Laptop Finally Died

Hedgetrimmer

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After exhibiting several problems over the last few months, my HP laptop finally died. Well, at least the hard disk drive went out. It won't even boot up, and performing a diagnostic test gives the result code "10008-replace hard disk drive."

Luckily, I backed up all my documents onto two external sources just before it went out. I plan to purchase another HDD tomorrow and install it. However, I'll now be without an operating system, as my computer came preloaded without a disk.

Am I going to have to buy another OS or is there some downloadable version I can get if I can prove I was the original owner? Oh, and I was running Vista. I might just go ahead and buy W7 instead. Any advice on getting back up and running?
 

Xvee

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The license agreement with MS is you can only use the software on one machine. If you fixed up the old laptop you can call them and try to get replacement.
 

Hedgetrimmer

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The license agreement with MS is you can only use the software on one machine. If you fixed up the old laptop you can call them and try to get replacement.

Yeah, my plan is to replace the hard drive (the machine is only 2 years old) and see if that's the only problem. I'll give MS a call and see what they say about the OS before running out and buying another one. Thanks.
 

petec

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Old Hack

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You could also buy yourself a USB hard drive caddy, slap the old drive into it, and plug it into a different computer--and then peel a Windows backup disk off it, to install onto your new hard drive.

It might not work, but could be worth a try. I've resurrected several hard drives in this way over the years.
 

Hedgetrimmer

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You could also buy yourself a USB hard drive caddy, slap the old drive into it, and plug it into a different computer--and then peel a Windows backup disk off it, to install onto your new hard drive.

It might not work, but could be worth a try. I've resurrected several hard drives in this way over the years.

I've read about that while researching my problem. I hear those caddies are pretty cheap too, something like $15. I'll have to look at this option more closely. Thanks.
 

nonantroll

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There are a few freeware disk partitioning and Master Boot Record utilities out there.
Download them on another computer, and xfer to a flash drive.
Boot from flash drive (if your BIOS firmware allows it) and see if the software recognizes the drive at all.
Most laptops have a key combo that will run the BIOS setup firmware at power-up. You can see if the BIOS finds the drive.
You may also be able to reformat it from this menu.
But if all that happened was the MBR was nuked, the software I mentioned might restore your hard drive with everything intact.

Hiren's Boot CD
http://www.hirensbootcd.net/download/Hirens.BootCD.10.6.zip

You'll have to wad through all the programs to find the ones that will help you.
If you're not a techie, you'll need to bribe or rent a teenager.