Need to transfer old hard drive to new hard drive?

Question

My hard drive failed; it gave me a warning beforehand and everything. I'm not sure if it was a hardware fail or software fail. I am considering just buying a new hard drive. I can't seem to really access the hard drive anymore, but the computer still recognizes that it's there; it just says it' got a fatal error.
My question is, will I be able to transfer my OS from the old hard drive or will I have to buy an new OS?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Sorry, but the OS will not transfer from one drive to another. Neither will any programs. Best you can do is install a new drive and then a cable to convert the old hard drive to a USB reader (kind of like an external drive) and see if you can pull any files from it. If you have a manufactured computer (Dell, HP, etc) you may be able to contact them and get a disk with the OS on it. If the computer is over 2-3 years old though, they probably won't help as it will be out of warranty. You can always go with Linux for the OS (free) versus paying $100+ for a new OS. However if you buy a copy of Windows 7 you'll have it forever.

Answer 2

If your PC is a Branded OEM machine, you should have got the OS installation disk and so you can easily install the OS in new hard-disk.

If not, from where you installed your OS previously?

If you have not got any OS installation disk from your vender, you can download the OS from anywhere, just have to FIND the REGISTRATION KEY or a serial key of OS activation. There will be no difference in OS if you get the KEY.

Answer 3

If the hard drive is detected in the system BIOS but you can't actually boot from it and get either black screen or BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), that would actually be a hardware failure. And no, you won't be able to get the operating system back.

Answer 4

Its most likely a hardware error with the HDD, and you won't be able to get the data back :( Sorry. This time, back up regularly.

Answer 5

You have to install an new OS.