[SteveB32]

Hi,
I'm installing a new main HD on my comp, and I don't have a backup of my previous HD(yes I know-idiot!! nor of course the functioning previous HD. I wondered if it's possible to partition/format the new drive and then use my recovery discs from the previous main drive to do the install?
Thanks for your knowledgeable input.

Edited by SteveB32, 01 February 2009 - 05:47 PM.

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What kind of computer are we talking about here? Who makes it?

If it's a Dell, then yes you can use the recovery cds to reinstall the OS onto a new drive.

You know, if you enter your system specs into your Signature area, it would avoid having to be asked what your system specs are. It will help tremendously in any future inquiriies you may make here at GTG.

[makai]

What kind of computer are we talking about here? Who makes it?

If it's a Dell, then yes you can use the recovery cds to reinstall the OS onto a new drive.

You know, if you enter your system specs into your Signature area, it would avoid having to be asked what your system specs are. It will help tremendously in any future inquiriies you may make here at GTG.

[SteveB32]

Thanks for the suggestion re my profile-I've updated it with system info. I assumed this was a fairly generic question...
In this case the comp is a desktop HP a1430n AMD Athlon 64x2 dual 3800+ with 1 gig of ram.The operating system is XP Media Center Edition version 2002 SP2 .The original HD was a Seagate Barracuda 250gig internal and I've replaced it with the same Seagate Barracuda model currently available. No other HD installed.NOTE-the original HD is functional, but after a malware problem I used recovery to reinstall XP expecting it would "maintain my data files" which I interpreted to mean all my files including the desktop..which it didn't of course.I need to recover imporatnt files, so I removed the HD so as to not overwrite the "deleted" files, which are still present but not in the index.
The recovery discs were created after purchase (new) as the system came with no discs from HP. I've already attempted an install by loading disc 1 of 2 in the DVD drive and booting (DVD is priority 1 on startup) and proceeding with recovery installation. The installation took about 8 hours so I suspected something was screwy, and sure enough it wouldn't boot on subsequent startup. Verification indicates the HD properties are messed up-the HD is partitioned, but total capacity is indicated as less than 30 gigs(bios recognizes it as 250 gigs)
I did not partition and format the HD prior to recovery installation.
I selected the lesser(non-destructive) of the 2 recovery options offered.

I'm guessing I need to at least partition and format the HD prior to trying an install with the recovery discs hmmm?
Thanks

[makai]

Well, when people ask questions, it's always helpful to know what kind of machine we're working on. It saves time.

Yah, unfortunately a lot of companies don't include dics anymore when they sell computers. They depend on the user to make recovery discs, but then user never test the discs until they really have to. Sometimes they don't work.

It's possible that your old hard drive has a recovery partition. However, even if it does, if you use it, it will wipe the drive and all your data too.

What you could do is slave the old drive in another computer to see if you can recover the data. If you can access the data and save it somewhere, then you would be free to use the recovery partition if one exists.

Other than that, you will probably need to format the new disk before you try the recovery again. If it doesn't work, and you can't access/save data from the old disc, then you might have to contact HP, explain what happened, and ask them to send you real recovery discs.

Edited by makai, 01 February 2009 - 09:23 PM.