Laptop drives/ram/possibly OS upgrade advice needed please

b52 · 20 Nov 2013

Oh of course gregrocker, I should have thought of that (the System image bit, though I wasn't aware that you could backup complete computer!). I'll have a look at the links you've given, thank you.

So where does the cloned hard drive come in? Earlier in this post, I was advised to clone the laptop's hard drive to an external one, then clone it back again.

And you probably don't remember, but I use HD Clone - I find it easy to use and am accustomed to how it works. Plus I don't want to do a clean re-install, same as before. Actually the laptop runs pretty well now, not much wrong with the setup or the hard drive except that it's only 500GB (451gb actual).

gregrocker · 20 Nov 2013

The point of cloning is from the source disk to the target disk, not to an intermediary. That's how imaging is done.

If you've got a perfect install then use your choice of cloning app to clone it to the new HD. After cloning if it won't start then unplug all other HD's, make sure the Win7 or its 100mb System Reserved partition (preferred if you have it) is Partition Marked Active then run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times until Win7 starts.

b52 · 21 Nov 2013

Thanks gregrocker for an excellent straightforward reply.

I'm hopeful of course that the cloned drive will function perfectly when swapped for the existing hard drive, but your links to 'marking a partition active' and 'system repair' are very useful just in case the worst happens - thank you.

I do a full backup of the laptop daily and create a system repair disc as and when necessary anyway so I understand how the repair disc in particular can help - and I always have one ready to use whenever it may be needed.

Only trouble is I'll have to print the 'activate partition' link out as I won't remember the guide if anything does go wrong! Got a couple of busy days coming up so I'll clone, swap and see what happens early next week - and hopefully mark all as solved