Help! Hard Drive Going Bad

[Bad_Luck]

Hi! I'm not as up to date on technology as I used to be.

I'm on my 3rd computer in 5 years (hence the screen name). I mainly use the computer to surf the internet and play mp3s. I don't download or buy much new software, the computers basically just surf and play mp3s.

My current computer, an HP Slimline, has a hard drive that is clicking. It is a little over a year old. When it clicks the computer temporarily freezes. Now, it has started to have trouble booting, giving me a black screen that says "disk boot error".

I purchased a 16gb flash drive this weekend and copied all my music and photos to it. About 2,000 mp3s and a handful of vacation pictures. I have a few questions:

This computer may have come with a windows vista disk and/or a recovery disk, but I cannot find them.

1) Can I make a recovery disk and simply install a new hard drive and be back in business?
2) Will I have any trouble with Vista licensing? I've not changed any hardware in this computer.

Basically, my plan is to buy a new hard drive, use a recovery disk to reinstall Vista, and be back to normal. Will this work? If not, what options do I have?

I have plenty of experience changing hard drives. I've swapped and slaved hard drives before for extra storage in previous computers, but I've never had to reinstall windows.

 

[stratusdodge]

If you can't find the recovery disc, then what recovery disc were you planning on using? There won't be any problems as long as you can find that disc and replace the hdd. Most newer HP's have a partition set aside for the OS, but you should have created a few DVD's with a recovery as well.

You'll need these...otherwise you'll have to buy a copy of Windows Vista along with the broken HDD.

 

[Bad_Luck]

If you can't find the recovery disc, then what recovery disc were you planning on using? There won't be any problems as long as you can find that disc and replace the hdd. Most newer HP's have a partition set aside for the OS, but you should have created a few DVD's with a recovery as well.

You'll need these...otherwise you'll have to buy a copy of Windows Vista along with the broken HDD.

There are sites that have instructions on making a recovery disk, but that's really why I ended up seeking advice here. I do not have a dvd burner, only a CD burner. I can also get a recovery disk from HP, not an issue, my question is really will the recovery disk reinstall Vista on a new hard drive. Doesn't do much good to try to use a recovery disk on a hard drive with broken motor/motors?

 

[stratusdodge]

Then the answer is yes; a new hard drive should work without problems.

 

[Bad_Luck]

Then the answer is yes; a new hard drive should work without problems.

Thanks alot. I'm in the process of getting a recovery disk from HP and I'll just pick up a new hard drive.

Thanks again.