How To Reformat Hard Drive After Transferring Windows 7 License
Jun 21, 2012
I've ordered new parts for a new computer and I read that I could transfer the license being used on this (current) computer to the new one because I have the full version of Windows not the OEM. I plan on (if possible) transfering my windows 7 license to the new computer/SSD and use this old hard drive for storage/backup. But I'm a little confused/unsure about a few things: 1. Do I install Windows 7 and activate it on the new computer/SSD first and then remove Windows 7 from the old hard drive? Or do I have to remove it from the old computer before attempting to install on the new one, 2. How do I remove Windows from the old drive? I haven't reformatted before but from what I've read from guides, I use the windows CD to reformat, but it reinstalls a clean version of Windows. How would I clean the old drive without reinstalling Windows?
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Jan 21, 2013
I have a very close friend who is having pc issues, is short on cash, and needs her pc for work. Where she lives (Russia) PCs are insanely expensive and there really are not any decent ones available. I offered to build her a new PC from scratch to cut down on cost, but the cost of a new windows install is prohibitive. She already has a valid windows 7 home premium license with her old PC, and the old PC will be going in the trash after proper cleanup, or possibly being reused with ubantu or something. Either way, the old PC will not be running windows 7 anymore. I figured I could install windows 7 fresh on the new PC and use her old license key to activate it once she gets it. Is there any issue with my logic here?
Here's where things get complicated. There is obviously a lot of distance involved, so I will have to assemble the PC and then mail it to her. She is not PC savvy, so having her do really any of the installation work is out of the question. She needs her old PC to continue functioning, poorly as it may be, right up to the point the new one gets there. Mail takes 3 weeks or so, which means it is absolutely out of the question that I activate the new pc before mailing it, since I assume that would knock the old one offline and she can't be out of work for three weeks, or even 3 days for that matter.
I need the new PC to be as close to ready to go for her as possible on arrival. I would love to be able to install all of the updates, antivirus, core programs she uses for work, etc before mailing it off so that she can just boot it up, call Microsoft and get it authorized, but I am not sure if this is possible. I know you can use a thumb drive with a downloaded official copy of windows 7 for the install, which I already have, so that part is not the real issue. The issue is whether I can load everything up for her prior to sending it off, because if I can't it's a no go for her. She'd rather take credit and pay for an overpriced hunk of junk that wrestle with a windows install. Not rational, I know, but such is life and it is not going to change.
So what I'm really asking, is whether I could use an official copy of windows 7 home premium on a thumb drive, and get the system the whole way up to operational before I register it? If need be I have a disc copy as well. Usually it says you have so many days to register your product, but will it allow me to install the updates etc? I don't want her to have to sit around for a day doing updates and installing programs.
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Oct 25, 2012
I have a problem for a Mac formatted WD My Passport external drive. PC recognizes the WD Smartware part of the disk but not the data. I want to reformat the whole drive to Windows 7, but I can't see any options to do that.
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Mar 16, 2011
how do I fix this??... I tried downloading a patch from here [URL]
but I keep getting error messages when I try to install it
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Nov 28, 2009
Should i flash my bios to get rid of infection
how do i reformat the external hard drive
or what tools can i use.
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May 3, 2012
Transferring music from hard drive to PC?
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Oct 4, 2012
I just bought a new computer with Windows 7 and would like to transfer all programs and files from my old computer to my new one, hopefully without having to reinstall it all.
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Jan 25, 2012
I've uninstalled Nitro PDF professional after it expired and reinstall it to register but this message appears: "Multiple restore hard drive operations damaged the license and the product must be re-registered #2".
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Nov 13, 2011
I have a hard drive I recovered from my old Dell laptop when the motherboard gave out. Originally, I just put it in an external hard case and have been using it as external storage. Now it is getting filled up, so I would like to reformat it to remove the OS partition (Vista) to give me access to the entire drive. I have removed and baked up all my files, but cannot find a way to repartition the drive to remove the OS volume. Disk manager will not let me access that volume to delete it - nor will diskpart. In fact, only the non-OS volume even shows up with a drive letter in diskpart.
I have searched the web but have only been able to find info on how to reformat the main hard drive...and this is definitely NOT what I want to do.
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Sep 16, 2012
Just recently i had to reformat my computer, i had some pretty personal documents where i placed in a password protected folder. I forgot exactly how i password protected it but to access the file i would click on a file called locker, and a black screen would open up, i would type in the password push enter and the file would appear, then to lock it i just open locker again and push "y".
