Is there an unusual clicking noise coming from your computer when you start it up? If so, then chances are, one of your hard drives might be dying on you.
If not, then try this:
1) Create a Windows PE boot disc.
How to create a Windows PE boot disc:
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,87312.0.html2) Plug the old hard drive in only.
3) Boot to the PE disc created in Step 1.
4) In the command prompt, type in the following commands exactly as shown, pressing Enter after each line:
diskpartlist diskDoes the old hard drive show up on the list? If so, type
exit at the command prompt to exit diskpart, then type in the following commands:
c:dirDoes anything happen after the
dir command? Do you get a ginormous list of files/folders on your C drive? Does the drive click/clank/hesitate when putting in this command?
5) Repeat Steps 2-4 with the new drive.
6) Repeat Steps 2-4 with both drives connected, substituting
c: with
d: for the second drive when appropriate.
If everything checks out fine with both drives, then boot to the Windows 7 DVD and launch Startup Repair (click "Repair My Computer" when asked). Your BCD database could be corrupted and Startup Repair can often repair this.
However, if one of the drives are showing symptoms of being on its death bed, then boot back into the PE disc and start copying files from the dying drive to the good drive. For example, if you had a folder called "Music" on the root of the bad drive (let's say drive C) and you want to copy it to the good drive (let's say drive D), use the following command:
copy c:\music\*.* d: /e /yIf the drive letters are flip-flopped, then substitute accordingly:
copy d:\music\*.* c: /e /yAlternatively, you could use disk imaging software to copy the entire drive to a spanned image on your second drive, a set of DVDs/Blu-ray discs, or an external USB drive. Acronis TrueImage and Symantec Ghost are two known products that do this (the latter can be used from a Windows PE environment!).