Can you make a bootable windows 7 cd/usb or recovery cd from non booting hard drive?

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heyjb

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Feb 8, 2014
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ok, so I was stupid and didn't make recovery cds from my daughters toshiba or if I made them , I can't find the....she started getting a hard drive error, but it was too late, I tried to burn recovery media but it kept giving an error, I was able to back up files, though before it wouldn't work. I bought a new hard drive and installed it, but how can I get windows 7 on the new hard drive. I hooked up the old hard drive using sata to usb cables and on a working computer I can still see all the files and programs on the old hard drive including the oem windows product key....is there a way to manually extract all the correct files to make a bootable cd/usb?? I know I can order recovery disks from toshiba but they want $30 plus shipping..and I am cheap and don't want to pay for information that I already have but can't get to.....Please help!!!!
thanks
 
Solution
Phillip Corcoran
You could "clone" the old hard drive to the new one using cloning software, but that's assuming there are no corrupt or missing files on the old drive. If there are, the new drive would have the same errors as the old one. If you want to give it a try, free cloning software here: http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm

Personally I would gladly pay Toshiba the $30 for a set of Backup Media (in fact I did just that six months ago) without hesitation. But in my case the existing hard drive (second hand laptop) had the wrong OS on it.

But, hey, the cloning process may well turn out be a great success and would certainly advance your knowledge of the subject. Go for it!
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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Assuming you still have the activation key (on a sticker on the case, probably), you can download the official Windows 7 ISO from here:
http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325/

Save whatever data from that drive, burn that ISO to a DVD, install.
 
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Phillip Corcoran

Phillip Corcoran

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Sep 7, 2013
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You could "clone" the old hard drive to the new one using cloning software, but that's assuming there are no corrupt or missing files on the old drive. If there are, the new drive would have the same errors as the old one. If you want to give it a try, free cloning software here: http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm

Personally I would gladly pay Toshiba the $30 for a set of Backup Media (in fact I did just that six months ago) without hesitation. But in my case the existing hard drive (second hand laptop) had the wrong OS on it.

But, hey, the cloning process may well turn out be a great success and would certainly advance your knowledge of the subject. Go for it!
 
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Solution
H

heyjb

Honorable
Feb 8, 2014
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10,510
Ok , I am almost there, I just can't figure out how to get the backed up files to the new hard drive, if I plug the new hard drive via the sata to usb cables I cannot see it...the files are on an external hard drive because there is 84gb, so don't have thumb drive...if i plug the external drive into the laptop with the new harddrive installed will it "find" the files??
 
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