New Hard Drive and lost CD

[basmattie]

hi

Am quite new to all this so apologies for any questions which appear obvious! I have been receiving the SMART error message that my hard disk is about to expire so have bought a new one. Before installing it, I looked for my Win XP and recovery CDs but cannot find them anywhere. Can anyone advise whether I will need these to set up the new hard disk and, if so, where I might be able to obtain replacements? I have the original XP authentication sticker on my system case but can't find any help on the Microsoft website about what to do next.

any suggestions gratefully received
Many thanks

 

[dopefisher]

you can call your computer manufacturer and they should send you a free replacement disk if your comp is in warranty. if not they might charge you 20 bucks.

 

[basmattie]

Thanks Dopefisher. I've just tried calling the manufacturer and they suggested I borrow an XP CD from someone to install the OS - stating that since I have the original product key it would be OK to do this. This sounds pretty dodgy to me - or am I being over-cautious?!

 

[Nodsu]

New hard drives usually come with some software that lets you clone the contents of your old hard drive to your new one. If you didn't get anything like that then you can download it from the HD manufacturer's website.

 

[basmattie]

Great - I don't have any software with the drive but will check on the website as you suggest.

Thanks very much!