Failing hd, disc imaging and Win7 upgrade questions

I want to switch to a new larger hd and upgrade to win7. Currently have a 250gb hd, partitioned (I think in-half) with Vista on a C partition and multiple users’ settings on D. The drive runs very hot; turn laptop on and watch the temp steadily climb (viewed via HD Tune) to 60celcius and then it shuts down.
I am looking for the simplest way to ensure that I have all of my current programs (with licenses, activations, etc. working) and settings as in Vista migrated to Win 7. (primarily iTunes and media library).

1. If I use a disc cloning program like Macrium free to create a disc image of my current hd onto an external usb 1tb drive, then remove the current Vista hd, install the new blank internal hd and restore the disc image, will I have the Vista programs and settings copied and working on the new hd (in Vista)?

2. If so, can I then follow the Win 7 upgrade to achieve what I am looking for? I have seen others recommend against upgrade installs of Win 7, suggesting clean install and manually re-installing programs one by one. I am reluctant to do this; I probably have 200 programs and think it would be too difficult and time consuming.

3. Is there a better way to accomplish this?

4. Will a new hdd run cooler? At least enough so that it doesn’t crash and shut down, or is there some issue with the laptop besides the hd that could cause high temps?

Thanks.

Dick Jagger said:

I want to switch to a new larger hd and upgrade to win7. Currently have a 250gb hd, partitioned (I think in-half) with Vista on a C partition and multiple users’ settings on D. The drive runs very hot; turn laptop on and watch the temp steadily climb (viewed via HD Tune) to 60celcius and then it shuts down.
I am looking for the simplest way to ensure that I have all of my current programs (with licenses, activations, etc. working) and settings as in Vista migrated to Win 7. (primarily iTunes and media library).

1. If I use a disc cloning program like Macrium free to create a disc image of my current hd onto an external usb 1tb drive, then remove the current Vista hd, install the new blank internal hd and restore the disc image, will I have the Vista programs and settings copied and working on the new hd (in Vista)?

2. If so, can I then follow the Win 7 upgrade to achieve what I am looking for? I have seen others recommend against upgrade installs of Win 7, suggesting clean install and manually re-installing programs one by one. I am reluctant to do this; I probably have 200 programs and think it would be too difficult and time consuming.

3. Is there a better way to accomplish this?

4. Will a new hdd run cooler? At least enough so that it doesn’t crash and shut down, or is there some issue with the laptop besides the hd that could cause high temps?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Hello!

To answer your questions: 1) yes, you can clone your hard drive with software like Macrium Free. When you restore to the new hard drive, all of your programs and settings will be ready to go. Of course, nothing is without risk, but the risk is small.

2) At Seven Forums we get a lot of complaints from those who did the "upgrade" path, so if you are detirmined to upgrade instead of "clean install", I would suggest you communicate with "Kari". He says he can successfully upgrade most anything, so he would be the one to talk to.

3) I share the opinion that a clean install is the best choice. You get rid of clutter and programs you never use. You get a fresh start. I have successfully use the "Easy Transfer Wizard" several times and am pleased with the results.

4) Heat is usually caused by dust and lint collecting in the heat sinks blocking the air flow and the fans. If you are not comfortable opening your laptop and vacuuming or blowing out the dust, you should have it done.

The 5400 rpm laptop hard drives generate less heat. The smaller hard drives also seem to run cooler. Vista and Windows 7 and a 7200 rpm hard drive will create more heat for your laptop. Windows 7 seems to demand more from the hardware than previous OSs. You will need to keep the airflow free of dust and lint and aviod setting the laptop on carpet or a bedspread so as not to block the air. So a newer laptop hard drive will not guarantee less heat. You can go for a "green" hard drive but you trade performance for less heat.

Cheers!
Robert

Robert thanks for your feedback - as your post was helpful in that I now recall the Easy Transfer Wizard!!! This must have been what I used when I went from XP to the new Vista laptop back in 2008... so, this is what I would like to do again to switch to Win7.

I have already run the disc image of my existing HDD (partitioned C and D drive) and run the Vista backup as well. Though, how would the Transfer Wizard use the disc image from Macrium? As I won't be able to easily use the old HDD once I remove it, I'm not clear how the Transfer Wizard would work. I currently have the backups and disc image on an external 1TB usb drive.

