philwhitehouse Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 Hi, just found this site and hope some one can help/advise me.My sons laptop (Advent 7111) stopped working,I'm pretty sure its the hard drive thats died as it starts to loadbut only gets as far as going through the parts on the bios section then just freezes with just a slight buzzing from the hard drive(not the usual whirring noise....dead technical I know). Installing a new hard drive is no problem but the problem is the operating system, being preloaded and belonging to a 13 year old no backup copy was ever made and theres no copy of XP home in with the driver disks. Does any body know if I can make a back upcopy of XP off my laptop (Advent 7104) to install onto his when I put a new hard drive in and would I then use the registration key off his laptop (license sticker is on back of laptop). Is this possible and would there be any problems with doing this and how would I go about copying windows off my laptop (or is there another way to get a copy of windows onto a new drive).A long winded first post I know but my experience of this type of site is to give as much info as possible and then let clever people than my self advise.......usually more help than talking to PC World who always seem to advice spending lots of money..(£120 to open the case + parts is not reasonable in my opinion!)ThanksPhil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 Assuming the hard drive is still functioning ????1. Is there no facility at boot up to use a recovery partition which may be installed (but hidden) ? This would then take the laptop back to its original state.2. You could possibly try the recovery disk from your own laptop as it similar to your sons ??? - but it is not guaranteed to work on your son's machine.3. The best bet would be to borrow an OEM XP CD from a friend. You could then use this to attempt a Repair Install of your son's laptop (link to guide below)http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/repair_...lation_xp.shtml4. If this does not work you could then attempt a fresh installation with the CD (using this guide) :-http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/xp_home...all_part1.shtmland your son's product key.You would presumably need to download some of the drivers for the laptop (which would not necessarily be on the XP CD)5. Alternatively, this article may be of some use for you to to create a Bootable Windows XP CD from the XP pre-loaded on your own laptop.http://www.howtohaven.com/system/createwin...setupdisk.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philwhitehouse Posted October 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 Hi,thanks for the quick reply,I dont think the hard drive works at all, even if I go to setup it doesnt get as far as the hard drive, it actualy sounds like the hard drive is jammed, not turning at all so I will buy a new drive for it and try to load windows from my recovery disk if this is possible and use his key code or if I could borrow another disk would I have to use his key code or the one ment for the disk origionaly? The drivers for his lap top are not a problem as when it was bought new it came with a driver and utility disk, a powerDVD disk and microsoft works 8.5 disk which we have still got..just no windows xp disk!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 would I have to use his key code or the one meant for the disk originaly?You would need to use your son's product key Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2khardtop Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 You should consider purchasing Spinrite, from GRC.com. It can often save a hard drive.The best way to install Windows in most cases is with a Microsoft install disc anyway, but if you have an OEM version of Windows, you will likely need an OEM CD. Borrow one, and use the key that should be printed on your case. Once up and running, you should be able to find the few missing drivers from the manufacturers website. Windows can usually find all but a few of the drivers on its' own.You can always contact the manufacturer of the PC and purchase a restore CD. Could be $20-$50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raccoon1400 Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 The only way to copy it from your laptop would be to image the drive with something like clonezilla or gparted. That may or may not work. It depends. Switching a hard drive with windows has worked for me sometimes too. Still your best bet it to borrow a CD for XP home. It doesn't have to be OEM, as long as you have the code. I have installed XP from a dell recovery CD on many computers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philwhitehouse Posted October 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Hi Again, thanks for all your help, problem is now solved :D made a restore disk on my lap top, fitted the new hard drive to my sons and put the recovery disk into his lap top. Advent "pc angel" loaded first and then fully installed windows on its own, connected to the internet and downloaded all the drivers and updates and left us with a fully functioning lap top again.One last question though now..... anybody know how to get my son to do his homework now that his lap tops working again Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.