Solved Help! Need step-by-step process for loading an OS on a new hard drive

My current hard drive is in the process of failing. It is one of those partitioned hard drives with the OEM OS software (Windows Vista Home Premium) in a factory image on Drive D. Obviously, I need to purchase a new hard drive and install it in my PC.

But, I have a couple of basic questions:

1. Is it possible to install the OS mentioned above from the old drive to the new drive?

2. I have the product key for the OS on the side of the PC - will that work to reactivate the OS on the new drive?

Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated!

Do you have an external drive? If so you can use a free program like Macrium Reflect or EaseUS ToDo Backup to make an image of your entire disk. The programs also have a means to burn a bootable CD or DVD with the restore program on it. When you get the new HD insert it in the machine and boot the CD. Restore from the external to the new HD. See the sites for the imaging program you choose for details like if the new drive has to be as large as if not larger than the original etc..

The advantage of doing this is that all your programs will still be installed. It's an image of the current state. That is if you think the HD is still good enough to boot and do the backup using the image program.

Saves a lot of installing and customizing to do imaging rather than factory restore.

Edit: before biting the bullet and swapping out the HD make sure you test the boot CD. Make sure it boots with the external drive plugged in and you can see the backup image on the external drive once you enter the restore program. If you can see everything then you should be OK. Just back out of the restore or remove the CD and reboot.

In addition to the great advice given above, make an image 2 times a month with Macrium. In case of a virus or other problem, you have a current image. It has saved me twice already. In addition, to do not keep your external connected to the computer when not in use. If you do get a virus, it can infect the external, too.

Use Macrium Reflect Free to clone the old drive to the new one.
Replace old drive with new drive.
Boot and all should be good.

Most of the image making software has forums for help if you get stuck or the CD or USB boot won't work. I used Macrium Reflect forum quite a bit when I started.

Thanks to all who responded - great advice! I will definitely get a copy of Macrium Reflect.

jlward2012 said:

Thanks to all who responded - great advice! I will definitely get a copy of Macrium Reflect.

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Especially with image backup programs it's a good idea to take some extra care and read through their forums. Hardware support is the stickler. They all have various differences how developed the support is for various hardware. I'd look through the forums for problems that center around things like the disk controller you have or the optical drive and/or controller. I used Macrium on an HP machine I had. It worked great. A got a newer HP machine and just took for granted it would work just as well. Unfortunately the disk controller was a bit different. When I tried to do a restore I had to resort to compatibility mode. A "45 minute restore" turned into an overnight deal.

Rule of thumb if the free version lets you see all your hardware then you may feel confident buying.
I used Macrium quite a bit but I also used EaseUS ToDo Backup Free. The Linux boot disc worked on my system with USB 3.0 and the raid driver that gave Macrium problems. No need to make a WinPE or any driver loading. The Linux boot restore CD had all I needed out of the box. I'm sure it's the other way around on some machines. The one that is "better" is the one that works on your hardware.. all other things being equal.

Thanks again to all those responding to my original post. The comments made in this thread have forced me to take a closer look at what I want to do with my system.

But, based on the fact that my hard drive is failing, and I'm losing the ability to use some of my programs, I've decided not to do a complete image of my drive. I'm just afraid that I'll be faced with some of the same issues I'm looking at now.

Instead, I'm going to upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 32-bit OS. I've already bought a new hard drive (1TB as opposed to my current 250GB) and I'm upgrading my PSU because it's also starting to fail. Hey, old systems can only be nursed along for a limited time!

So, once again, thanks for all of the feedback! Much appreciated!