Old PC new OS: Win7 fails to boot using OEM DVD on clean hard drive

Yep as whs says - use a Linux disc - puppy is nice and small.

You might give the free paragon rescue kit a go - that is very, very small - it even burns itself to cd for you.

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/rk-express/

Boot it , select Normal Mode>File Transfer Wizard.

dhemmin said:

I'm still trying to figure out how top download HD Diagnostics. Been trying Seagate's File recovery program with no luck. Since there are two partitions on the drive Seagate's File recovery sees the first partition - Ubuntu, but fails to see the following partition which has the data I want on it. And no, I can't boot into the Ubuntu partition either.

As suggested I would first copy out my data externally. Did you have any luck with the suggestions made earlier?

gregrocker said:

The secondary HD might have boot code which is interfering. When you plug it back in if it interferes, make sure the new Win7 HD is still set to boot first in BIOS setup. If it still interferes is it likely due to boot sector code which needs wiping. Move the data off externally and wipe the secondary HD with Diskpart Clean Command - you may need to unplug Win7 HD and do this using Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console or Paragon rescue disk to recover data.

You can also try the latter two to see if data is visible on the failed HD. If not you can try repairing it enough to retrieve data using HD maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan followed by Disk Check
if necessary from System Recovery Options Command Line.

If these fail then you can try Recuva - Features