Windows won't install on a downgraded HDD

[aman123]

Hello,
I am using HP Pavilion dv6 laptop.
A few days back my HD crashed and I got a new one.
The old HD was 640GB and the new one is 500GB.
I have the recovery disks with me but Windows 7
won't install and it says that the 'original HD was of
a higher capacity, Windows cannot be installed'.
Any work around for this?
Any help will be appreciated.

PS: I have installed Ubuntu successfully.

Thanks.
Aman

 

[hang-the-9]

If the recovery disks were from the vendor, you can check their support site. If it's an image you made, check the imaging software, most will allow you to dump a drive image on a smaller drive, in most cases. It may need some command line options to be entered when you start the image process. You can install a clean OS on the drive easily enough, the issue is that the recovery disks you are using contain an image not a basic setup.

 

[aman123]

No, the vendor did not provide any recovery disk. I made it myself by inbuilt recovery disk manager. I have not tried installing using a basic setup CD / DVD because I don't have the product key 🙁 The sticker containing the information is all roughed up and impossible to read. How can I get my original product key?

 

[hang-the-9]

No, the vendor did not provide any recovery disk. I made it myself by inbuilt recovery disk manager. I have not tried installing using a basic setup CD / DVD because I don't have the product key 🙁 The sticker containing the information is all roughed up and impossible to read. How can I get my original product key?

Contact HP, they may have the key in their database linked to the S/N of the laptop. You will need an OEM XP disk to use that key. If you try to use a regular retail disk it will tell you the key is invalid.

If you used the recovery disk manager, you may have issues using it since they probably assume you are installing on the exact same drive or an exact replacement. You can try a 640 gig drive, maybe a larger one may work.

 

[Brett928S2]

Best answer selected by Brett928S2.

 

[Brett928S2]

This topic has been closed by Brett928S2