Totally NFRC Computer hard-drive question

D

dawnnys

Well-known member
I've tried researching this online but come up with different information. My laptop's hard drive died about a month ago and I have decided I want to buy a used hard-drive with WindowsXP on it instead of getting a new laptop right now. Long story, but I need the style of the older ones and am hoping I can do what I want to do here.

WHAT I WANt to know is this: Is it as easy as replacing my old hard-drive with a new-to-me used one? One person I was going to buy it from said no, I had to reinstall drivers(??) to get it to work on my laptop, buy WindowsXP all over again, and basically it is a lot of trouble and isn't just switching a good hard-drive for a bad one. And then I've been told that it isn't necessary to do all of this.

The seller is giving me the run-around, and seems to not want to sell it to me, says I should bring a tech person with me to meet him and see if it works. I don't KNOW a tech person or else I wouldn't be in this position.

I just want to know if what I want to do is possible, or if it will be very involved and expensive. Can anyone with experience in this tell me please? Very frustrating and I just want my old laptop back! or the next best thing to it! Don't like the old styles for my particular situation. Thank you!

 
This is a direct quote... (scratching head)

Hard drives are changeable but For u to change the hard drive you must reinstall windows and drivers for that laptop so if you bought a hard drive and u want to put it in your computer you must install a new windows xp while the hard drive is in your computer so computer recognizes the windows xp than after u install the windows you must find the drivers for ur computer.if u install a new hard drive and new windows ur laptop won't have any sound ur mouse won't work u won't have wireless ur webcam if u have one won't work u won't be able to get online till u don't install all the drivers. So if u want a hard drive u can buy one but u also need to buy a windows xp disk than u need to find the drivers or ur laptop it's not as same as changing a Baterry look it up online search for installing a hard drive and new os and drivers I can sell u a hard drive and widows disk ur looking at about a 100 bucks for bolth Than u will have to find all the drivers or I can sell u a hard drive for about 40 bucks it's up to u it's more complicated than u thought.

 
Here's what one of my followers/tech guru peeps from Twitter says.

His 140 character response. smileys/smile.gif

"Seller is correct. Will require a reinstall of OS & drivers. ONLY way around this is with 100% identical machines."

 
The seller seems really cool...and capable. Maybe he could do it for you.

I appreciate the fact that he's hesitant to sell you something that may not work for you.

 
Yes, but do you already have a copy of XP from when you got your laptop?

He is right in that a HD is hardware made by xyz company (some good some bad btw), XP is software made by MS and the HD as a part, doesn't come with the operating system pre-installed.

However, do you have the operating system discs from your laptop with the dead drive? Or if you had a laptop with preloaded stuff, did you get copies of all that on discs included with it? If so, it should have the operating system including the drivers for your laptop brand/model and everything you need right there except for doing updates. (I'm not a techie, so grain of salt, but about 98.5% sure you'd have everything you need.)

If not, basically he is right: once you install the HD you'll need a copy of the operating system of your choice (I do really like 7), then the drivers that go with your particular machine (can download from mfr site) - you won't be able to go wireless at first till you get drivers/etc set-up.

If there is a ClickAway near you they give free estimates. I just used them to do a recovery on my failed drive and I was super impressed with them. Plus, they charged me much less than I expected. I'd go there, play dumb and get them to tell you just what it would take to do this. They may even have something in your price range to install for you. Personally I'd start there so you can gleen info from them.

(Honestly I'd be a bit wary of a used drive, unless maaaaybe it was an SSD especially since I don't know which companies make good drives. Even then I'd feel the need to be super diligent backing up.)

 
I am really soooo sick of trying to get my computer to work again, Thanks, but I don't have

the original disks (bought it used), don't have a ClickAway anywhere near me, and don't understand why I would need to reinstall Windows if it's already on the hard drive :eek:( I guess I could change them and see if it would work.

 
That's the thing - it isn't already on the HD (Dell did that for you in this case)

A lot of computers (most) come preloaded with software. That is something the company adds to create a package deal. HP, Dell, whoever...they all do this with various versions of software added, but the actual hard drive is not made with an operating system or any type of software. That's added on later.

Think of it like a blank CD, when you buy a music CD they've added the music, but first it was just a blank CD. And when you buy a cd you buy them blank, unless you are buying one that already added the music.

In this case a HD, as a part, will almost always be blank. The computer companies, to make it easier on consumers include the software already "prerecorded" aka added to the HD of a computer they sell, (they cut a deal with the SW companies sell you both, and both companies take a cut of the profits) but HDs alone don't come that way. And if someone was selling a used one, they'd wipe all their data first, and the best way to do that is wipe the entire drive, which would wipe the operating system too.

To make it a tad more complicated, besides the operating system, there are (device or software) drivers - a program allowing the computer to interact with a hardware device - those are unique to each company (HP, Dell, etc) and to each model number and operating system of computer. Additional devices, like a printer or wireless router need them too - and most all can be downloaded from the manufacturer site. None of this is hard, but it can be time consuming and somewhat complicated to track everything down because drivers are hardware-dependent (make/model) and operating-system-specific.

If you don't have a Clickaway near you check Yelp for computer repair and see if there is someone good near you that can at least talk you through it. Also, know any teenage kids? Especially a gamer? Gamers often strip/reload drives to get more speed so could likely help you.

 
I don't think we ever could, could we? When you click on "edit", it

only takes you to the body of the post. I don't think it's a problem with the board, just the way it is here.

 
Will have to look at it at home. Am in a public place hotspot again now :eek:(

Do you have an offer for me that I can't refuse? ;o) All I remember for sure is that it had WindowsXP Professional on it.

Will look at the label underneath when I get home.

 
Thanks Maria. Thanks for taking the time to

write it all out for me. I know that the people who I've spoken with that want to sell me their hdd DO still have WindowsXP on it. At least that's what they told me when I asked.

Sorry to bore everyone else with this, but I would normally PM Maria with this, but I can't do that anymore.

I do understand how it works, but the confusing part is that everyone is telling me something different. Just yesterday we stopped into a reputable computer repair shop/reseller, and the tech told me that he didn't sell used hdds, but I could probably find one on eBay or craigslist. When I asked him if reinstalling the O.S. was required if I did that, he said no(!), they often just pop them in between different laptops at the shop. I don't think he fully understood my question though, as I don't think that's the case. maybe he didn't know I was talking about reinstalling Windows, although that's what I said... Then he said if I bought a new one there at his place, they could ONLY install WinXP on it (for a charge of $110), not Win7, I think probably because of the fact that I have a license for XP. and they wouldn't be SELLing me one, just reinstalling it for me? If I wanted 7, that would probably involve buying 7 from them and that would increase the price substantially.

On the bright side, I think I found a guy who does this on the side who says it is not a big (or expensive) deal, as long as he has the equipment and I have a COA/serial number, just bring everything to his house. I found him on craigslist. Now, if I don't end up in little pieces in his backyard... ha ha, just kidding.

Thanks again. 'Hope I'll be up and running again and thanks to everyone here who told me what I had to do. Still interested in hearing from Marianne and Marg, if you guys want to email me. My email is dawndo4(at)graffiti(dot)net.

 
Sounds like you are truly without computer. I thought that stranger things have

happened than to find that we had the same computers. It's always worth a try. You could then just use my setup disks.

 
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