[swiss_steve]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie here and would appreciate some advice with a slightly tricky setup problem:-

Here's what I know....

My HP Pavillion laptop has a confirmed MoBo problem and so the internal DVD drive doesn't function. So I have an external (2 x USB) DVD drive for movies, loading new software, etc. This has worked fine for the past couple of years or so.
I have a full retail version of Vista on DVD.
I know that Vista won't boot on an external DVD drive.
I have available an external USB 2.5 SATA HD enclosure.
[I have another fully-functioning Desktop PC running XP Pro which I can use, if necessary, for any data transfers....]

Here's what I'd like to know.....

I've got a new 2.5 SATA Hard Drive (because the old one died), and I need to put the Vista OS onto the new drive, so I get the HP laptop running again.
Can anyone give me some advice on how I can get a new Vista OS install onto the new HD???...
(I can either install the new HD directly into the Laptop, or put it in the external enclosure to make the data transfer).

Thanks very much in advance for any advice,

Steve

[lunarlander]

Well, if it is the laptop's internal SATA that died, I would put the new one inside the laptop,

You say Vista cant boot from your external USB DVD drive. Maybe you can try making a bootable USB stick. See below:

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/18...umb-drive.html

[swiss_steve]

Thanks, I'll give it a try and let you know how I get on with a later Post...

[swiss_steve]

Sorry, but this doesn't work because the laptop is not functioning with ny software (because of the new Hard Drive), hence the need to re-install Vista onto the new Hard Drive.
The only program I can use at the moment simply for data transfer (i.e. Vista onto the new Hard Drive) is to use Windows XP Pro on my workplace desktop PC (which I have Administrator Rights for, but they definitely won't allow me to install Vista on it!).
Any other ideas on how I can my Vista program onto my new laptop hard drive, please?