Also, I am currently living in China and have been to the Best Buy store to check on Win7, but they only sell official Chinese language versions for the domestic market (and very expensive at that, 3500rmb ~ $510!). I don't want a pirated copy from a street vendor, so I checked the Microsoft online store and was pretty disappointed to see that it's not even available in China. What is the logic in that?

The disk image can restore your Vista OS to your new hard drive. You would use the "Transfer Wizard" to transfer your Vista user settings to your new Windows 7 OS after you have installed it. They serve seperate and different puporses, you wouldn't use them at the same time. You can also save the "Transfer Wizard" files to your external hard drive either before or after you have replaced the hard drive.

For example after you have replaced the hard drive and restored the image of Vista you created, you would run the Vista Transfer Wizard and save to your external hard drive. When you have successfully installed Windows 7 and all of your programs, you would run the 7 Transfer Wizard to restore your settings from the external hard drive to your new Windows 7 OS.

Or you could save a step and run the Vista Transfer Wizard and save to your external hard drive now, then install 7 and all of your programs on your new hard drive, run the Windows 7 Transfer Wizard to restore your settings from the external hard drive to your new Windows 7 OS.

If you can't purchase a copy of 7 because you are located in China, then I suppose you will need the assistance of family or friends to get a copy. If you purchase a downloaded copy of 7, you should be allowed to get the download to your computer and your assistant could email you the activation key? You would then need to burn it to a DVD or save it to your external hard drive? You can then install it to your new hard drive.

You might try a phone call to Microsoft Store to see how they handle the sale of a English copy to an English user in another country?

Cheers!
Robert

Does the Transfer Wizard copy programs as well? It seems that disc cloning may make the Transfer Wizard unnecessary in my case because the disc image should have a copy of everything; programs, settings and files.

As for purchasing a download copy of Win7, it's not possible from within China (and Amazon downloads are also not possible). I'll try to contact Microsoft somehow to see what they suggest

Thanks.

Dick Jagger said:

Does the Transfer Wizard copy programs as well? It seems that disc cloning may make the Transfer Wizard unnecessary in my case because the disc image should have a copy of everything; programs, settings and files.

Click to expand...

The Wizard does not move programs from one OS /Computer to another. Think of it as moving your "User Profile", including settings, preferences, files and folders. YOU must install the programs you want to use (and are compatible) with Windows 7. I know the Upgrade Path sounds appealing, just pop in the DVD, wait 20 minutes and life is good! But what if just one of those "200" programs you said you do not want to install manually crashes your new Windows 7. Do you realize how long it would take to go through your new system, removing programs one by one until you find the guilty program (or programs)? On the other hand, if a program crashes right after you install it, you know exactly what the cause is and can fix it or remove it and go on to the next one.

This is exactly why we, at Seven Forums, hear a lot of "7 is crap ... crashed my system ... it is going to take a week to figure it out ... shouldn't be this hard ... going back to XP because XP NEVER had problems like this (yeah right, how quickly we forget!!). Had these people done a clean install of 7 and installed all their programs, they could have worked out any "bugs" along the way and would have ended up with a stable, working 7 on their computer.

If you are concerned about having a 'completely' working computer to use while you are getting 7 up and running, you could dual boot 7 and Vista while you migrate everything from Vista to 7.

If you decide to go this route, I would suggest a clean install of 7 on your new hard drive allowing 40 to 60GB of hard drive space for 7. Then shrink your Vista partition to fit on your new hard drive and use your clone software to copy Vista to the empty space left on your new hard drive. Use your 7 install DVD (or make a "System Repair" CD for yourself beforehand) and do the "Startup Repair" and you will be able to boot to Vista when you need to and to 7 when you want to.

Dick Jagger said:

As for purchasing a download copy of Win7, it's not possible from within China (and Amazon downloads are also not possible). I'll try to contact Microsoft somehow to see what they suggest

Thanks.

Click to expand...

You would have to enlist the help of a friend or family in an English speaking country, have them do the actual purchase for you, then send you the download link (and activation key) so that you could access the download link and download the Windows 7 ISO (as opposed to mailing a copy of the DVD to you ... don't know how long that would take or how much it would cost!?).

Cheers!
Robert