It was nip and tuck there for a while but I flogged it into submission. Or at least this portion.
Had to do a complete install of Windoze 7 on the new hard drive including the bazillion gaglebytes of Windoze Updates (seems all my Win7 install DVD's are pre-SP1 so every update since it first came out was lying in wait for me..)
Then I tried to restore my files from the backup and discovered that it didn't restore Firefox or my email. And then I discovered that the last couple of backups didn't even have the files for Firefox and Thunderbird in it, had to go back to Jan 1 update to find them and then had to rebuild my profile one segment at a time because Win backup decided to ignore the folder structure and dumped everything in one big blob of files.
I just finished that task and crossed my fingers and fired it up. And was greeted by my home page and my bookmarks are intact (other than anything post Jan 1 to now).
Still need to do the same thing for Thunderbird to get my email back. Plus reinstall everything else from Adobe Acrobat (Pro) the WordPerfect. But it's now 0330 here in the East and I'm going to bed.
I'm frrazzled.
(I probably lied about going straight off to bed since I know I'll read to the end to see what I've missed.. ;-) Anyone need a substantial paper weight in the shape of a 1 terabyte hard drive?
Hey! You got 333! My lucky number! Though not so lucky this time, since you got it. ;o] Ohwell.
I was with you every step of the way in your description of the travails of replacing the hard drive. My heart was in my throat! Well, not really, but I found myself holding my breath, waiting to see how it turned out, even though I knew you would triumph! LOL!
Take it apart. The magnets in the head actuators make fun toys and you can see if you can toss the platter like a Frisbee.