Hard Drive Question

[kalysto]

Hello! I was wondering if anyone could give me a little advice? My current hard drive appears to be on its' last legs and I need to find a replacement. I saved all my My Documents files onto CD, but the rest, I really have no clue. The comp. tech at the local store said something about cloning the drive to a new one, but it sounded like a rip for the price.

Anyway, is it just as easy to reinstall fresh on a new HD (I've never installed Windows or anything myself before)? Will all the drivers and such just download from Windows Update? Are there any settings or files in particular I should save elsewhere before installing a new drive? It's all a bit daunting the first time.

 

[Trekker4747]

I'd say it's a wash to either clone the drive or to reinstall everything. I'd say to avoid any conflicts or errors (Windows *really* hates change!) I'd just back up the files you need and on the new HDD install Windows fresh.

Windows XP right?

Just set your CMOS to boot from the CD-ROM first and have the XP Disc in the drive when you first start up the new computer. You shouldn't have to do much else other than answer a few dialogue boxes/prompts to start the install process.

Unless you buy the exact same hard drive again, Windows may just get frustrated on dealing with a new file structure, size, number of sectors, etc.

It's possible and it may well work, but in my mind it's always easier to start fresh. Good chances are there could be virii, spyware and other stuff on the old drive that you may not really want. If you're going to get a new drive you might as well start off 100% fresh.

 

[ATimson]

Will all the drivers and such just download from Windows Update?

No. At a minimum, you'll need to get network card drivers ahead of time, so that you can download whatever other drivers Windows needs. (It might find the network card on its own. But if it doesn't, and you didn't burn the drivers to a CD, you're up a creek.)

 

[Trekker4747]

Will all the drivers and such just download from Windows Update?

No. At a minimum, you'll need to get network card drivers ahead of time, so that you can download whatever other drivers Windows needs. (It might find the network card on its own. But if it doesn't, and you didn't burn the drivers to a CD, you're up a creek.)

The latest version of XP, though, should have enough generic drivers to get the main components to work until the proper drivers can be downloaded from discs or the internet.

If not you can hook up the old hard drive as a second hard-drive and direct windows to get drivers from it. But I suspect Windows will have little trouble getting drivers to at least allow the network card/modem, video card, and other "necessary" components to work.

 

[ATimson]

The latest version of XP, though, should have enough generic drivers to get the main components to work until the proper drives can be downloaded from discs or the internet.

Most stuff, yeah: video cards (though probably only at 640x480), mouse/keyboard... but I've had terrible luck with network cards. (Wired ones, I mean--I know it's not even remotely fair to consider wireless ones!

 

[Trekker4747]

The latest version of XP, though, should have enough generic drivers to get the main components to work until the proper drives can be downloaded from discs or the internet.

Most stuff, yeah: video cards (though probably only at 640x480), mouse/keyboard... but I've had terrible luck with network cards. (Wired ones, I mean--I know it's not even remotely fair to consider wireless ones!

Hmmm. Can't recall ever having a problem with Windows 98 or XP and network card drivers back when I used to build computers for a "business."

Not completely impossible, I guess.

 

[kalysto]

Thanks for the replies, guys! I'm running WinXP at the moment. So I should try to find some of the drivers and burn them beforehand, just in case? Same for the service packs? Downloading anything on dial-up is a real pain in the rear. Thanks for the help!

 

[ATimson]

Hmmm. Can't recall ever having a problem with Windows 98 or XP and network card drivers back when I used to build computers for a "business."

Not completely impossible, I guess.

Could also be that XP hates the network cards used by Dell and whatever local place built the white-box computers for the school district I worked for before they switched to Dell.

 

[ATimson]

Thanks for the replies, guys! I'm running WinXP at the moment. So I should try to find some of the drivers and burn them beforehand, just in case? Same for the service packs? Downloading anything on dial-up is a real pain in the rear. Thanks for the help!

Drivers, yes; service packs can probably wait (especially since that'll let you only download the necessary components, and not the entire thing).

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Just reformatted & reinstalled XPx64 (a few times over due to problems unrelated to XP). I always had to run my Intel CDROM to get the ethernet adapter recognized and working. Wouldn't connect otherwise.

And to reiterate something I suggested in another thread, have 2 physical HDDs and "move" My Documents to the second one, that way it's safe if your main drive crashes or just needs reformatting.

 

[Saturn0660]

It's that Intel network card... same on my daughters Gateway

 

[GMac]

Yeah, Intel NICs can be a bit of a pain when it comes to XP, as it doesn't support them natively (unlike most Realteks, 3Coms and other popular makes). You'll be OK as long as you have the motherboard CD. It's also a good idea to get the latest service pack downloaded before hand (as it's well over 300MB - not something you want to have to drag down via dial-up!) along with those for your video card as they'll be newer than the ones you got originally on CD.

GM