. Any others should be disconnected.
Since this drive was originally in a laptop, it could have some hidden code on it that is interfering. You could get rid of that code.
To what ports is this hard drive connected?Last edited by ignatzatsonic; 01 Aug 2014 at 01:17.
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New #17
See if this helps the process along:
Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7
Create your install media as detailed in Steps# 1 & 2
Read and ask questions first so you get a better idea of what you'll be doing.
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New #18
UPDATE: I have put the disk in question aside because it may have hardware issues. However, I have another disk with the same lineage (former drive C on my laptop). I followed the instructions as recommended and it worked!
Perhaps I should mark this thread as "Solved", but I'm going to press on unless one of you think otherwise.
Windows 7 is running on the laptop and looks good. Thank you. :)
Next, I want to install / Recover a Windows 7 Image I created on this computer to the laptop. I'll deal with the license key later. I'm more interested in the process right now. Here is what the drive looks like when it is attached to this computer.
The disk containing the Image files is now connected to the laptop through a USB enclosure.
When I go through these steps: Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore, under the Restore section I see the message "Windows could not find a backup for this computer". Even though I can see it clearly in Windows Explorer.
If I use the Advanced feature, I can navigate to the folder by simply typing "E:" and it automatically completes the path "E:\WindowsImageBackup". However, when I select the path and it is in the Browse box, the "OK" button will not turn active. My only option is Cancel.
Where do you suppose I have gone wrong?
Cheers
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New #19
If you're interested in the process, it would be better to start with an image from the laptop.
It's not just the licensing you'll have to deal with, it's all of the drivers. Possibly fighting BSODs or other boot issues.
The image you created is not for that laptop and won't be available for restore. The image tags the computer name and probably lots of other information specific to the machine when the image was created.
There might be a way to fool restore, but I don't know it or recommend it.
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New #20
I believe the WindowsImageBackups created by Win 7 are rather different from backups created by third party imaging software such as Acronis or Macrium Reflect. The latter can be restored to any computer - though that doesn't necessarily mean they will work - but system images created by Win 7 are limited to being restored to the computer they were created on. This may be Microsoft trying to protect users from restoring images that aren't suitable,
or just maybe it's to try to stop ppl from cloning licensed installations. 
You could of course re-image using Macrium and do it that way.
Sorry Slartybart, I'm sort of duplicating what you have said, I'm just a lot slower
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