Reinstalling OS, Need Help.

It seems that my laptop hard drive, the one I recently purchased from Seagate is starting to fail, it seems to turn off and on while the notebook is still on. I'm not sure what the cause of this is but at first I thought it was because of inactivity, the spinning on the disk just turns off, but as I see it now, it seems to be an on going issue. The HDD will stop spinning randomly and then it'll have to start spinning again, which sort of freezes the notebook for at most a second or two.

My issue is that I purchase a Windows 7 Home Premium (x32/x64) Upgrade Box for around $90 and did a clean install of the OS onto the Hard Drive, when I first got the new HDD and Windows 7. Using the registry edit method that everyone was speaking about, which allowed Windows 7 to accept the upgrade key on the clean install, I was able to utilize Windows 7 problem-free.

Now, my question is, will I be able to do that again without running into any problems with my registration key? I'm planning on purchasing the Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB, as my ultimate goal is to have a dual-booting system (Linux 11.04 + Windows 7). I know people say that you can't activate it twice but I'm not really infringing here, if I'm not going to use that HDD anymore.

 

Yup, I've personally installed Windows 7 over 5 times after nuking the previous install, and everytime it has successfully validated etc. Even if you do get problems you should be able to call up their activation tech support and explain your circumstances to them and they will help you out via phone validation. So yeah go ahead and do it, you shouldn't encounter any problems. Good Luck!

I have a question is your current HDD you are using the Seagate Momentus (XT)? I've heard similar problems about it.

 

My current HDD is the Seagate Momentus (500GB/7200RPM) but the not the XT-Hybrid Drive. Honestly, I should have listened to people before and bought the more expensive WD Scorpio Black, at least I wouldn't be running into this now, I only got this drive back in February, but it's giving me issues already. Seagate says they'll cover it as apart of the warranty but honestly, I don't have time wait around with a notebook without a drive.

If you say this will work, then I'll take your word for it. I'll call Microsoft if anything, but how will know what number to call? Will there be a prompt?

 

I'm wondering if you have windows7 power manager set to turn off the harddrive at some point. Probably not, as you seem to know what your doing. but worth taking a look at if you haven't already.
Power management - Windows 7 features - Microsoft Windows


Article from Paul Thorrott on using upgrade media to install windows. I personally used the Double Install method for windows7 on two computers, worked fine.

 

You can install Windows 7 anywhere with the same key. You will just need to activate it (via the phone for me) if the hardware changes significantly and follow the phone instructions to activate. I've done this like 10x since when I buy new laptops, I just take my SSD out of the old 1 and put it in the new 1.

 

You can also clone (or create/restore an image) the hard drive. Easier if you have a bunch of programs/settings you don't have time to fuss with again. However, I'd be less inclined to clone a failing drive than starting anew. Both Seagate and WD have free programs for this built on Acronis. Google "Seagate Acronis" or WD ect. and it should pop up.

It would be prudent to run some tests on the drive to ensure it's failing though. Might be some bizarre power management thing, I don't know... Usually the manufacturer free tools have spin up/down tests.

 

Thank you all for helping me, I appreciate the timely responses! I just ordered the Western Digital HDD Scorpio Black 750GB, it's a bit of an upgrade and I think I'll sell the replacement Seagate Momentus 500GB/7200RPM or perhaps give it to my cousin.