OS install fail, lost in BIOS

[Gorillawar]

So I just upgraded every part of my comp with new pieces but I wanted my old HDD. I have stuff on there and such. Well I heard you need to reinstall your OS for a new motherboard, so I made a bootable USB from another win 7 since I lost my key to this one. Started and BIOS came up. all looking good but I was mostly lost. When I found how to boot from the USB I did. all that happened was system recovery for like 10 mins. And then reboot and back to BIOS....So it wouldn't work. tried more than once. Later booted from HDD. This time I got a new screen and actual install, but it said no drivers found to do anything. I gave up and put my crap back in this PC. I had to use my HP recovery disk cause my HDD was weird and wouldn't boot.

So can anyone please give a detailed way to use my old HDD with win 7 on it and its HP thing idk. and be able to use my new comp and install win 7 on the motherboard so I can use it.

I would prefer some bootable USB or CD way of doing it.

So I guess it was the HP on my HDD conflict maybe?

[Kagthul]

first build excitement is gone now, hating this whole thing...never doing this again lol

yeah, instead of educating yourself about basic OS installation, just throw up dem hands and quit.

Also - asking people to help you pirate things will get you banned.

[Artorius]

So let me see if I understand.
You tried to boot a entirely new machine using your old HP's laptop/pc HD with Win7 right?

Ok, then it wouldn't work and you used a USB Win7 stick to repair, and even then the system wouldn't work because of drivers.

Hmm, I know that Windows 8/8.1 would try to adapt itself loading generic drivers just to boot but not sure about 7.
Regardless, your windows 7 probably has it's Key at the original HP PC UEFI, and it's tied to that hardware in particular, so it would probably fail to activate anyway.
OEMs keys are made for OEMs, you can't use it at another computer, it doesn't work as a personal license.

If you ultimately need your files:
I'd try to boot the USB Win7 disk again, choose repair and then the cleaning installation option which I don't exactly remember how it's called.
If this doesn't clean your drivers, try to boot in security mode since it doesn't really need much things to work.

[Gorillawar]

I did do some. Didnt think that would be a problem. and didnt throw up hands. spent 2 hours trying stuff and now I came here. Pretty logical. also I said lol cause I wa kidding. I want this comp. I have had this old one for 7 years. and its like grandpa mode

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Should I just wipe this HD I have? I would really like to not do that. So much stuff is on this I don't want to lose any of it. maybe I can wipe the OS and HP stuff off of it? Or just buy a new HD and have a totally fresh computer and installation; and use my current HD as a seperate secondary HD with my info on it and such. But I think I would have to wipe the OS and HP stuff off of it anyways or it might cause conflict with the new one?

[Artorius]

Boot the system with a Linux distribution live session (Ubuntu is the one I use for this), copy the files you need to somewhere else then wipe the hard drive.

Live session means that you can boot without installing. Yes just make a bootable USB stick with a Linux distro (grab an ISO and then use Rufus), most of them can do a live session.

[Gorillawar]

are you sure that's the only way? If so then I must buy a new HD, and if that's the case I might as well just install it on there in the new computer. So since that is taken care of. So to use my current HD once this new computer is running. How will i plug my HD in and use it? will it just boom work, also will it cause problems without wiping off the HP and win 7 it has on it?

[Aurimas]

are you sure that's the only way? If so then I must buy a new HD, and if that's the case I might as well just install it on there in the new computer. So since that is taken care of. So to use my current HD once this new computer is running. How will i plug my HD in and use it? will it just boom work, also will it cause problems without wiping off the HP and win 7 it has on it?

Correct, if you have so much data to save that you'd need a HDD to put it on, you might as well just buy a new one... and just installing windows on the new one will save the steps of trying to back up the old one.

Yes, it will just "boom work", once you plug it in (assuming of course that it is still "boom working" right now). No it won't cause problems having the old HP stuff on it.

Well, "boom work" means it will show up, and all your files will be there. The programs will not just "boom work" without being re-installed... but all your data should be there. Some things (like steam) can be made to "boom work" with a bit of "actual work", but is well beyond the scope of this threads question. Google for things like transferring steam to a new hdd.

--edit--

Oh, and you'll never get your HP version of windows to work in the new computer. I can't tell if we've already covered that in the replies... the windows versions sold to major vendors are deeply discounted in bulk, and tied to work only with that computer. You need a new copy of windows.

--edit edit--

And might I suggest buying a SDD. You will not regret it. Even just a small one 128GB+ to install windows and a couple of your favorite games. Then you can use your old "boom working" HDD for the bulk of your data.

