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Laptop issue - can you help/advise

MuttleyCAFCMuttleyCAFC
edited August 2019 in Not Sports Related
My brother got a message on his laptop saying that his hard drive is about to fail. He has backed up the data on it using Backblaze. He is getting a SSD drive to replace it which I will help him fit. The problem is the operating system. Anybody know the best way to approach this. I am ok with the taking lap tops apart bit, I have added memory and removed a hard drive from a broken laptop to use as an external drive, but I am not sure how you overcome the operating system issues - does he have to buy everything again? Like most laptops, it all came pre-loaded. He has a HP Pavillion - how does it know the hard drive is close to failing? Any advice appreciated.

Comments

  • swords_aliveswords_alive
    edited August 2019
    I'd first have googled to check this is a known issue and not perhaps a virus at work. Presumably the operating system has counted revs of the disk and declared it must be due to meet its obsolescence date?
    (Edited to save face)
  • ForeverAddicktedForeverAddickted
    I usually build my own PCs these days so might not be with the times

    Last Desktop I purchased came with a Disc that had a copy of Windows so if ever I had to format the OS Hard Drive it meant I could re-install the Operating System accordingly

    Do you know if its the same case with the Laptop where it came with said disc which'll allow you to re-boot?

    I dont know how much you like doing it but you could find a Torrent version of Windows 10, download it on to a USB Stick and create a bootable drive out of it... Its similar to what I've got at present so now if I've got to re-install Windows I just have to turn on the computer with the USB stick already plugged in, my BIOS always recognises it as the primary drive so instantly loads the Windows Setup
  • Leroy AmbroseLeroy Ambrose
    Laptop will have come with a recovery partition, containing the files necessary to do a factory installation of Windows. Not much use if the hard drive is dead, obviously - which is one of the main reasons people get pissed off with Microsoft when having to reinstall the O/S. Used to be simple when they shipped the installation media with machines, but MS put a stop to that to try and prevent piracy. There's no way the new HDD will 'autodetect' the operating system - because there won't be an operating system on the new HDD  :#

    You'll need to download a clean install of Windows 10 - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 and create bootable media on a USB stick. Make sure you choose custom install instead of a restore or reset. The license for Windows is tattooed to the BIOS and stored on MS' activation servers (provided it was activated correctly) so you don't need to worry about that - after you install and update Windows you can activate it manually. This process is slightly more complicated if the original operating system was Win 7 or Win 8 - you'll need to download and create bootable media for the original operating system the laptop shipped with, activate it, then upgrade to Win 10
  • MuttleyCAFCMuttleyCAFC
    edited August 2019
    The hard drive isn't dead.....yet. I have researched and the message seems kosher and something to act on. I have found a local company that will fit new drive and sort out windows 10 for £50 - we need to just provide the license key and the drive. I have managed to check it is compatible with the laptop. It is probably the best way, rather than me opening it up!

    Thanks for your advice. Tempting to do the same for my lpatop if it goes smoothly. Hard drive is fine but I would like an SSD one and they are pretty cheap now.
  • Dazzler21Dazzler21
    Surely his current version of Windows can just be re-downloaded onto his new hard drive?
  • RodneysMiddleNameRodneysMiddleName
    If you buy a Crucial SSD it’ll come with a copy of Acronis you can use to clone the existing drive to the new one. The only issue is you’ll need to burn it to dvd or a usb stick to boot from and you’ll also need to be able to connect both drives to the laptop at the same time. I use a usb connector to the SSD for the cloning (you can buy a lead from Amazon) and then install the new drive in the laptop once done. It’s not tricky and as long as the old drive is not throwing too many errors should work pretty quickly. With the cost of SSDs coming down I do a lot of these upgrades now as it’s the cheapest way to speed up an old computer. Happy to give more info if it sounds like something you want to try. 
  • Henry IrvingHenry Irving
    @ForeverAddickted or anyone

    My son has a.couple of laptops, one only a year old, that are broken (  one with cracked screen).

    Repair less than cost of replacement.

    Can they be sold for parts?  Even £10 would be better than taking to local dump.
  • StigStig
    The best way to stop Laptop Issue is to avoid porn sites.
  • Leroy AmbroseLeroy Ambrose
    edited August 2019
    Stig said:
    The best way to stop Laptop Issue is to avoid porn sites.
    Gotta be some site to crack the screen tho... 
  • razilrazil
    Henry Irving said:
    @ForeverAddickted or anyone

    My son has a.couple of laptops, one only a year old, that are broken (  one with cracked screen).

    Repair less than cost of replacement.

    Can they be sold for parts?  Even £10 would be better than taking to local dump.
    theres a shop in Welling high street just past Tescos going towards the football ground that buys old laptops, might do it
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