Okay, so I slammed the lid on my laptop (yeah yeah, I know ) and now, when it does boot up, it takes a few hours.
I ran check disc that showed up when I started in safe mode and it said I have a bad sector and some long string of letters and numbers.
I backed up all my files and did a fresh install of Windows (7). I thought all was well but it still takes hours to boot up.
 
First question - Is a bad sector a RAM issue or a HD issue?
Second question - If it is a HD issue and I replace it how do I go about getting my Windows 7 install on to it since the laptop didn't come with a disc but rather on a partition?
 
Thanks for any info you can provide.
 
Mike 

A bad sector is an HD problem.  You might be able to run check disk in a mode that will fix the HD by ignoring that sector--it's kind of like quarantining a virus.  I don't have enough experience with Win7, so I can't help you with exactly how to do it or how to re-install.  Good luck.  

Since your laptop has a recovery partition, you will need to copy it to your new hard drive  - there are programs that can do that (which involves connecting both old and new drives and running a partition manager to copy the recovery partition over) but you will need to decide if you want to take on this project or just find a Windows 7 disk to use with your COA number on the bottom of your laptop to start over with a new drive.

Thanks guys.
Is it possible to burn the windows 7 to a dvd and re-install on the new HD?
 
Mike

It may be if your laptop vendor included the utility to do so. I'm not sure the partition itself will have everything you need. You'll also need any drivers (Network, PCI, USB, etc...) before you pull the hard disk. You can usually go to your vendor's support page and download all the driver installers. Save them to a flash stick.
 
If you can't find any utility installed to create a Win7 disk, try the vendor's support page for that as well. Lastly, if you can locate a Win7 ISO disk, you can install from that and use the serial number on your Windows sticker to activate it.
 
Regards,
Dan

Before spending time for complete re installation, It can be good idea to check that everything except HDD is ok:

1. Check that the problem is really HDD (not HDD controller, for example):
   • download http://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtune_255.exe (free for personal use). Do test, check the Health tab for some "SMART" error. You can also try Error Scan. If you see (at least one of ) errors, SMART health is not ok, there are parts with good speed and parts with bad, the problem is HDD for sure. If everything is good (but transfer speed is constantly low), I recommend recheck it with other computer
   • download some Linux live (for example http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop ), and start is in "Try" mode (without installing). If it does not work at all with your laptop, it is simply not compatible. But in case it boots, but you get some (not graphic related) problems (slow, hang, "kernel panic", etc), there is something wrong with the rest of your computer. Check RAM (an option during Linux boot, as I remember modern Windows also have one). Check the temperature (of CPU, HDD and Graphic).
2. You can make safety copy of your whole HDD, in case it is still readable (can take a while in case it is half broken...). Free tools are a bit harder to use, but they do the job. For example http://clonezilla.org/ . You can save the image on some network storage in case you do not have spare disk. In case you clone to real HDD, you can try to start/reinstall from it. That not always works, but you can find relevant info in the internet (once you see the error to solve). 

dcumpian
It may be if your laptop vendor included the utility to do so. I'm not sure the partition itself will have everything you need. You'll also need any drivers (Network, PCI, USB, etc...) before you pull the hard disk. You can usually go to your vendor's support page and download all the driver installers. Save them to a flash stick.

 
With a manufacturer's recovery partition, the computer will be restored to the setup it had when it left the factory. The drivers for the hardware that came stock on the computer will be included, as well as any programs that the manufacturer installed. Of course drivers for any hardware that the user added (like an audio interface) will need to be downloaded again.
 

azslow3

• download some Linux live (for example http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop ), and start is in "Try" mode (without installing). If it does not work at all with your laptop, it is simply not compatible. But in case it boots, but you get some (not graphic related) problems (slow, hang, "kernel panic", etc), there is something wrong with the rest of your computer. Check RAM (an option during Linux boot, as I remember modern Windows also have one). Check the temperature (of CPU, HDD and Graphic).

 
This is a good idea to try and pinpoint the problem. Linux Mint and Puppy Linux are two good distros that will load without installing or changing anything on your hard drive, but will help you test your system to see if the hard drive is really the issue. If loading any Linux OS from a DVD takes two hours, you may have another problem with your laptop, although your indication of bad sector errors points to the hard drive as the problem.

 
 

Ruben

dcumpian
It may be if your laptop vendor included the utility to do so. I'm not sure the partition itself will have everything you need. You'll also need any drivers (Network, PCI, USB, etc...) before you pull the hard disk. You can usually go to your vendor's support page and download all the driver installers. Save them to a flash stick.

 
With a manufacturer's recovery partition, the computer will be restored to the setup it had when it left the factory. The drivers for the hardware that came stock on the computer will be included, as well as any programs that the manufacturer installed. Of course drivers for any hardware that the user added (like an audio interface) will need to be downloaded again.
 

Not all of them have everything and he'll need the drivers if he loads Windows on fresh hard drive without using the partition. I've found it easier to start from scratch than to rely on the recovery partition.
 
Regards,
Dan
 
 

dcumpian

Ruben

dcumpian
It may be if your laptop vendor included the utility to do so. I'm not sure the partition itself will have everything you need. You'll also need any drivers (Network, PCI, USB, etc...) before you pull the hard disk. You can usually go to your vendor's support page and download all the driver installers. Save them to a flash stick.

 
With a manufacturer's recovery partition, the computer will be restored to the setup it had when it left the factory. The drivers for the hardware that came stock on the computer will be included, as well as any programs that the manufacturer installed. Of course drivers for any hardware that the user added (like an audio interface) will need to be downloaded again. 

Not all of them have everything and he'll need the drivers if he loads Windows on fresh hard drive without using the partition. I've found it easier to start from scratch than to rely on the recovery partition.
 

 
It's pretty rare that a major manufacturer's modern recovery partition will not have all of the hardware drivers needed to restore the computer to factory specs... it's simply too much of a support hassle to not include everything that shipped with the computer. I know many years ago some manufacturers just copied a Windows setup disk for recovery, so back then you would have needed to go to the manufacturer's website to get drivers for common hardware like NICs, audio, etc. But these days manufacturers will set up an image on the recovery partition which can be easily restored - it makes it easy for users and eliminates some support issues for the manufacturer.
 
Many times, for my personal computers, I also install from a Windows disk - makes for a cleaner install, as you probably know. But right, if he uses a separate Windows disk, he will need all of the drivers from the manufacturers website. Which is a good reason to try and use the recovery partition if he can.

If you have the utility program from the manufacturer, then you should have made some DVD (about 3 for mine) from the program to install Windows 7 on a new harddrive.
 
If only part of your harddisk is bad (and not the complete C:\ partition which contains the master boot record and OS) then you only need to right click on the Computer desktop icon and Open. Right click on the C:\drive and select Properties. There you will see Tools, and select both look for bad sectors and check the disk (which checks the OS).
You have to restart the computer to do that, and there are 5 sections to all of that, and depending on how big your partition is (checking the harddisk for bad sectors so Windows can mark those not to use) then if anything is found wrong Windows 7 should be restored, you will have your harddisk checked so it does not happen in the future unless the harddrive fails completely and then after Windows is started, look for a program that creates the DVD from the manufacturer that is Windows 7 - because they do not supply that anymore with the computer. It should contain everything you need because the computer does not hold the registration number like with XP on the computer maybe and there is no sticker on your computer perhaps with that info but it should be included with the manufacturer's programs to restore your computer. In the past you put the DVD in like with XP and re-installed Windows XP and went through all of that.
 
Now you have to make your own DVDs (it took three on mine) and store them somewhere along with a Recovery DVD and anything else included to make the OS work again.