wrote:
On Mon, 19 Mar 2018 12:45:06 -0400, Paul
wrote:

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message ,
writes:
[]
I took your advice and tested the memory.
[and it's OK.]
So I think the next thing is to replace the hard disk. I'd like your
opinion on which way would insure the best result.

The hard disk is 1TB with the System Reserved partitions plus Drives
C:, D:, and E:.

I have an identical new unused 1TB hard disk to replace the old one.

My first thought, due to past experience, was to use the Windows 7 DVD
to format and install Win 7 and to use it to create the other 2
partitions. Then I'd Restore the MR Image I made more than 2 weeks
before the symptoms appeared. (I have older ones too, if necessary.)
Which partitions did you image to make that image? If it was at least
the hidden and C: partitions, then I don't think there's any need to
format: restoring from the image is likely to create them anyway. And,
if you're sure that image is free of the problem, restoring from it is
going to be _much_ quicker than installing 7, doing all the updates,
installing other software you had installed, and tweaking both the OS
and the other software to how you like it.

(I'm assuming you have the Macrium CD to boot from, and the image on a
drive which the PC when booted from the CD can see.)

You have nothing to lose by trying it, anyway, other than time! That is
to say, put in your new unused drive, connect the drive [presumably an
external drive accessed via USB?] with the image on, put in the Macrium
boot CD, and boot; then, when it has booted, select the image to restore
from, and the (new) drive to restore to, then do it, then shut down,
remove the CD and image drive, and boot to see what happens. I suspect
you'll find you have the partitions you included when you made that
image. If that didn't include D: and E:, then their space will probably
be unallocated on the drive. If that's so, I'd use the W7 utility at
that stage to allocate them, then restore from them ...

Then I'd take previously made images of D: and E: and restore them to
the new hard disk. I feel pretty confident about this method.
... like that. (I'm not even sure you have to allocate them beforehand,
or whether just restoring the D: and E: images would create them anyway.
I just didn't want them to restore over the C: you'd just restored.)
I've never used MR Cloning, but after looking at the manual that might
be ok but I have a concern about the possibility of bringing something
unwanted from the old (bad?) hard disk over to the new one.

Wondering what you think, or have experienced.
I've only used MR cloning once, and it went without a hitch; however,
that was just to go from a drive I had no concerns about to a larger
one. (After the cloning, I had the partitions - at the sizes - I had on
the smaller one, with the rest unallocated; I just did some moving
about, resizing, etc., using the normal W7 utility, to use all of the
new disc.) However, I'm with you - if there's a chance there might be
something rotten in the state of Denmark on your existing disc, I'd say
"restore" from known good images to your new disc. Nothing to lose
(except time) by trying, anyway!
I would first examine the MRIMG file, to see what's been captured
in it. If it only held a DATA partition for example, then we'd
need to install Windows 7 on the disk too perhaps. Knowing what
is inside the backup, is critical.

If it includes System Reserved and C: , then chances are a simple
"restore to new hard drive" from the MRIMG, is sufficient.

Macrium has options to let you "look inside" an MRIMG. From
the Restore menu, you should be able to Browse for MRIMG files.

And the nice thing is, you can unplug the old drive (with the power off),
plug in the new restored drive, and it should boot off the two-week-old
image.

And you have your choice of places to work. The new hard drive
could be connected to a fully working machine, and restored
in there. As long as you're careful not to overwrite the
wrong disk drive. If you have a Macrium Rescue CD, then you
don't actually need a Windows OS drive plugged into the machine
where the restore is being done.

New_Drive
Backup_holding_Drive
Optical drive (boots Macrium CD)

That's enough to kick off the preparation of the New_Drive.

Do not boot from the New_Drive, until it's reinstalled in the
suspect machine, and it is by itself. Then, give it a shot
and see what happens. You can bring over any left-over data
files from the old disk later, as the need (or capability) arises.

Paul

Thanks to both of you.

To answer some of your questions:

The only partitions I image routinely is the System Reserved and Drive
C: in one image (Partitions required to backup and restore Windows).
This is what I would use to restore from.

I keep these MR images on a separate physical drive in this computer
and put a copy on an external USB HD for extra safety.

The image I would make before starting would be Drive D: (lots of data
and saved stuff). Drive E: would be easy to just backup somewhere
else.

I wasn't sure if the MR restore from image will create at least the
System Reserved and Drive C: partitions automatically. I'm going to
try that, as soon as I'm sure I have everything ready.

I will disconnect or remove the existing (bad?) HD and install the new
blank one in its place. Then boot the MR Rescue Disk to restore using
the 02/25/18 MR image stored on Drive H: (physically different from
the old HD).

After booting the new disk I should be able to create the partitions
D: and E: and restore them


Hope to get to that tomorrow. Will let yo know how it goes.

Thank You for your help!

DC


You can restore directly to a new hard drive, with no
preparation of the new drive at all.

The restore process creates the partitions first, then
fills them up.

*******

There was one older Asus motherboard, which could be "upset"
by a new (blank) hard drive. It checked sector zero (the MBR), and
if the MBR was not initialized, the BIOS would freeze and not boot.
Needless to say, you need a second computer, to work with
such a beast in the house. (You'd fix up the hard drive
in a second computer, just enough so it wouldn't freeze the
machine when reinstalled.)

Paul