I had to reformat my computer so copied all the contents that was inside the folder (and not the locker) onto a hard drive and reformmated my computer, however, now i cannot access these files. I can see them but they all say access denied due to permission rights.
I've followed all the security changes ive found and made myself the owner, set security settings to full control etc however, still cannot access these files. They are really important and was wondering if there was a way i can access them again or is there any programs that can unlock them? Ive tried all the programs similar to |unlocker"
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Jun 30, 2012
I have a newer computer (HP Pavilion Slimline) with Windows 7 and 64bit system. My old hard drive is out of a dead (won't power up) HP Pavilion Slimline Vista 32bit. I pulled the old drive and connected it through a harness and the USB on the new computer. When I open the devices and printers program the old drive is there but when I open the icon all I get is the properties etc. but no way to access any data on the old drive. Do I need a program or is the drive dead? It powers and runs and when it is connected and I open the properties I'm told the old drive is working properly.
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Jul 10, 2012
I have laptop with one of the windows OS on it and want to transferr OS and all the file to it,problem is i do not have the cd or product key, so i may be able to transfer all the file but how can i transfer the OS and have never paritioned a hard drive either. i have seen the r alot of gatgets out their and on ebay thay sys all u have to do is plug it in to the laptops usb , and plug the new hard drive to the cloner and just transfer all files,, but it says nothing about transferring the OS or MS office 2010 or any thing with product codes so is the any product on the market to transfer everything to new hard drive same speed just from 89GB to 350GB,
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Mar 13, 2011
Recently I noticed that my 500GB hard drive was beginning to get full. It has everything on it. I installed a second hard drive, 1TB, and my intention was to keep all of the programs and OS on the primary 500GB hard drive and transfer all of my documents (pics, vids, docs & music) to the 1TB drive.
When I go to C:UsersMyName and I go to "cut" a folder like MyMusic and then "paste" it in my new E: drive, it says that the folder is shared and if I move it others will not be able to use it.
Now, before I do this, with MyMusic, MyPictures, etc. I have a question: By moving these over to the E: drive (the new 1TB) drive, am I going to do something I regret, like losing access to these files, the OS not being able to find them, or something like that?
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May 12, 2012
how to reformat a dell hardrive and install windows 7
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May 8, 2011
how to reformat my drive c with existing Windows 7 and reinstall Windows 7 again?
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Nov 25, 2012
My HP mini laptop has been distructed its program and the Swedish keyboard and word program turn up side down...I want to reboot or reformat so it will be in its normal program.
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Aug 8, 2012
i am getting a new laptop and i am wondering how to best tranfer windows 7 to a new hard drive.
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Aug 23, 2012
I'm trying to do a clean reinstall, but I can't reformat the drive. I don't get very far, menu 'where do you want to install window', which is supposed to have a Format option, it doesn't!
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Apr 28, 2011
My Uncle bought a new HDD and wanted to migrate his Windows 7 Installation from its original HDD to the new one (Maxtor to Hitachi). A tech friend of mine recommended CloneZilla, a freeware imaging program which would allow me to make an image of the HDD and transfer it to another drive. My only experience with imaging programs previously was with Symantec Ghost.
Even then, I never made the images, only applied them via a server. The version of CloneZilla I have is meant to work on singular machines and has the ability to make an image and write it to an HDD and then read an image and apply it to an HDD. OR you can do a device to device image transfer. I tried the device to device transfer to transfer the OS, but was told, when booting the computer, that the HDD didn't have an OS to boot.
When I tried doing a repair with the Windows 7 CD to see what was up, it couldn't locate an OS to repair. I then tried making an HDD image backup to a Storage drive. However, after that finished, I loaded CloneZilla again and tried to use the image to apply it to the new drive and, when I clicked on the folder housing the image, was told there was no image to apply.
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Apr 20, 2011
so i did a little research, and from my knowledge you can't simply transfer over a copy of an OS to a new (parimary) to an SSD due to partition alignment being off and screwing stuff uphowever, i found this:Use Windows 7's built in System Image tool and create a backup of your Windows 7 install to an external hard disk. Install new new hard drive (69 GB), boot from your Windows 7 DVD and choose to restore a system image and point to the location where the System Image is backed up. To do this procedure successfully, you will need an external backup drive to back up the installation.
