New hard drive OS conundrum

ohowih8ohiost8

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Nov 26, 2017
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HP m8400f, bought in 2008 and still running Vista. Original HDD configuration was two identical Seagate 360GB, for a total of 720GB. These are lettered C (with a small D recovery partition on the same physical HDD as C) and E.

I noticed some physical damage to the SATA connection on C. The plastic piece that supports the pins has broken off; only the pins remain. This situation is untenable long-term, especially with C being the one with the OS on it. So I bought a new 1TB drive last week, currently lettered as F, and for the moment, I am running three HDDs.

I want the OS to eventually be on the new drive (currently lettered F), and when that's done, I plan to zero wipe the current C drive and send it to Burkina Faso so the locals can retrieve like $2 worth of gold from the PCB. (Humor aside, I'm not planning to keep that drive around any longer than I need to get important things moved off of it.)

Here is my dilemma: all I have in the way of Windows installation discs are either (a) for Vista, or (b) a set of three system and recovery discs that belong to my father's Gateway laptop, which I believe to contain Windows 7. I'm not going to install Vista to the new drive because MS killed off support for it several months ago, but I seem to be running into issues with option (b) as well.

With the background story filled in, the following is what I think I might have to do to get Windows 7 on the new HDD. Please let me know if I'm missing any steps, totally off base, or if I should just go blow $109 I don't really have on Windows 10.

-- From within Vista, re-assign drive letters so that the newest physical HDD gets the C designation
-- Move the data on that drive elsewhere for its own protection
-- Reboot, stick the Gateway "system disc" into the DVD drive, and hope that when it tells me it's going to nuke everything on C, it means the newest physical HDD and not the one with the damaged connector that has been C since first boot back in 2008
-- Insert Gateway "recovery discs" as requested
-- Hope that the total lack of an OS on the new drive doesn't trip up Gateway's recovery software somehow

Sorry for the length. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
 
Solution
Also, assuming there is no actual data on this drive that you wish to keep...

During the install, when it asks 'where', select Custom.
You'll be presented with a list of all existing partitions.
Select each, DELETE.
Leaving one large blank space.
Create a single partition using that whole space, and format it as GPT.
Continue the install, letting Windows create what it needs.

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
-- From within Vista, re-assign drive letters so that the newest physical HDD gets the C designation
-- Move the data on that drive elsewhere for its own protection
-- Reboot, stick the Gateway "system disc" into the DVD drive, and hope that when it tells me it's going to nuke everything on C, it means the newest physical HDD and not the one with the damaged connector that has been C since first boot back in 2008
-- Insert Gateway "recovery discs" as requested
-- Hope that the total lack of an OS on the new drive doesn't trip up Gateway's recovery software somehow

No.

1. You can't reassign the drive letters like that
2. You need to do that first
3-5. What OS do you want in this system? What OS do you have a license for?
 

dekertek

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Feb 7, 2014
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You don't actually need a product key to install and use Windows 10. There is just a small nag overlay, but no restrictions. See this article on HowToGeek.com. Just download from Microsoft and give it a try.

https://www.howtogeek.com/244678/you-dont-need-a-product-key-to-install-and-use-windows-10/
 

ohowih8ohiost8

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Nov 26, 2017
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As far as I can tell, changing drive letters can be done fairly easily through Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management. And the backing-up to other hard drives is already underway.

To your final question, when I started this, I was looking for any Windows version from 7 on up. I knew both of my parents have laptops that are newer than my desktop machine and figured they would have either Windows discs or some kind of "system recovery" discs containing Windows. A search conducted this Thanksgiving weekend only turned up recovery discs for my father's laptop, which we believe shipped with Windows 7. I'll take 7 if that's all they have freely available to me -- because at least 7 is still supported.

Obviously, I have a product key on the side of my desktop for Vista. We did make certain to obtain my father's product key for 7 as part of our search process. Windows 10 at retail would be only a last resort if I can't make anything else work.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


Inside of a running Windows instance, you cannot change some other drive to be the "C".
And it would make no difference even if you could. The assignment of the C drive letter happens during the OS install, and the subsequent power on.

Further, the Gateway Recovery thing and license will not work on a different system.
 

ohowih8ohiost8

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Nov 26, 2017
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Ok, can you explain what DOES work?

 

USAFRet

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Purchasing a valid Win 7 or 10 OS for your HP system. Or, reinstalling the original Vista. Which is now long out of any support from MS.
Currently, you have no actual license to put on that thing, other than the original Vista.
Nor is there any 'upgrade' from Vista.

The question is...how much $$ do you wish to invest in this 10 year old HP thing?
 

ohowih8ohiost8

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Nov 26, 2017
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Well, let's see ... the new mobo, new power supply, one new hard drive, and replacing SATA cables has so far only run me about $120. If I HAVE to obtain Windows 10, I guess the additional $109 for that means I'm still coming in cheaper than replacing the entire computer (I checked Micro Center here near Chicago, even cheap desktops are like $400). But if there is a way to NOT spend that $109, I want to fully explore all possibilities for that.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Yes, there is a very good way.

Create a Win 10 install USB. Here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Boot from that, and install Win 10.
When it asks for the license key, Skip that and proceed on.
It will finish the install, leaving it in an Unactivated state.

Windows 10 will run Unactivated for....who know how long.
I have a test install in a VirtualMachine to try exactly this. It is 3 weeks shy of one year after the install. Still running perfectly, and gets all current updates. Was installed Dec 8 2016.
It carries some small restrictions. No personalization of the Desktop or Taskbar, and a randomly appearing watermark at the bottom right of the screen.

Other than that, it just runs.
$0.
 

ohowih8ohiost8

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Nov 26, 2017
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Appreciate the guidance here. One final question with regard to the activated/unactivated state: I have heard that MS is allowing free upgrades to Windows 10 for those who use assistive devices of some kind, until the end of 2017. Near as I've been able to tell, they don't require you to actually prove you own a screen reader, magnifier, etc. -- it appears they'll take your word for it. Are you aware of whether this path could get me not only installed, but also activated, for somewhere between $0 and $109 -- or don't know?

Thanks again for the help.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


That "might" work. If it is an Upgrade, that would have been an Upgrade from a previously valid Win 7 or above license. The actual Upgrade window ran out last year.
Try it. See what happens.

 

ohowih8ohiost8

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Nov 26, 2017
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You're right, that is only for upgrade from 7, 8, and 8.1, and XP and Vista are out of luck.

Knowing now that I'm going to have to use a bit more conventional means to get anywhere beyond Vista, a few more questions: I can install Windows 10 to the new F drive, right? Or will it try to force its way onto C, which is the damaged-connector drive? And then once Windows 10 is up and running, I should be able to dual-boot and get the drive letters changed, one not-currently-in-use OS's drive letter at a time?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


When you install, have only that one physical drive connected.
The drive letter F as you see it now is irrelevant. During and after the install, it will be the C drive.

Reconnect other drives later. They will simply be seen as other drive letters.
D, E, F, G, Z X, whatever.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Also, assuming there is no actual data on this drive that you wish to keep...

During the install, when it asks 'where', select Custom.
You'll be presented with a list of all existing partitions.
Select each, DELETE.
Leaving one large blank space.
Create a single partition using that whole space, and format it as GPT.
Continue the install, letting Windows create what it needs.
 
Solution