Richard LeBlanc said:
If I want to format my HD on vista or remove partitions, what is the
procedure?
There isn't any, because you cannot reformat the C: partition from within
Windows. You can boot the machine from the Vista DVD, delete the partitions,
recreate partitions you want and format them before you install. If you don't
have a Vista DVD, you will need third party software to do this.
All I have is the back up DVD's that I made. My original HD gave me
intermittent problems so I abandoned it.
You didn't say what kind of problems; if the problems are with Windows, you
could invoke a system restore from the hidden partition. This will return the
machine to the condidion it was in when it left the factory (see your owner's
manual) and you won't need the new hard drive.
If the problems are with the hard drive itself; you will be very lucky to
recover the recovery partition. That's why you should be using imaging
software like Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost. If your drive fails,
repalce it and recover your system from your most recent image.
Is there any way to get the recovery program from the original disk onto my
new hard drive?
Yes. If the hard drive is good (test it with the tools you can download from
the maker of the hard drive), use the cloning software that came with the new
drive. You can also use Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost to clone the old
drive (recovery partition and all) to the new drive.
If the old drive is truely bad, you will need to buy recovery disks from the
maker of your computer, or consider upgrading to Windows 7 by purchasing a
retail install DVD.