Installing New HD

My HD which has my C: Win 7 on it is giving my problems and I have decided to buy a new one and install Windows 7 on it. == I will install the new drive, boot with my old C:. My problem is how do I make the new drive my C: while the old one still is active as C: I am sure one of you have run across this. Thanks,

You have to make the old one inactive and the new one active. It will become C automatically when it boots from there. You need, of course, change the boot order in the BIOS.

Use the bootable CD of this program for the operation. Go to the Partition tab > Modify.
BEST FREE Partition Manager Software for Windows supports all 32-bit & 64 bit Windows No-server OS.

I do not quite understand how you wil get Win7 on the new drive, but I assume you got that sorted out.

whs said:

You have to make the old one inactive and the new one active. It will become C automatically when it boots from there. You need, of course, change the boot order in the BIOS.

Use the bootable CD of this program for the operation. Go to the Partition tab > Modify.
BEST FREE Partition Manager Software for Windows supports all 32-bit & 64 bit Windows No-server OS.

I do not quite understand how you wil get Win7 on the new drive, but I assume you got that sorted out.

I really don't have anything sorted out. == If I make the old C: inactive, will the computer just shut down at that point? == I can boot from my old C: drive, but my problem is how to make the new drive a C: when I have a the old C: running. If I can change the letters on my new drive to C:, i can just reinstall Win 7. I understand how to make the partitions and physically change the letters, I am at a loss as to how to do it on the PC while it is running. == What will happen if I boot the old C: and then change the letter to W: or will it let me. I could then reinstall windows on the new C:

Once you installed Win7 on the new disk (however you do that is still beyond me from your info), power the system off and boot the CD of Partition Wizard that I linked above - thus no Windows will run. With that you can deactivate the old and activate the new. Then change the boot sequence in the BIOS and reboot.

whs said:

Once you installed Win7 on the new disk (however you do that is still beyond me from your info), power the system off and boot the CD of Partition Wizard that I linked above - thus no Windows will run. With that you can deactivate the old and activate the new. Then change the boot sequence in the BIOS and reboot.

My plan was to change the old C: to a different letter and then reinstall Win 7 on the new C:. There is no way to install Win 7 before I make the old C: inactive or changed to a different letter.

gregrocker said:

It's best to unplug the old HD to install Win7 to the new one.

If you have an Upgrade version. it may reject Product key during install since DVD will not see another OS on system - just leave it blank and after install do the quick registry workaround given here: Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

Then activate at Computer>Properties link.

After install, power down to plug back in old HD to copy over your data. You can boot it if need be using one-time BIOS Boot Menu key at bootup.

Here are some tips for getting a purrfect install: re-install windows 7

Thanks, that clears things a lot. == One more question. After I install Win 7 on the new C:, if I plug back in the old C: drive to get data off, will it cause a problem

Not if you deactivate the old C as I described above. But you could also copy your data asap to an external drive and leave the old HDD unplugged - since you are probably going to trash it anyhow.

Thanks for both of your help.