New laptop or replace HDD?

[CJinIN]

Thanks. How do I pm you when it arrives? I am fairly software literate but not as much with hardware.

Also I bought an external DVD drive over a year ago, so I will continue to limp along with that for now.

I'd love a new laptop but if I can manage for another year or two with this one then I will.

[CJinIN]

And I have windows 7 if that makes a difference?

[Huffer]

Windows 7 works with SSDs but restoring Windows 7 is a bit harder. Do you by any chance have the HP recovery disk the system offers to make for you when you first turn on the laptop? I ask but almost sure you do not...almost no one does. 

Did you ever have Windows 10 when they were offering the free upgrade? If not don't worry we can get you a Windows 7 restore disk. 

[CJinIN]

I don't have the Windows 7 restore disk.  I never upgraded to Windows 10 - I heard too many scary stories and just decided not to get it until I absolutely had to, and maybe they'd have all the bugs worked out by then.

Also, is anything that wasn't on my external hard drive gone?  I think I only had some pictures on there, but I had migrated most of them to Google Photos and have quite a bit on DVDs that I had saved in the last few years.

I made a backup almost every  month onto my external hard drive, of documents, older photos etc - I just did a system backup, I believe the end of July.

[Huffer]

Odds are data can still be retrieved from the old drive. Rarely do they go completely bad but it is not impossible it is completely dead. We get the new hard drive put in, get Windows reinstalled on it and we can see what can be retrieved from the old drive. You get a usb to SATA adapter and plug the old drive in like your external to scavenge data off of it. Likely it is in too bad of shape to copy wholesale, however. If all else fails I have a copy of Windows 7 I can send you if you PM me. You use the Key Code on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop or in the battery bay. If the Code has become illegible now we have a little bit of a problem on our hands. 

[CJinIN]

On the PM page it shows this:

Beware of fake HP Support

Be alert for scammers who may be posing as HP support representatives, particularly those who claim to be “HP Helpdesk”. Only call numbers from people who have a  on their profile page.

I don't see the little HP with the gray box around it on your profile page?

[CJinIN]

I'm not trying to say you ARE a scammer.  I just don't understand the little HP/gray box, since your profile doesn't have it?

[Huffer]

If I were a scammer I would have tried to sell you something...I never did. Also I would give you an 800 or other toll-free number which I did not. I told you to buy your own parts from amazon and have a local shop do the work. That would not be a very good business model for a scammer. I did give you a phone number to call me or have the shop call me so I can figure out if they really have the chops to do the work. If you are concerned, don't use the number. 

[CJinIN]

We had corresponded via PM after I sent that reply earlier.  I was already convinced.  🙂