[cquick]

On Tuesday afternoon my computer suddenly quit working, and no amount of reboot would make Windows come on again. Called my son in California and he said the hard drive probably crashed. Sure enough, I called a computer tech I know and he agreed!

He got me a new computer, but now I have Windows 8.1! I was using Vista! I don't think my brain will handle this new learning curve!

[tippyclubb]

You will get use to it in time. Same thing happened to me and I really hated Windows 7 as I was unfamiliar with it. Once I got use it I love it and the same will happen to you.

[Villages Kahuna]

Computer crashes have nothing to do with the operating system being used. What is a near certainty is that if you use your computer regularly, sooner or later you will experience a hard drive failure. That being said--and in my experience and the experience oif many friends, it's absolutely true--not regularly backing up your hard drive and saving a copy of everything you have created on it can be a painful and possibly expensive experience.

Back up hard drives are cheap and there's lots of free software that will back your computer up regularly, even daily. If you want more information, attend either The Villages Computer Club or The Villages Macintosh User's Group.

[Computer Corner]

It is possible that data can be retrieved from your failed drive if the problem is that only the boot sector is corrupted. Installing that drive in a USB caddy and connecting it to another working computer might work. We do this frequently

Windows 8 desktop is indeed quite different but you can easily make the desktop look like a windows Vista or Windows 7 computer. Installing the Classic Shell which is free, gives you this ability. This software makes the transition to Windows 8 much easier.

Here is the link Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements

[alanmcdonald]

Another vote for Classic Shell. I have recommended it here before. The "Start" button in Windows 8.1 is not nearly as functional.

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by CFLGeek

It is possible that data can be retrieved from your failed drive if the problem is that only the boot sector is corrupted. Installing that drive in a USB caddy and connecting it to another working computer might work. We do this frequently

Windows 8 desktop is indeed quite different but you can easily make the desktop look like a windows Vista or Windows 7 computer. Installing the Classic Shell which is free, gives you this ability. This software makes the transition to Windows 8 much easier.

Here is the link Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements

Good answer and info. I was wondering myself why the hard drive couldn't be changed especially if the user backed up her old hard drive.