Can I install Win Vista HP with installation CD

[pchan]

Hi All,

I have an Acer laptop witn Win Vista HP. I would like to upgrade to a bigger drive. This laptop doesn't come with Vista installation CD. Of course, I can clone the drive. Possible for me to install Vista in my new drive ?

[redwudz]

Maybe. Most laptops have the recovery/installation information on a second partition of the boot hard drive. You may be able to clone the drive to a larger drive, but you would most likely need to clone both partitions.

You would probably need a USB adapter for the new drive to clone with. Worst case, you would have a spare USB hard drive. You would also want to check what type of hard drive the laptop uses. Most all are SATA these days.

What's the model number of the Acer laptop? Someone here may have the same one or have some better advice.

[Poppa_Meth]

I'd personally recommend you get a hold of a clean Vista disk to do the install. You can use the CD-key on the sticker that should be on the laptop and install it from any disc of the same version OS. You'll get a clean install without all the just that came from the factory and you'll be completely legit.

[jman98]

Do note that there is a possibility that because your key was already used on your original installation that you may have to call Microsoft and get them to activate a new installation for you. If so, I'd just tell them that you had to replace the hard drive and that required a re-installation and that's why you need it reactivated. It should be no problem for them to reactivate for you if you have to call them about it.

[pchan]

Hi folks,
Thanks for all your replies. My laptop model is 4920G.
I will go with clone path.

[johns0]

Ms is getting better with key activations.if you do a clean install you shouldn't need to call them at all,i replaced my motherboard with a newer model and did a reinstall and activated successfully and did this a second time with another motherboard.

[Poppa_Meth]

Some hardware forced a reactivation. The Mobo is a big one but even then if you are using a similar mobo and CPU you don't always have to reactivate. I've never seen a HDD replacement trigger a reactivation. I think that is such a common upgrade that it isn't one of the items activation looks at.

[redwudz]

This appears to be the service manual if you need it:

I have a 500GB HDD on my laptop and it does help. I still have plenty of room available.

[pchan]

Wow.. thanks. This guide is real handy.
My current 250gig is just too small.
BTW, free clone software to recommend.

[Poppa_Meth]

Clonezilla if you are tech savvy. The layout is not easy to use. You can also try the free Paragon products and many HDD manufacturers now provide a free version of Acronis you can download from the HDD manufacturers site. Most manufacturers provide at least a basic cloning tool.

[pchan]

Thank you very much.

[fritzi93]

Seagate has a version of Acronis available free of charge that they call DiscWizard. It doesn't have the more advanced options, but it will do what you want just fine. It's fairly easy to use.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=DiscWizard&vgnextoid=d9fd4a3cd...00dd04090aRCRD

[El Heggunte]

<Semi-OT>

Seagate has a version of Acronis available free of charge that they call DiscWizard. It doesn't have the more advanced options, but it will do what you want just fine. It's fairly easy to use.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=DiscWizard&vgnextoid=d9fd4a3cd...00dd04090aRCRD

DiskWizardSetup.en.exe == 153MB

What the devil?

</Semi-OT>

[fritzi93]

I just checked the installer I had downloaded some time ago, and that's correct.

Yeah, it's pretty big, isn't it?

[pchan]

wow... thanks again.
This is all I need.
Does this tool works on non-Seagate drive ?
If no, I will look for a Seagate drive.

My current is not 7200rpm. Any problem if I stick in one ?

PS... I salute you folks' dedication to VH.

[ranchhand]

I have had great success with Redo Backup (free): http://redobackup.org/
Linux based, bare metal backup. I don't think it does incremental, but I have installed it on several machines with great success. Almost bullet-proof. I have found the best is to install a smaller, cheap drive as a slave/2nd HD. It will compress so that you can install on a smaller drive than the main HD if necessary.

[pchan]

Hi,
Thanks. I have gone through their website but they never say anything specific on cloning. Does it do hard drive clone ?

[ranchhand]

Well, I am not sure how you are defining "clone". If you make an image of one drive and restore it to another, isn't that a "clone"? Or am I missing something here?

[fritzi93]

wow... thanks again.
This is all I need.
Does this tool works on non-Seagate drive ?
If no, I will look for a Seagate drive.

My current is not 7200rpm. Any problem if I stick in one ?

PS... I salute you folks' dedication to VH.

1) I'm not sure, some folks say yes, some say you need at least one Seagate drive in your system. I just did an image off a WD drive, although I do have two Seagates in my HTPC. I tested the image by restoring it to another hard drive, and it boots up fine.

I also tried the "clone" or direct bootable copy from one drive to another, and really I think making an image is easier.

2) AFAIK, a 7200 rpm drive would not be a problem.

DiscWizard is pretty easy once you've used it a couple of times. Resizing partitions while making a "clone" isn't very intuitive, but it doesn't take long to get the hang of it. I also have Paragon and think DiscWizard is better, big download but it works well.

[EDIT] I did a little looking and found two mentions of a workaround for non-Seagate drives: When the error message pops up, just hold down the Alt key, then type "t" and "o" ( for tech over-ride). Don't forget to create the boot CD.

[pchan]

ok. That's one way. I like the live CD feature. Thanks ranchhand.
I will probably get a new drive and use the disk utility to clone it and skip the image part.

[pchan]

@fritzi93,
My current disk config has 2 partitions and each is about 120gig. I just have to be careful about their size.

[ranchhand]

If I am not mistaken, Redo has a partition utility; if you want a larger hard drive and partition to restore your image to, it shouldn't be a big deal to expand the partition on the target drive.