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Mar 27, 2011
I'm having issues with transferring data between hard drives in my system. I have 3 500 GB drives in my system connected via esata. Just a few minutes ago I tried transferring 24.1 GB from one hard drive to another and it took forever I was getting under 10 MB per second. Once I got everything transferred I created a folder in the drive I moved everything to and then moved the same 24.1 GB plus another folder that was 10 GB and everything transferred into the folder instant, so fast I couldn't every look to see how long it was taking cause it was there the minutes I moved the folders to the new folder. Why did it take so long transferring that same data from one hard drive to another one in my system?? I should be getting a whole lot more than 10 MB per second.
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Apr 19, 2012
I have a Toshiba Satellite L655-1EM laptop running windows 7 home premium 64bit.OEM came pre-installed. I've had the laptop about 6 months.It works great but I seem to get the BSOD quite a lot. I noticed it only seems to happens when I'm using either of my external hard drives or SD cards. Usually when I am transferring a batch of large files between drives.
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Dec 20, 2011
How can I transfer my User files C:Users to F:Users and have Windows make a reference to it, meaning that it will be modified on F:Users from now on.
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Apr 14, 2011
I recently purchased a new laptop - Toshiba R835 P50x - and replaced the 640gb 5400rpm drive with a 120gb ssd(Kingston v100). I cloned the 640gb, 3 partition(2 hidden) drive to the SSD(all 3 paritions) and replaced it in the laptop and everything is working just fine I now have the original drive in a usb external enclosure and would like to use it for an external back-up drive.What the best(and easiest) method reformatting that drive to eliminate the hidden partitions, and give me just one?
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May 26, 2011
my crive is in the red and i have a 80gig hdd can i move my OS to the D: Drive
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Jan 3, 2013
RAID-1 DRIVE PULL OUT TO TRANSFER ...
I have a pair of mirrored RAID-1 drives (these have been removed and sitting as is for about 6months or so)
There is no important data on this that im concerned about preserving.
What i want to do is reformat them into 2 separate single storage HDD'safter installing them into my new system. or will it mess up my new system?
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Nov 7, 2010
Currently I am using 80 GB SATA Seagate HDD as my system drive and would like to purchase a bigger drive. In this Seagate HDD I have 2 partitions, C 40 GB and D 40 GB.Suppose I purchase a new drive and make a 200 GB C partition, is there a way to successfully transfer everything including the settings and Windows from the old 40 GB on Seagate to the new 200 GB partition?I'm thinking about Norton Ghost but have never had any experience of using it for this kind of scenario.
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Nov 14, 2012
I have a hard drive I want to backup to a 64gb flash drive and then restore it to another different hard drive than where it came from. I have windows 7 and office on my laptop and I want it on my desktop pc. There isn't close to 64gb of info on my laptop so it should be fine even though the hard drive says I have 160gb. It is all free space except for those programs.
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Oct 6, 2010
I have had to do a fresh installation due to the hd failing. I now have a larger hd partitioned into 2, one (C for the OS and programs and the other (D for the data). Is is possible and advisable to transfer all the directories such as "My Docs" and "My Music" from drive C; to drive D:? If it is OK then how can I do it.
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Oct 25, 2011
So, I have a i7 2600K system with a solid state disk as the boot drive, and an older (c2008) Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB drive as the data drive for programs (that I deem as not worthy of the quick load times). The hard drive has given me some errors over time, and I bought a hard disk to replace it (a Hitachi 1TB). The issue I'm having is that the fact that Windows 7 puts a small (100MB) partition on the F3, and for some reason, even though I'm running Acronis 2012, it doesn't seem to be able to clone the F3 over to the Hitachi. I've also tried Drive XML, and for my 2 hour wait, I only managed to acquire a boot error. Thankfully, I've not done anything rash to destroy the data on the F3, but given the fact that I've seen corrupted files in Steam from that drive, I'm not will to trust it long term with my data. I really need to get the data onto that Hitachi, though... Anyone have any advice for upgrading the HDD in a SSD/HDD system? I don't really feel like it should be so hard, especially if I've bought Acronis True Image, but maybe they haven't designed their product to handle this scenario quite yet?
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Jun 16, 2011
I have a HP Touchsmart IQ500. Turning my computer PC on today, all I got was a blue HP invent screen with setup, boot menu, system recovery, and system diagnosis, and I could not get past it. I entered the BIOS and figured out that the hard drive was listed as "not installed." Pretty sure that is the main problem.I tried a system restore (with the Windows 7 install disc), but I guess the computer couldn't read the hard drive enough to enter safe mode (I tried restarting and F8ing several times). I put in an external hard drive, and the BIOS read it; however, windows does not allow you to partition an OS on a hard drive.
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