I need to replace a Hard Drive - how do I reinstall Wndows 7 OS

[computrix]

OK I found it and am downloading the ISO file from Helidoc site, but I am confused as how to use that Windows Tool, why do I need it why can't I copy the downloaded ISO file to a USB drive and use that ? What does that WIndows Tool do and how do I use that ?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You can't just copy the iso file to a dvd or flash drive.

The tool makes the iso file bootable on either a dvd or flash drive.

Download and run the tool. It will ask you for the location of the iso file. 

Then just follow the on screen instructions.

You can also make a bootable DVD without the tool if your DVD burning program has a Burn ISO File option.

But you have to burn the DVD at the slowest possible speed your DVD burning program allows, or sometimes the DVD doesn't work.

[computrix]

I used that tool to create a bootable USB drive and that worked fine, but now when I try and boot off it,  it comes up wiht a screen to install windows but the mouse does not work and I cannot click on the Accept license terms without a mouse so this has just been a huge waste of time, whatever I saved by buying this Western Digital instead of teh same as the original so I could use my receovery disks have NOT been worth it, we wasted a whole day today and made no porgress

I tell you this has opened our eyes about how bad HP is when you have an issue compared to other vendors that give you teh media

Now I do not know what to do as we wsted a whole day and made no progress , how can I install this if the mouse is not working until windows is installed

[computrix]

OK I got past that using Tab and Spacebar but now it cannot find teh drive it wants a driver which I did not get

I tell you getting this Hard Drive instead of teh Seagate that came wiht teh HP was the worst bit of advice I got from this forum as look at al the issues,   I will try and find a driver btu if I cannot get that to work will send this drive back and pay double for the Seagate drive that came with the HP

Wow what a frustrating day

[computrix]

It is not true that one can use any 3.5 inch SATA  drive with an HP machine, that may work with Dell and other computers that give you the windows media to re -install but not with HP as the recovery disks do not work with other drives except the one that comes with te eHP computer, I have wasted more than a day trying to get this to work off a downloaded ISO image, but it will not work

Now after wasting a whole day I have to remove the Western Digital drive and order a Seagate that came with the HP so I can use the recovery disks

I think the moral of this whole episode is to stay away from HP computers in the future, our Dell computers come with media and great support so its never a problem to re install windows

[mdklassen]

> It is not true that one can use any 3.5 inch SATA  drive with an HP machine

My experience with "other" disk-drives inside HP machines has been entirely positive.

>  other computers that give you the windows media to re -install but not with HP as the recovery disks do not work with other drives except the one that comes with the HP computer

A good "rule-of-thumb" is to buy a replacement disk-drive that has a larger capacity than the original disk-drive.

Other people on this forum have reported "unable to install" when this rule is not followed.

> I have wasted more than a day trying to get this to work off a downloaded ISO image, but it will not work

Use the software recommended to you to "burn" the ISO to DVD-recordable media.

Then, boot your computer from that DVD.

> Now after wasting a whole day I have to remove the Western Digital drive and order a Seagate that came with the HP so I can use the recovery disks.

Good luck.  If the Seagate drive has the same capacity as the W.D. drive, I think that you'll have the same problem.

Hint: find and use a mouse manufactured by Microsoft when trying to install Microsoft Windows.

Hint: on the installation screens, note that one letter of each label on each "button" is underlined, e.g., Next 

On your keyboard, hold down the ALT key, and type the underlined letter, to choose that "button".

[mdklassen]

> I got a message that this hard drive is smaller than original and it cannot proceed . 

> The original drive was 1.5 T and this one is 1 T which is all I need, so what do I do now ? 

Either:

* return the 1.0 TB disk-drive, and purchase a 1.5 TB disk-drive (I prefer SEAGATE and WESTERN DIGITAL), and use your recovery media;

* borrow a 1.5 (or larger) TB disk-drive from a friend, and install Windows to it.

Then, connect your 1.0 TB disk-drive to the computer.

If your 1.0 TB disk-drive is manufactured by SEAGATE, access www.Seagate.com and download the free "MAXBLAST" software.  Use it to copy all the partitions from the 1.5 TB disk-drive to the (empty) 1.0 TB disk-drive.

It will "shrink" the largest partition to "resize" it downwards to fit everything onto the 1.0 TB disk-drive.

Disconnect the 1.5 TB disk-drive.

Boot from the 1.0 TB disk-drive.

If your 1.0 TB disk-drive is manufacturered by WESTERN DIGITAL, access www.wd.com and download their free disk-cloning software, then proceed, as above.

[computrix]

I did use the software from that ISO file I downloaded and made a bootable USB and it starts to work but then it does not recognize the drive, so obviously that ISO version of windows does not have the WD driver or something. I will call WD again tomorrow and if no help will send this back and get an exact replacement for the current drive

I tried to look for a driver on the WD site but could not find one.  They are supposed ot give 30 day install support so we will see.

How do I even know tha that ISO version of WIndows is a good one ?   It is not from a  Microsoft post

I agree with you I am going to retunr this one and get teh Seagate that is an exact match to the one that came with the computer, it is a 1.5 T Seagate Barracuda ST31500341AS

[mdklassen]

>  When I go to teh one with the ISO files it downloads a 1MB file ?  That cannot be right for a wIN OS image.

You're correct.  Run that downloaded 1MB file, to start the download of the ISO file (about 3000 MB in size).

[mdklassen]

> I made a bootable USB and it starts to work

You did not follow the suggestions to burn the ISO to a DVD-recordable disk.

It's a known problem that booting the Windows 7 (not 10) Installer from a USB memory-stick will "fail" at some point.

That's why you were told to burn a DVD.

> but then it does not recognize the drive,

Do you have a smart-phone that can record a video of the installation, up to the point that you see the error-message, and use the "insert a video" button to upload the video to this forum?

Seeing the actual error-message will be helpful.

> obviously that ISO version of windows does not have the WD driver or something.

The required device-drivers for any SATA-interface disk-drive are included in Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10.

So, the "missing" device-driver must be for some other hardware.

> I tried to look for a driver on the WD site but could not find one. 

Correct, because none is needed, other than the device-drivers already available on the installation media.

> How do I even know tha that ISO version of WIndows is a good one ?   It is not from a  Microsoft post

Good question.  I don't have a definitive answer.  Other people seem to have had good experience with that site.