New HDD + windows 7

Hey Guys.

My HDD on my PC has been making funny noises for a while now, and I'm going to buy a new one. I'd like 1Tb, and have a budget of £60. Does anyone have any advice on what to buy

At the same time, I'm upgrading to Windows 7. What is the best way to do both at the same time?

1. Put all old stuff on new HDD (what is the best way to do this?,) then install windows 7 from XP as normal - I believe this is a bad idea, as I have to get rid of eveything anyway

2.Put 7 on new HDD, and transfer files from old to new - again, what is the best way to do this

Any advice would be appreciated

Rob

A fresh windows install is much preferred over an upgrade. Copy all important data to an external drive (flash drive or HDD) and install Windows 7 from scratch. Normally, copying your "c:\documents and settings" folder before the Windows 7 install is sufficient to preserve your documents, settings, desktop and web favorites, but it does depend on whether you keep your pictures and docs there or if you have set a custom location. Also, web favorites from Firefox, Chrome and other browsers are not always kept in "documents and settings" but you can export them to an external drive from within the browser.

I use Novatech (Computer Supplies and PC Components from Novatech) for most of my computer components. They don't have 1TB for £60 but they're not far off either.

I run a 1TB but, the rumor has it as a main OS drive stay with something smaller. I also do some heavy gaming and again am told to stay away from the 1TB drives if I want performance.

$100 seems to be the norm for a SATA 1TB drive in CA.

I lied (£56): HD103SJ Samsung Spin Point F3 SATAII 1TB 32Mb Cache Hard Drive <8.9ms 7200rpm - OEM 1TB Capacity, SATA-II Interface, 7200RPM Spin Speed, 8.9ms Average Seek Time, 32MB Cache, 3 Year Warranty : novatech.co.uk

I don't think you CAN upgrade to 7 from XP... only vista.

Also, here's a brand new seagate 1TB sata HDD for $80 shipped.

Oh wait... You're in the UK. Maybe someone else is looking for one.

robjdixon said:

Hey Guys.

My HDD on my PC has been making funny noises for a while now, and I'm going to buy a new one. I'd like 1Tb, and have a budget of £60. Does anyone have any advice on what to buy

At the same time, I'm upgrading to Windows 7. What is the best way to do both at the same time?

1. Put all old stuff on new HDD (what is the best way to do this?,) then install windows 7 from XP as normal - I believe this is a bad idea, as I have to get rid of eveything anyway

2.Put 7 on new HDD, and transfer files from old to new - again, what is the best way to do this

Any advice would be appreciated

Rob

Click to expand...

Don't get a 1TB drive. They fail too often. Get two 500GB and put them in RAID 0.

For Win7, do a fresh install, it's worth it. If you can get a tiny SSD for the system it'd be even better.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I have talked to my dad, and have decided we need only 500GB, so we will go for one of these unless anyone thinks they are crap:
WD5001AALS Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 32Mb Cache Hard Disk Drive SATAII 300MB/s <8.9ms 7200rpm - OEM 500GB Capacity, SATA-II Interface, 7200RPM Spin Speed, 32MB Cache, 5 Year Warranty. : novatech.co.uk

As for the Windows 7 install, we are going to put the documents and settings on the new HDD, and then install it fresh. The documents and setting should be preserved.

The only problem that I can think of is how to get the documents and settings on the new HDD. Can I put the 2nd HDD in the pc, and then copy it across, and then just take the old one out, and use the new one?

Lastly, how many computers can I install the windows 7 OS on with 1 CD?

Also, can I install win7 on a blank hdd?
Thanks
Rob

Best way to move files would be to put the new hdd into the machine, format it as NTFS, copy it to a new folder (NOT called Users or Windows!) then do a clean install of 7 to the drive, manually re-create the user accounts, and copy the user documents from the folder you copied before installing 7, into their respective new user accounts (in the C:\Users folder).

You can install as many copies of the OS from a single DVD as you like, but each licence key can only be installed on one PC. Also, OEM copies cannot be moved from one motherboard to another, so be careful. Windows 7 like any O/S can be installed from "blank" as long as you can boot from the DVD drive.

If you want a good drive go with this WD 640GB
WD6401AALS Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 32Mb Cache Hard Disk Drive SATAII 300MB/s <8.9ms 7200rpm - OEM 640GB Capacity, SATA-II Interface, 7200RPM Spin Speed, 32MB Cache, 5 Year Warranty : novatech.co.uk
super quiet and fast
It's little sister the WD640AAKS blue version has great reviews one of the best drives of 2008 the black has also been reviewed and has been found to be on par with the blueversion

It uses two 320 GB platers. The 500GB you have picked out uses two 250GB platers. With the 320Gb platers you get higher density giving you faster read and write times.

I own 4 of the WD640AAKS very happy with them

Thanks for all the awesome help guys - One more question then I will be done.

I have 2 computers, and want to put a backup of docs and settings on the other pc, while I update the 1st to win7. Is it just the docs and settings that I need to copy, or is there anything else. I tried to use easy transfer tool, but I can't do it as both PCs are winxp.

Thanks

the directory c:\documents and settings contains the users profiles with all their data, per user.

If you are logged in as username XYZ , there will be a directory in there called XYZ. In which you will run into the problem of being unable to copy all the data from that directory out onto another drive because certain files are in use by you being logged as that specific username.

If you have never specified any other directory than "my documents" in which to keep your personal data, then it will all be inside the "documents and settings" folder. This includes documents, pictures, web favorites, saved games (not from all games, though), and some system settings.

Also, regarding the user profiles, the structure is a bit different in Win7 than XP, so you'll want to copy your "documents and settings" folder from your current XP drive to the new drive, then install Win7 to that drive. Then have each user log in (if you even want more than one user account. Many people make do with just one). Once a user logs in for the first time, the proper profile folder is created automatically.

Once you have logged in, navigate to your new drive (c: in most cases) and find the XP "documents and settings" folder that you originally copied. In that folder will be your previous user account folder. Open this folder and you will see a list of folders like "my documents", "favorites", etc.. These are the folders you will need to copy.

Also on your c: drive will be your new Win7 install. There is a folder called "C:\Users". In this folder you will find your new Win7 user account. Simply copy all of the folders from your XP profile folder (described in the preceding paragraph) to this folder.

hopefully this didn't confuse you too much..

If you get a 1TB, get either a Western Digital or Samsung & NOTHING ELSE as they have poor reviews. Fresh install windows 7 ultimate for best experience. PM me if you have questions.

So,
I start by putting the new HDD in with the old one, in a different socket. I the format it, and copt the docs and settings file accross to the new one.

I then take the old one out, and put the new one where the old one was. I then turn the PC on with just the old one, and put the win7 dvd in, and install as normal. Then, I set up the usernames and stuff, then find the docs and settings, and copy those across into the correct folder, depending on username.

Right?

^Yup! The computer might balk at you a bit during the transfer of the contents of the "documents and settings" folder. Answer "no" to any replace files queries, since you don't necessarily want to copy over some of the existing files. This will only copy files that are not already there. If the computer won't let you transfer some files and folders, just begin the copy process over. The only folders from inside the original "documents and settings" user folders that really need to be copied are:

My Documents
Desktop
Favorites

The rest are mostly unnecessary. The reason I recommend trying to copy the entire contents of the XP user folders first is that it is the simplest way to make sure you get everything.