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Third party hard drive and windows reinstallation

Discussion in 'Dell Latitude, Vostro, and Precision' started by billtron, Jun 14, 2008.

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  1. billtron

    billtron Notebook Enthusiast

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    The internal hard drive on my D630 is starting to make scary noises. In preparation for its sudden yet long awaited demise, I am trying to figure out if I can install a third party hard drive and reinstall windows.

    1) do I have to buy a new copy of Windows if I get a new hard drive?
    2) hard drive recommendations?
    3) backup recommendations? I have an external hard drive at the ready.
    4) do I have to reinstall all the software when I get a new hard drive, or are there some steps that a proper backup now can circumvent?
     
    billtron, Jun 14, 2008
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  2. JCMS

    JCMS Notebook Prophet

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    There is no such things as 3rd party in computers. Dell doesn't make any of the parts there is in the computer. You can put any drive you wants, and as long as you have your windows dvd and a key, no problem
     
    JCMS, Jun 14, 2008
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  3. billtron

    billtron Notebook Enthusiast

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    Oh, I forgot to mention. The computer is still under warranty. If I send it in to Dell for a replacement hard drive, is there any way to not have to reinstall everything from scratch? Can I clone the existing hard drive once the new one arrives?
     
    billtron, Jun 14, 2008
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  4. diggy

    diggy Notebook Deity

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    You could clone the image and push it down to the replacement; I think a lot of folks recommend Acronis True Image
     
    diggy, Jun 14, 2008
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  5. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

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    Yes you can clone with Acronis True Image, but you will have to store it some place first.
     
    atbnet, Jun 14, 2008
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  6. TheRealFireblade

    TheRealFireblade Notebook Consultant

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    Whilst I can understand why you might prefer to... replacing the hard drive is so very quick and easy to do (even by somebody who's never done it before), that it really isn't worth the hassle/delay sending the laptop back to Dell to do for you.
    As suggested... all you need is another source with enough capacity on which to store everything you need to backup... or a backup image, before swapping out the hard drives.


    If you've never done it before, go here to find links to various videos, including one which shows the process of changing a laptop hard drive (video 4) :cool:
    The guy works on a XPS M1730 specifically, and uses two drives in RAID 0... but the process is exactly the same for swapping out one drive, on most any laptop.


    If you'd be happy enough to DIY after watching the video, just contact Dell, and organise a replacement drive to be sent to you, rather than you returning the laptop itself ;)
     
    TheRealFireblade, Jun 15, 2008
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