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Installing Vista and restoring data

arredondo

arredondo

Senior member
My PC's only hard drive (Seagate SATA 400 GB) started to die, so I called Hewlett-Packard and they are sending me a new one as a replacement. I was fortunate to be able to do a full backup (using Vista's utility) on a portable external drive. Along with the hard drive they are sending me Vista Home Premium discs since the rig I bought didn't come with them. Here are my questions

- How do I restore my backup? Just attach the external drive and run the executable file?
- Do I install the new Vista disc first, or is that not necessary with a restore?
- I assume I am setting up a new account or is there a way to restore my old account?
- Do I need to first create the three partitions on my new drive like I had on the old drive, or is it automatically set up for me?

Lastly, I have to return the bad drive to HP.... what is the best way to wipe out the data on the drive when it isn't possible to load programs on it anymore? I don't want sensitive data just floating around.
 
The vista disk should be bootable to a environment which will allow you to restore that backup.

As for the drive, I put a couple drill bits thru mine, but in your case (since HP probably would charge you in that case) I'd full format it as much as you can before it dies completely.
 
Thanks. I'm now reading that because I have Vista Home, I only made a backup of everything but Vista itself. If I have to install Vista seperately, I hope it restores my data.
 
If you still have the old drive (and the replacement drive is a Seagate), you can download Seagate DiskWizard (aka Acronis True Image Home, similar to Norton Ghost) and clone the old hard drive to the new one. http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/in...nVCM100000dd04090aRCRD

Otherwise, yeah you'll need to do a full reinstall and recreate your accounts, then restore your data from the backup.

Assuming the old drive still runs, run it through DBAN before you send it back just to be safe. Just be careful and don't wipe the wrong drive. http://dban.sourceforge.net/
 
The old drive literally won't load Windows to allow me to use any new programs... I could only access it for a backup via Safe Mode. But silly me, I forgot I made a recovery disc when I first got the computer after everything was setup. It's got only my day one settings (five month old computer). Am I better off using that then restoring my data or installing Vista from scratch?
 
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