Hard drive replacement without reinstall software?

[Ben]

Hi everyone,

First of all, let me clarify that my issue is with Windows 7, not Vista. So
pardon me if I am posting to the wrong group.

I have a Windows 7 Home Premium installation on my laptop. It has been
working great, until recently when Windows has detected a hard drive failure
and urges me to replace the hard drive. My question is, if there is any way
I can replace my hard drive without going through the hassle of installing
everything from scratch--I just don't have that kind of time. Some of my
friends suggest ghost, but I am not sure if that is going to work. What are
your thoughts?

Thankds,
Ben

 

[PvdG42]

Hi everyone,

First of all, let me clarify that my issue is with Windows 7, not Vista.
So pardon me if I am posting to the wrong group.

I have a Windows 7 Home Premium installation on my laptop. It has been
working great, until recently when Windows has detected a hard drive
failure and urges me to replace the hard drive. My question is, if there
is any way I can replace my hard drive without going through the hassle of
installing everything from scratch--I just don't have that kind of time.
Some of my friends suggest ghost, but I am not sure if that is going to
work. What are your thoughts?

Thankds,
Ben

Identify the manufacturer of your hard drive (Device Manager should tell
you), then download the utility software they provide for your drive. The
utilities may well include one that allows you to image the drive. It should
also include an analysis tool to check the drive. *If* you have a Seagate
drive, by all means try DiscWizard.

Microsoft web forums for Windows 7 support are here:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/windows7

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/category/w7itpro/