[darkchild101]

My gfs laptops hard drive stopped working. Infact the laptop stopped working. It starts up fine but midway through loading windows it just freezes. I suspected hard drive and so took the dard drive out and replaced it with hard drive from my laptop and it started fine though we didnt try to connect to internet

We then replaced the hard drive with another hard drive she was given by her sister (hard drive from sister was working) and it starts fine but when i try to connect to internet it asks me to isntall drivers for ethernet and other things

Where do i get these drivers as she no longer has disc that came with the laptop. Desperate

Thanks

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Hello darkchild101

It is possible that the initial problem was not with the HDD itself but the OS on it, did you try a system restore to a previous date when the notebook was working ok, did you try starting in safe mode or checking for a recovery partition on the HDD.

We then replaced the hard drive with another hard drive she was given by her sister (hard drive from sister was working) and it starts fine but when i try to connect to internet it asks me to isntall drivers for ethernet and other things

The problem with this is that the replacement HDD will have the previous notebooks drivers on it, this can cause problems with same brand and model computers but can cause serious issues if the present notebook is a HP for example and the replacement HDD is out of a Dell.

Where do i get these drivers as she no longer has disc that came with the laptop.

If you tell us the brand and model name or number of the notebook we will look for the drivers, in case the original HDD is hosed.

[phillpower2]

Hello darkchild101

It is possible that the initial problem was not with the HDD itself but the OS on it, did you try a system restore to a previous date when the notebook was working ok, did you try starting in safe mode or checking for a recovery partition on the HDD.

We then replaced the hard drive with another hard drive she was given by her sister (hard drive from sister was working) and it starts fine but when i try to connect to internet it asks me to isntall drivers for ethernet and other things

The problem with this is that the replacement HDD will have the previous notebooks drivers on it, this can cause problems with same brand and model computers but can cause serious issues if the present notebook is a HP for example and the replacement HDD is out of a Dell.

Where do i get these drivers as she no longer has disc that came with the laptop.

If you tell us the brand and model name or number of the notebook we will look for the drivers, in case the original HDD is hosed.

[darkchild101]

Thanks fro your reply Philpower2. The laptop that stopped working is an eMachine725 series model KAWFO and laptop we are taking hard drive from is a Compaq Presario cq60

It would saying loading up windows and that green bar would move along going right and then just freeze. maybe wasnt even the hard drive i dont know

[phillpower2]

If you still have the original HDD I would put it back in the notebook and see if you can start in Safe Mode and/or try restoring the OS back to a date that is before the issue happened, let us know if this is an option for you.

[darkchild101]

If you still have the original HDD I would put it back in the notebook and see if you can start in Safe Mode and/or try restoring the OS back to a date that is before the issue happened, let us know if this is an option for you.

I tried that several times it never worked. When i connect the damaged hard drive through a usb cable to a lap top in good working order, i can see all the stuff on it eg pictures

[phillpower2]

The above means that the data stored on the HDD is still there and not that the Windows OS is fully functional, was the computer booted from the HDD via the USB device, I ask this as the HDD having failed does not look to be the case at the moment, this based on the fact that the HDD works on another computer and that a replacement HDD works on the original computer which rules out bad HDD contacts on the MB as the cause, the only way that we can rule out a damaged OS on the original HDD is by trying to boot from it when it is connected to another computer and set as the first boot device, if it does not boot up ok then either the OS is damaged/corrupt or the HDD has bad sectors on it which in turn has damaged the Windows installation.

Long shot but try booting the original notebook from the original HDD when it is connected to the USB device.

RE the replacement HDD, if the OS on the replacement HDD is registered to another persons computer it will be detected by Microsoft when the computer updates, to avoid being locked out by MS you must change the product key asap, "how to" here please note that it must be the exact same version of Windows that was originally installed and not be classed as a change of product/licence etc.

[darkchild101]

Thanks again. So is there a way of fixing the OS on the laptop. Mind i dont have repair disk

[phillpower2]

From my reply #30

was the computer booted from the HDD via the USB device,

And
Long shot but try booting the original notebook from the original HDD when it is connected to the USB device.
Has this been tried and if yes what was the result please.

Is the 25 digit product key sticker still present, sometimes it is on the base of the notebook and sometimes beneath the battery in the battery bay, please note that it must be the product key for the OS that is on the HDD, that is the exact same version.