bad hard drive dilemma

I have a hp dv 6308nr that is about 3 years old. Something that I did to it recently caused the hard drive to go bad (new battery, new charger, new ram, not sure). Anyway, I don't really want to put a lot of money into a 3 year old laptop. Also, I don't have any restore cd's. I do have everything backed up on an external hd. But, wouldn't I have to purchase windows all over again to install it on my new hard drive? Would I be better off just getting a new computer and selling this one for parts or can I get a new hard drive cheap somewhere?

 

Well for starters nothing you listed can make a HDD go bad.

You can get Windows7 Home Premium OEM from Newegg for $104. So it will just cost $104 + another $80 for a 320GB HDD. That's a LOT cheaper then a new laptop.

 

If you have the original license under the laptop, just borrow the cd from somewhere or dowload it and use your own key.

 

well i don't know necessarily what caused it to go bad. could an aftermarket charger not cause it to go bad? Anyway I dont know a lot about it. I appreciate the advice though. I looked on crucial.com and their cheapest hd was like 199 for my computer. where can i get one for 80? Also, I should have clarified. If I get a new one I was gonna just get a mini netbook or something cheap like that so I was planning on spending 350-400 on a new one.

 

I bought the laptop new. how would i go about downloading the cd?

 

Both Vista and Win7 official links are available here on the forum. If you have XP then it isn't as easy.

 

I have vista. Any recommendations on where to get an inexpensive hd? Also, I have everything backed up on an external hd but if I get win 7 will i be able to restore files (music, documents, etc...) into win 7 without any trouble? Sorry for the dumb questions but I dont know much about this.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=240320
I was going to refer to that thread for Vista links but reading that thread, it seems they are gone afterall.

Are the backups just copies, usable from external drive, or some cryptic archive files? If latter, someone else need to tell if they can be opened in Win7, I do not know that

 

Newegg.com

you need a 2.5in HD for a laptop. they are 60-80 for 320GB depending on what speed/brand you get.

Crucial only sells Solid state drives(ssd). they are much more expencive then a Hard disk drive(HDD).

 

thanks guys. i will check out newegg. I'm not sure about the backup on my external hd. i have a western digital 500gb external hd. i just used the wd smartware program to make the backup. it has an option in the software to backup files. anybody know it that would be usable? If I get a hard drive from newegg where would be the best place to get win 7?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280

Is this like what I need for my laptop? Are all hd's pretty standard size? It just doesn't ask for what computer type you have or anything so I wasn't sure. Once again, sorry for the ignorance, bare with me.

 

I put that same HD im my presario c500 laptop,yes that's what you need as long as you have SATA .

 

i dont know what sata is? how could i know if i have it?

 

Go to control panel,then devise manager,look under (IDE ATA/ATAPI contollers),it should show up their.Or pop open your hard drive cover and take a peek,you might have to take your hard drive out to check for sure.Just remember if you do piull out hard drive,unplug laptop pull battery out a press power button to discharge any remaining juice......

 

here is what my hd looks like. so will the one i posted the link for work for me? also, i cant go to control panel on my computer because it wont open anything up when i turn the computer on.

 

Then you have a SATA, you can tell because it says Serial AT on it.

The drive you linked earlier will work fine. I have that same drive in my MacBook, love it.

 

thanks for the help guys