hard drive

[clnie3]

I was installing wincleaner one click .I left it to installed came back and the hard drive was running hard . I shut down ( improper way). Booted back up and it was working. I left and for short minute and the power light was blinking did not come back up . I took the power source in and had it tested and that came out OK. they said try to take out one stick of the ram and make sure . I booted up and the screen came up boot to CD. when I putting the power source back together I did not plug the hard drive to it . It will boot if i do not have the hard drive once i plug the hard drive it would not to anything .This is my operating system vista . my question is if i replace the hard drive as that seems to be the issue and gateway CD is operating system disk will this put vista back , I know that i will not have anything on that hard drive as I will be replacing  just want a running system. see attached information on the system.

[year+ old attachment deleted by admin]

[Computer_Commando]

The old hard drive may be perfectly good.  You could try a repair install.
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html

Test the hard drive with the drive maker's tools:  http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

[patio]

And i'd get my money back from wincleaner in the meantime...

[Computer_Commando]

Doesn't seem to do any more than Ccleaner does for free, except crash your machine for $30.

[Allan]

Doesn't seem to do any more than Ccleaner does for free, except crash your machine for $30.

A lot of people spend a LOT more for high-end software that crashes their systems.  When you think about it, $30 is pretty cheap for a crash

[clnie3]

tool that you are talking about do I download on a good computer and install on the bad. also the wincleaner came with anti virus program vipre. not sure if that was the cause of the crash as a beginner not sure . Thank you for your help greatly appreciated.

[Allan]

Yes, just download that file and create a bootable cd. Then boot to that cd on the computer in question and run the diagnostic.

[patio]

Not questioning your judgement at all on product choices...that's not what we do here.

That being said i've never seen either of those products recommended here...and it's a pretty active Forum base.

Therefore here's a protection package for you after you get things sorted...

Anti Virus::

Test one at a time to see which you prefer ...but only select one you decide on...

AVG
Avast
Microsoft Security Essentials

Again try all 3 and decide on only one...it's a matter of personal preference for most...all are good and effective.

Then add the following to you protection package::

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware
SuperAnti-Spyware
CCleaner
Win Patrol

The beauty of this setup is that it is all Free...and regularly recommended here.

NOTE: The A/V apps listed can be set to update automatically...and 2 of the 3 can be scheduled to run ay certain intervals.

The other tools listed need to be manually updated...and ran by the User.
Depending on net usage once every 2 weeks should be sufficient.

Best of Luck...
Any questions feel free to Post back.

[clnie3]

I put the bootable disk and the hard drive is working kinda. in order to start the computer   I have the hard drive plug in it will not boot. I unplug and once booted i plug the hard drive in and it boot up to windows.The problem is it does not recognize the mouse. I use the keyboard but it is not functioning correctly .once i shut down all the way  down and start back up it will not boot up unless the hard drive is not plug in.