Install/Replace Windows 7 on a different drive

[Robie]

Hi

My laptop hard disk is failing and Windows (7) keeps crashing from time to time.

What I would like to do is install Windows 7 on a different drive (say E:\) and then remove the original Windows 7 from the C:\.

1. I don't have a Windows 7 install disk. The laptop Dell XPS 15 came with a bunch of disks (I can't tell you which ones as I am at work) but not Windows 7 install disk. Is it possible to install Windows with these Dell disks?

2. Is it possible/legal to install a new Windows 7 on the same laptop? I would obviously remove the 1st install after the 2nd install is running successfully. I don't need two copies of Windows 7 (I can hardly stand one copy of it).

Thanks.
Robie

[Rudi]

Unless i am overlooking to obvious; would it not be better to buy a new hard drive if your current one is failing? Installing Windows on a different partition of the same failing hard drive is not going to resolve the issue...

[Robie]

Unless i am overlooking to obvious; would it not be better to buy a new hard drive if your current one is failing? Installing Windows on a different partition of the same failing hard drive is not going to resolve the issue...

I thought of that too but at about £70 odd for 1TB hard drive for a 4 year old laptop seems bit much.

The thought was that if I can isolate the disk errors then it would be fine to re-install.

[HansV]

If you don't have the install disks, you may need to contact Microsoft UK.

[Robie]

If you don't have the install disks, you may need to contact Microsoft UK.

Thanks Hans.

[stuck]

1) Rudi is right, if the HDD is failing do NOT try and reinstall the OS on it, even on a new partition, to do so is asking for trouble /a waste of time. I recently dealt with a failing HDD in a laptop. No mater how I tried to get the bad sectors marked as unusable and thus avoid them, the disk continued to fail.

2) Until a few weeks ago you could download 100% legitimate Win7 iso files from Digital River but sometime in Feb MS pulled the plug on the links. Armed with such an iso you could clean install Win 7 on a HDD, then activate it by phone. I did this in January when I (finally) gave up repeatedly fixing stuckling2's laptop HDD. I fitted an SSD and installed Win 7 from a Digital river iso. I then installed all the OEM drivers and activated the new install by phone using the OEM product key from the sticker on the laptop. Yes, the SSD wasn't cheap but the end result is a Win 7 laptop that boots from cold in about 20 seconds.

Ken

[Robie]

1) Rudi is right, if the HDD is failing do NOT try and reinstall the OS on it, even on a new partition, to do so is asking for trouble /a waste of time. I recently dealt with a failing HDD in a laptop. No mater how I tried to get the bad sectors marked as unusable and thus avoid them, the disk continued to fail.

2) Until a few weeks ago you could download 100% legitimate Win7 iso files from Digital River but sometime in Feb MS pulled the plug on the links. Armed with such an iso you could clean install Win 7 on a HDD, then activate it by phone. I did this in January when I (finally) gave up repeatedly fixing stuckling2's laptop HDD. I fitted an SSD and installed Win 7 from a Digital river iso. I then installed all the OEM drivers and activated the new install by phone using the OEM product key from the sticker on the laptop. Yes, the SSD wasn't cheap but the end result is a Win 7 laptop that boots from cold in about 20 seconds.

Ken

Thanks Ken. Something for me to ponder over.