Installed new hard drive and now having major problems with computer

[mom26gr8kids]

Our hard drive has been going out, so we purchased a new one and installed it last night. We installed our OS and security software, downloaded the drivers that we needed for the printer and the scanner, but this whole path has been fraught with difficulty. First of all, our new hard drive is recognized as the F drive by the computer, and the C drive is now called a removable drive. When we run our anti-spyware scan some of the files from the C drive come up and it says it cannot read them unless we place the disk in the drive. So, we just skip those ones. But now our DVD and our CD are not reading/working. I am about ready to just go buy a new computer, but don't really have the money for that.

So, I have two questions. First, do I need to be worried about the files still remaining from the C drive? How can they even be on there if the c drive (old hard drive) is not in the computer? Can we remove those, or can we move them to the F drive?

Second, why is the CD and DVD players/burners not working? The DVD said something about not being compatible, so should we download new drivers?

Please forgive my lack of knowledge, we are somewhat computer literate, but our computer guy moved away and assured us that we should be able to install a new hard drive and the OS without too much difficulty. I did not think it would cause this many problems. I homeschool and my kids use the PC for school, so the sooner we can fix this the better.

Our computer tower is a Dell, I do not know what brand the hard drive is.

 

[kimsland]

Here's what to do
Remove your old drive (just unplug it from the motherboard)
Run the below guide (whichever OS you have) but start by removing the Partition
Once Windows is fully installed, and drivers done, (Service Packs, and Antivirus installed as well)
Then plug the original drive back in


Microsoft's Windows XP Professional Repair Install step by step (* Including Delete Partition)
http://www.windowsxpprofessional.windowsreinstall.com/sp2sp3installxpcdoldhdd/indexfullpage.htm

Microsoft's Windows XP Home Repair Install step by step (* Including Delete Partition)
http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/sp2sp3installxpcdoldhdd/indexfullpage.htm

* Warning deleting the Partition will remove all User data and Windows system files

Vista Repair:
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winvista/index.htm (index page)
http://vistahomepremium.windowsreinstall.com/repairstartup/repairstartup.htm (guide)

 

[mom26gr8kids]

more information

Sorry, I may not have been clear. The C drive, which was the old hard drive IS NOT still in the computer. We put the new hard drive where the old one used to be. So, now the new hard drive is in the same spot as the old one, but it is now called drive F, and like I said the computer still says it has some files from drive C, so how can we get those off. Do we take the new hard drive out and put the old back in? The old hard drive DOES NOT WORK any longer, the computer will not even boot with it in. So, how can we get the stuff from C off, and get the CD/DVD to work?

 

[kimsland]

We installed our OS and security software

How did you install the still unknown OS and Service Pack, if you did not have a working CD/DVD Drive?

You may need to purchase a new DVD Drive if it's not compatible with your currently installed OS
By the way, I can't think of any non compatible CD/DVD Drive (other than very very old Drives)

If you are running ATA (Basically drives connected via a flat ribbon IDE cable) confirm the drives have separate connections to the Motherboard, and that the small jumper at the back of the drive is in CS (Cable Select) position

You need to install Windows clean, by removing the Partition first, but you have multiple issues:
OS is corrupt
CD/DVD Drive doesn't work
Old Hard Drive is faulty
New Drive added, and Windows installed

There is a bit of info there. It's basically difficult to be specific in each area. But you must first start with a working CD/DVD Drive, and install Windows clean (ie Remove the partition)

Once Windows is fully installed, then we can use recovery tools on your old Hard Drive

 

[mom26gr8kids]

Cd/dvd

The CD worked last night when we installed the OS. I think I now understand your original post, so let me see if this is correct. We unplug the CD drive, run the windows repair, install security and drivers and then plug it back in? Will the guides that you gave links to install everything? Because if the CD is unplugged then we cannot re-install our OS.

 

[kimsland]

?

No I didn't say that. Maybe read over the thread again

By the way I suspect from what you have stated, that the CD Drive will still start the Windows installation again (ie it still boots Windows Setup CD ?) If so, then the CD Drive works

Before installing Windows and removing the partition, as per the guides above
Confirm that the drives are mounted independently (they have their own data cable)
And the Hard Drive is set to CS. As discussed above (Note this is not required for newer SATA Hard Drives)