DV7T-5000 Dead HDD to SSD Swap Issues

[The_One]

I have an HP DV7T-5000 from 2010 running W7 Home and trying to replace the semi-dead original hard drive with a new Samsung 860 Evo SSD.

4 years ago the hard drive started having problems and I just recently decided to try to fix.  The computer would take a long time to boot up and it would freeze in about 10 minutes requiring a hard restart.  Ran the HP diagnostics and it was pointing to a SMART hard drive fault. I created recovery discs using HP Recovery Manager.

I swapped out the hard drive and put the first of 8 total recovery discs in to allow the system to boot.  I went with the minimized system image option to avoid the bloatware.  After getting through all the discs, a screen popped up stating the computer may reboot several times.  I removed the CD, then continued, but a screen came up saying no boot disc was present.  I reinserted the disc and it brought me to the recovery manager again.  

I tried the minimzed image again but no luck.  I am now trying the system recovery and will see what happens.  

If the hard drive wouldnt die in 10 minutes, I would clone it, but I'm forced to use the recovery discs.  

Any suggestions on what to do, or things I missed?  

[Lil_Boy_Blue]

Hi

Sometimes the Recovery is mapped to a particular size and partition layout, and swapping a drive means it is a no-go.

 

Maybe you could create a Repair/Rebuild/Recovery/Re-Install disk from the above site?

[The_One · Accepted solution]

Looks like the HP recovery manager didn't like the SSD, so I ended up doing the following:

1) Purchased  the cheapest USB flash drive I can to boot off of that.  I got a $4  16 GB Sandisk USB.  

2) Went to Microsofts SW page from a different computer and used their tool to use the USB to boot off of and install the OS

3) Plugged USB into DV7 and went into BIOS to check if I can use the AHIC option, but I couldn't find it anywhere

4) Changed the boot order to USB first

5) Started computer and went through OS setup; when it asked for the product key, I put in the Windows 7 key on the bottom of my laptop and it took it just fine

6) When computer restarted, I went back into bios and changed the boot order to hard drive first and proceeded with normal login

It's great to have this back up and running.  I'll be making another post for the dead battery.