Replacing a dead laptop HD.

[Mustang_Cougar]

The 250GB HD on my wife's Compaq Presario CQ60-215DX died last week. Being as she hardly uses this laptop anyway...not to mention, it's a piece of junk...I didn't want to spend all that much to fix it (she essentially uses it for photo storage & manipulation). Anyway, I decided to replace it w/a 160GB WD HD from Newegg that I got on sale ($30); my main reason for going w/a smaller than OEM drive is that she won't remotely get close to filling the new drive up.

Well, I think I might have screwed up. I've read on a few forums (HP, amongst others) that using the factory recovery disk to reinstall the OS only works when you replace the dead HD w/a similar or larger sized drive. Can anybody verify that? And if so, what is the reasoning behind it?

BTW: The OS is Vista.

Thanks,

M_C

 

[Scorch]

As long as it is a physical disc you are fine, the serial number for the vista installation should be on the disc package or on the bottom of the notebook. Pop it in there and hold whatever key is used to boot from CD/DVD. I have replaced the HDD in this current laptop 4 separate times; originally a 60GB seagate that failed, replaced with a 120GB WD, then replaced with a Hitachi 320GB, now currently a WD 60GB as I wanted the 320 to make my own external portable drive. All 4 times I re-installed Windows XP from the disc with no problems, a couple of times had to call customer support for a key to install since I used it so many times. I have also installed Vista and Windows 7 on here from recovery discs from other PC's.

To make it simple: You will have no problems! If you do come back and I'm sure I can help you find a work-a-round.

 

[Mustang_Cougar]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't want to try this out (smaller HD w/Vista reinstall), have it fail and not be able to return the HD to Newegg for a larger one.

Drive should be here today, recovery disk(s) later this week. I'm pretty sure I'll be extending this thread...

 

[OVERKILL]

An OEM disk will work in a pinch with the key that is on the bottom of the laptop.

 

[Scorch]

No problem, will keep an eye on this thread in case you have any questions!

 

[ahoier]

if you got the OEM "Recovery Disks" you are GOLDEN dude......now, on the other hand, my last HP, and eMachines I had....they claimed to have a "hidden recovery partition" that hogged 2 GB of my HDD space.....Well....I got a virus, and it obviously corrupted the HDD, to include this "recovery partition" - so I was pretty much "out of luck" - they charged me $20 for "Recovery CDs" to re-load Windows onto the box, since the desktop did Not come with actual "disks" but simply this "recovery partition".....


As long as you got the recovery CD/DVDs....you should be "OK" - Windows MAY set a "red flag" seeing that you "upgraded" your HDD size......so you may need to call them up and explain yes it's your copy of Windows, the PC just crashed so you upgraded the hardware (new HDD) and they will activate your code manually....

But I've never ran into this "headache" of having to phone MS to "activate" Windows over the phone simply for changed hard ware, BUT have heard of it happening.

 

[AandPDan]

The answer depends upon what disk you are using.

If it's OEM Windows, you shouldn't have any trouble.

If it's a Dell Recovery CD, you may have problems. Most manufactures, Dell, Lenovo, IBM, etc. have a hidden recovery partition on the hard drive with the original installation files. If you didn't back this up, the Dell Recovery CD won't be able to run as it won't find the source files.

Seriously though, who wants most of that junk. Just use your Windows CD. You can download any drivers you might need from Dells website later.

Good luck.

 

[Mustang_Cougar]

Just a little update: Installation was easy-peasy!

1) ~2 minutes pulling old drive & installing new one;

2) Put the first HP Recovery disk in, a few instructions to follow, second disk in, all is well.

Surprisingly, I didn't have to enter the Windows product key (even though the new drive wasn't OEM) and there was very little do download for product updates after-the-fact (ie, service packs).

Thanks again to everyone for their help.

M_C

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: Mustang_Cougar
Surprisingly, I didn't have to enter the Windows product key

Dell machines don't make you do that either as long as you're using a Dell disc that recognizes Dell hardware. I'm sure HP and pretty much everyone else is the same way.

Glad to hear it's working.

 

[Scorch]

Originally Posted By: Mustang_Cougar
Just a little update: Installation was easy-peasy!

1) ~2 minutes pulling old drive & installing new one;

2) Put the first HP Recovery disk in, a few instructions to follow, second disk in, all is well.

Surprisingly, I didn't have to enter the Windows product key (even though the new drive wasn't OEM) and there was very little do download for product updates after-the-fact (ie, service packs).

Thanks again to everyone for their help.

M_C


Good deal! Glad to hear all worked out well for you!