New Hard Drive for notebook and vista

I had a notebook computer and I want to replace a 60GB hard drive to a 120GB
hard drive.

Question : Do I have to erase the old hard drive that has Vista Home Basic
OS on it, before I install the new hard drive with the Vista OS?

Next, If I have to erase the old hard drive, how do I wipe the drive without
any Disk Manager? The maker HITACHI does not have any Disk Manager on there
website to download.

I want to use the same Vista Home Basic OEM software CD that I have on the
new 120GB hard drive.

Use the utility from Hitachi. It is called the Drive Fitness Test.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

"Ted F" <nospam@no.com> wrote in message
news:20E6DB0C-36AC-4685-9550-228A8D8156B6@microsoft.com...
>I had a notebook computer and I want to replace a 60GB hard drive to a
>120GB hard drive.
>
> Question : Do I have to erase the old hard drive that has Vista Home Basic
> OS on it, before I install the new hard drive with the Vista OS?
>
> Next, If I have to erase the old hard drive, how do I wipe the drive
> without any Disk Manager? The maker HITACHI does not have any Disk
> Manager on there website to download.
>
> I want to use the same Vista Home Basic OEM software CD that I have on the
> new 120GB hard drive.

The notebook computer that I'm using has no floppy drive.

"Richard Urban" wrote:

> Use the utility from Hitachi. It is called the Drive Fitness Test.
>
> --
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard Urban
> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
> (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
>
> "Ted F" <nospam@no.com> wrote in message
> news:20E6DB0C-36AC-4685-9550-228A8D8156B6@microsoft.com...
> >I had a notebook computer and I want to replace a 60GB hard drive to a
> >120GB hard drive.
> >
> > Question : Do I have to erase the old hard drive that has Vista Home Basic
> > OS on it, before I install the new hard drive with the Vista OS?
> >
> > Next, If I have to erase the old hard drive, how do I wipe the drive
> > without any Disk Manager? The maker HITACHI does not have any Disk
> > Manager on there website to download.
> >
> > I want to use the same Vista Home Basic OEM software CD that I have on the
> > new 120GB hard drive.
>
>

"tedjf1" <tedjf1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F21944A3-77BC-45BC-A5BE-8FDEA71BCA19@microsoft.com...
> The notebook computer that I'm using has no floppy drive.

Boot from the Vista CD and use the disk manager in there to erase the disk.

> "Richard Urban" wrote:
>
>> Use the utility from Hitachi. It is called the Drive Fitness Test.
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Richard Urban
>> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
>> (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
>>
>> "Ted F" <nospam@no.com> wrote in message
>> news:20E6DB0C-36AC-4685-9550-228A8D8156B6@microsoft.com...
>> >I had a notebook computer and I want to replace a 60GB hard drive to a
>> >120GB hard drive.
>> >
>> > Question : Do I have to erase the old hard drive that has Vista Home
>> > Basic
>> > OS on it, before I install the new hard drive with the Vista OS?
>> >
>> > Next, If I have to erase the old hard drive, how do I wipe the drive
>> > without any Disk Manager? The maker HITACHI does not have any Disk
>> > Manager on there website to download.
>> >
>> > I want to use the same Vista Home Basic OEM software CD that I have on
>> > the
>> > new 120GB hard drive.
>>
>>

Ted F wrote:
> I had a notebook computer and I want to replace a 60GB hard drive to a
> 120GB hard drive.
>
> Question : Do I have to erase the old hard drive that has Vista Home
> Basic OS on it, before I install the new hard drive with the Vista OS?
>
> Next, If I have to erase the old hard drive, how do I wipe the drive
> without any Disk Manager? The maker HITACHI does not have any Disk
> Manager on there website to download.
>
> I want to use the same Vista Home Basic OEM software CD that I have on
> the new 120GB hard drive.

You don't have to wipe the old hard drive unless you aren't going to
keep it. You might want to just stick it in the closet in a static-free
bag for emergencies. If the new drive dies, you could always put the old
one in your laptop temporarily. It will work as though it had never been
away.

If you want to throw the old hard drive away or sell it, wipe it. I use
Acronis Disk Cleanser but it isn't free. A free and excellent utility is
Darik's Boot and Nuke. You make a bootable CD, boot the laptop with it,
and wipe the drive. Then install your new hard drive and install Vista.

http://dban.sourceforge.net/ - Darik's Boot and Nuke


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User