[Gorillawar]

And might I suggest buying a SDD. You will not regret it. Even just a small one 128GB+ to install windows and a couple of your favorite games. Then you can use your old "boom working" HDD for the bulk of your data.

I have thought about that a lot actually. Just kinda idk lol. But how would I get rid of the OS and HP and stuff from the HD I am using now so I can actually use it for storage? And I didnt know you needed to reinstall stuff...well thats weird haha

[Artorius]

I have thought about that a lot actually. Just kinda idk lol. But how would I get rid of the OS and HP and stuff from the HD I am using now so I can actually use it for storage? And I didnt know you needed to reinstall stuff...well thats weird haha

You copy things you need > paste somewhere else > format HD > "Boom work"

But now seriously, some things like WoW/LoL can work without doing the install process by just copy pasting, but most of them can't.
You'll need to reinstall most of your things.

[Aurimas]

I have thought about that a lot actually. Just kinda idk lol. But how would I get rid of the OS and HP and stuff from the HD I am using now so I can actually use it for storage? And I didnt know you needed to reinstall stuff...well thats weird haha

Most programs write stuff to the registry that it needs to run, and various other things, like registering .dll files to windows. All that information will be gone, so they can not run. It's pretty asinine, but it's the way Windows has worked for a couple decades now.

Once the new hard drive is installed and everything is working, you can safely delete the Windows directory, the "Program Files" directory, and stuff from the old HDD to free up room.

[Gorillawar]

What if I wanna be lazy and just wipe it. cause I don't wanna buy another HD to store stuff and just end up getting a SSD. will wiping it delete my saved stuff I have on games from steam? I don't know if those are saved on my computer or on their servers.

[Artorius]

It's amazing to me that people can use message boards but not Google.

What he tried to do is even more amazing.

What if I wanna be lazy and just wipe it. cause I don't wanna buy another HD to store stuff and just end up getting a SSD. will wiping it delete my saved stuff I have on games from steam? I don't know if those are saved on my computer or on their servers.

Depends on the game, I guess.

[Gorillawar]

I use google. I have used it before posting this. But nobody has my exact problem. Read it and find this exact thing happening and google it and find one. Im sure its hard

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Like all of them. I have age of empires HD stuff and what not. but by your answer it seems quite a few wont. Such a pain

[Aurimas]

Wiping your old HD will lose everything.

Edit: Sorry, I flubbed the question. You can re-download your actual games from steam servers. Your saved-game files are hit or miss. "Depends on the game", like someone said.

(you still need to buy a new copy of windows)

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Let's be nice. All the information he seeks is indeed on google, but he obviously has no idea wtf he is doing... which makes looking up the answers almost impossible.

Also, I'm not amazed at what you tried to do... for someone who doesn't know, I can follow your flawed logic... I am VERY amazed that you didn't destroy your data. Out of all the options you were given when you "put everything back and recovered windows"... only one would not destroy all your data. Select any other option and your data would have been gone, and this whole conversation would have been moot.

[Gorillawar]

Thats the blind luck working haha. I always try to googles for a long period of time because 1. I get my answer right then and there. 2. It gives many different things I wouldn't think to ask. and 3. I don't like asking in forums cause the long wait for response and possible no responses.

From what i can tell all the stuff I actually care about is just in one folder. Program Files (x86). So It will be easy to do. That's perfect. it is massive but its not a lot of work to find all my data since its one folder(as of typing this its still loading how big it is in properties lol so far its at 445gb and growing fast). So ill get the normal drive and get an SSD later I guess. since I don't want to buy an SSD and another HD for temporary storage for these files.

[Denpepe]

From what i can tell all the stuff I actually care about is just in one folder. Program Files (x86). So It will be easy to do. That's perfect. it is massive but its not a lot of work to find all my data since its one folder(as of typing this its still loading how big it is in properties lol so far its at 445gb and growing fast). So ill get the normal drive and get an SSD later I guess. since I don't want to buy an SSD and another HD for temporary storage for these files.

That is one of the stupidest things to do as it means you will have to start everything over again

Ideally you get and SSD and just attach that one to the PC and install windows on it and get all your drivers up to date
Then you attach the old hard drive and copy all your documents and pictures and stuff you want to save to the new hard drive
After that you format the old hard drive and use it however you want, the only problem here is that you have a bunch of games you seem to not want to reinstall/redowload and will be too much data to put on an SSD.

You can use the old hard drive as is now you will just lose some space from leftover windows bit's.