hard drive died, no system backup on W7

[charlieburgess]

On boot get "hard drive failure imminent".  Kid's computer and no backups.  Was able to use W7 backup to save C: and D:, but not able to do "system" backup.  Was also able to create recovery disk on CD.

Bought new hard drive but can't reinstall W7 Home Premium as I don't have the disks.  Do I have any alternative other than finding a copy of W7 and  purchasing it?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

This site claims to have genuine, unadulterated W7 ISO files for download...

https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-iso-download-tool

Click on the link labeled Windows ISO Downloader.exe

You can use either the:

 Win 7 Home SP1 or the (Retail version, but the  OEM key on your PC's case will work with it)

 Win 7 Home SP1 COEM (This version would be for what HP would have used--System Builder)

N is for European countries.

K is for South Korean markets.

Then you can use this tool to transfer the file to a 4 GB USB flash drive or a DVD.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool

[charlieburgess]

Paul,

This worked - was able to DL W7, 64-bit, and install it.  Thanks for the help.

However, it got a lot better.  New 3TB drive ran afoul of the 2.19 TB limit for the computer's motherboard/bios.  Went back to a 2TB drive to get around this.

Next encountered the MS update bug which caused MS Windows update to either take a *very* long time to search for and return recommended updates or to loop (don't know which - gave up at 20 hours).  Went to the MS fix for this - used the Offline Update patch.  Had to get it by using a working computer and stashing the resulting patch on a thumb drive. 

Anyway, computer seems to be up and running now, so thanks.

Charlie

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Charlie.

Since your PC does not have a UEFI BIOS, you can't use a drive > 2 TB as a boot drive and use all the space.

Glad you also got Windows Update to work because that has been plaguing a lot of people nowadays.

I have recently provided forum members with this suggestion to fix that issue, which I cobbled together from other forum members' suggestions, and replies as to what worked, and what didn't. 

So far, I have been 2 for 2 on this...

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Operating-Systems-and-Recovery/problem-with-windows-7-update-on...