Trying to fix my ENVY-7227cl where the hard drive is failing

So my refurbished ENVY-7227cl hard drive is failing after a whopping 4 months and I can barely get it to boot to windows 8 and within minutes it freezes and crashes. I ran the hard drive check on the boot menu and it gave a failure code. I'd like to install a new hard drive as cheaply as possible, but I'm new to this and HP is no help whatsoever.
What would be my best options as I didn't save the recovery CDs?
Is it possible to install a second hard drive on my machine and attempt to copy the first hard drive onto the second? I don't really NEED any of the files on the first hard drive, so I could just install the new one but then there's the issue of installing windows without a key.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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mrryanconnors wrote:
Interesting Erico. I think I may go the route of trying to install the second hard drive in the optical drive, copying the files from the bad hard drive if possible and then even swapping the old hard drive with the new and reinstalling the optical drive. A failing hard drive is a failing hard drive. The data on it is unreliable.
If I installed a new hard drive in the opitical drive, I could then install a free os like ubuntu via USB stick, and then use a transfer program to attempt to copy the old hard drive onto the new? No. You can use Ubuntu to attempt to copy important files, but that and testing your notebook's hardware will be the extent of it unless you intend to switch to Ubuntu on the new hard disk. A failing hard drive is unreliable so a cloning program would produce an unreliable operating system on the new hard disk.
Or for simplicity, could i install the new hard drive with a free os and then contact windows about verifying my computer and getting a copy of windows 8 from them? A hard drive is not installed by an operatng system. You must physically install the hard disk and conect it to a SATA port. You will need to use the recovery media that you created to install the operating system to your new hard disk.
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Hi all !
I have a problem. I'm have a macbook pro Santa Rosa =
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http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/6606/26048579.jpg
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Type : Disk
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Media Name : FUJITSU MHY2200BH Media
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Have you tried this:
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Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
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Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
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The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD:
Boot From The Recovery HD:
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Reinstall Snow Leopard Without Erasing The drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
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2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
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Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Is it worth it to replace the hard drive of a brand new macbook?

I'm buying a Macbook today and realize it would be cheaper to buy the 160gb laptop, and switch out the hard drive to a 320 gb (its only $76, compared to the $300 difference between the 160gb macbook and the 250gb macbook).
I picked out the hard drive and I know where the hard drive in my laptop will be located, and how to remove and replace it. However I'm a little worried about actually doing it. I wouldn't need to back anything up because I haven't used it before, so can I just replace the hard drive before I ever even turn it on for the first time?
Also, I've never done this before..
What are the risks I'm taking by doing this?
and, is it worth it?

Yup, gotta love OWC!
Try this:
1. Place order for DIY (external enclosure kit + HD) kit.
2. While waiting for delivery, enjoy your MacBook.
3. When kit arrives, back up your MacBook to DVDs!! You know how, right?
4. Swap drives. Careful, you'll need to swap the 4 mounting pins from the current HD to the new one. Our current HD uses hex-keyed pins. And the kit came with enough screws, right?
5. Install "old" HD from MacBook into enclosure (FireWire 800 (zoom!) for Pros, USB for Not Pros). You did order the right one, right? And it came with the right cables, right?
5a. Boot 'Book from that external device (you know how, right?). Maybe not as fast via that cable, hm?
6. Restore to the new internal HD and now reboot from it. Check that all is well before . . .
7. . . . erasing "old" HD in new enclosure. Your backup was fine, right?
8 (and last). Use "old" HD in enclosure as your Time Machine device. What could be better? Continue to use DVDs to back up the whole Mac. (Though there are even cooler ways to bulletproof it . . .)
With Leopard's tools, and these new Macs, geekery will never be the same. It's insanely easy to keep your stuff safe and sound for not that much $$. So gofer it!
MSES

Trying to fix my ENVY-7227cl where the hard drive is failing

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