Installing HardDrive

joel5200

I have a Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop and a Sony vaio laptop. The harddrive on the Dell is corrupted and I have brought a new harddrive but I do not have the installation disks for the Dell. Is it possible for me to take the hardrive from my Sony and put it in the Dell and put the new drive in the Sony (I have the installation disks for the Sony)?

If it can be done is there anything that I have to do to the sony hardrive before putting it into the Dell?

weegie.geek

"corrupted"?

Is it broken or just needs wiped and reinstalled?

You COULD swap the drive from the Sony to the Dell, but the windows install will have a fit, since it's setup for running on the Sony hardware, the drivers etc will be wrong and it won't be fun. Windows will most likely fail to load.

joel5200

It is broken and cannot be read by the Dell Laptop.

Could I somehow add the Dell drivers to the Sony harddrive before putting it into the Dell?

albertross_2

what is the error msg

Ask Dell for the XP/Vista CD

Debt_Free_Chick

What OS did the Dell ship with? XP? If so, you just any XP CD. The product key should be on a sticker on the bottom of the lappie.

If you can get Windows on, you can then go to Dell, type in the Express Service Tag (also on the bottom of the lappie) and download all the drivers.

I think you'll find that Windows will load sufficient generic drivers to allow the laptop to function. Whilst not perfect, it ought to be sufficient to allow you to connect to the internet and get to the Dell site.

If all else fails, use the Sony to get the Dell drivers, save them to a USB stick or burn them to a CD and then install them on the Dell.

joel5200

Yes XP. I do not have an XP disc, only the Sony vaio rescue disks which I presume includes Windows XP, could I use them?

With regard to the Dell Drivers is there a list somewhere of the ones that I would need, and at what point would I add them to the Dell, presumably once windows has loaded?

I contacted Dell and they seemed unwilling to supply the XP disc.

Debt_Free_Chick

Not sure about the Sony discs. Pop them in the CD drive, right click on the icon in My Computer and "explore".

Dell Drivers .... it's so easy. Put the service tag in HERE and it will bring up all the drivers for that specific laptop in front of you

Debt_Free_Chick

Borrow an XP CD from someone? It's all perfectly legal as you have a Product Key, which is proof that you have a license to install XP on that laptop. If you borrow an XP CD you can even legitimately copy it .... as you have the Product Key.

joel5200

Thanks for your suggestion and I know this is cheeky but has anyone got an XP Home Cd that I could borrow as I do not know anyone that has one. I have the product key stuck to the bottom of the dell laptop.
Of course I would be willing to cover any costs involved. Thank you:cheesy: :cheesy:

joel5200

Also once I have downloaded the Dell Drivers onto a CD where do I save them to on the Dell Laptop, excuse my ignorance but this is all new to me,
thanks.

albertross_2

Dell should really give you the XP CD (and a driver CD) if you explain the situation, and put your foot down, people on here have been in the same position before, and got one in the post. You've paid for the software license, you want the disk..., even if they charge you the nominal shipping charge, then it is far cheaper than XP. If they still say no, say you would like the hard disk fixing under the sale of goods act which covers you upto 6 years.

start, run, devmgmt.msc

find all the question marks, and update the driver, point to CD drive.