Dead Drive-Have Backup Image-How to Reinstall?

[Perumexican]

Hello all,

I've found a lot of good info here, but I could still use a little more help. I'm pretty sure the hard drive on my 6-year-old desktop just died. The computer had been turning off for no reason lately. I went into the BIOS after a "Disk boot failure" and there was no hard drive listed. That computer's on Windows 7 professional and was using an ATA-100/IDE hard drive. I imagine I have to install Windows 7 on the new drive and then load up the backup image (on 5 DVDs!), correct? I would also like to upgrade the new drive to SATA (looks like I need a PCI card for that). Would my backup image fail to load if I change the type of drive I use?

Thanks!

 

[Desslok]

Hello all,

). Would my backup image fail to load if I change the type of drive I use?

Thanks!

Which software did you use to take the image? Some, like Acronis, can restore to different hardware, although you may need to change the AHCI setting in BIOS. Or did you use the builtin windows backup?

 

[Perumexican]

Thanks for the quick reply! I used the backup feature that comes with Windows 7 to create a system image.

 

[not so gray matter]

I don't think it'll work if you use a SATA drive. Are you certain your drive is dead?

Use Ultimate Boot CD to run hard drive diagnostics outside of Windows.

 

[Perumexican]

I don't think it'll work if you use a SATA drive. Are you certain your drive is dead?

Use Ultimate Boot CD to run hard drive diagnostics outside of Windows.

I'll try that. I had figured I'd need a new drive anyways, though, because 160gb is too small these days. Thanks for your opinion on the SATA.

 

[Perumexican]

I reseated the connections and I'm typing from the desktop! I'm going to get new cables, but I do want to get a new drive and move everything over. A question I still have is if I make a Windows 7 system image (with the program that comes with the OS), should I install Windows 7 on the new drive and then load the image?

 

[cokeonice]

I don't think it'll work if you use a SATA drive. Are you certain your drive is dead?

Use Ultimate Boot CD to run hard drive diagnostics outside of Windows.

I'll try that. I had figured I'd need a new drive anyways, though, because 160gb is too small these days. Thanks for your opinion on the SATA.

Definitely run any HD diag tool to include the one recommended to determine if the drive is bad. If the drive works then all you need to do is a fresh Win7 install and then restore your backup. If you feel the 160gb is not big enough you can still add another drive.

If you want or have to get a new drive you can still get ATA/100 500gb.

If you would prefer to go with the faster SATA drives and your motherboard does not have SATA ports, then you will need a PCI SATA Contoller.

If you end up going SATA and install Win7, you should be able to restore your data (image) without any problems. Even if there is a problem, you are at no greater loss than you are now (a system that does not have your old image on it that works).

Once you do get your Win7 PC back up and running, I recommend that you have a second drive or at the least a different partition to store your data (not OS and software). Then you can back up just the data separately. That way, if your system fails, you can always reload Windows and your programs and not have to worry about losing data.

--- edit ---
Our postings crossed! Glad you fixed it!

 

[gregrocker]

To apply the Win7 backup image to your new HD, initialize it if required when connected, then boot Win7 DVD REpair console or Repair CD, select "Recover using a System Image," let the app auto-detect your image file on attached external, then point it to the new HD to reimage.

If this fails, then you'll have to do a clean install.

If you don't want to take the chance that reimaging your new HD will fail, make a second backup image using another imaging app like free Macrium Reflect or the cloning software that is often included with a new HD either on disk or downloaded from maker's Support Downloads webpage - this will let you directly clone one HD to the other.

 

[Perumexican]

To apply the Win7 backup image to your new HD, initialize it if required when connected, then boot Win7 DVD REpair console or Repair CD, select "Recover using a System Image," let the app auto-detect your image file on attached external, then point it to the new HD to reimage.

If this fails, then you'll have to do a clean install.

If you don't want to take the chance that reimaging your new HD will fail, make a second backup image using another imaging app like free Macrium Reflect or the cloning software that is often included with a new HD either on disk or downloaded from maker's Support Downloads webpage - this will let you directly clone one HD to the other.

Thanks, Greg! I see you're in L.A. I miss it, man. I'm a native Angeleno and I last lived in Torrance. I've been in NC for the last 4 years now and suffering from Fry's withdrawal.