Booting from old laptop HDD in new desktop via USB


  1. Felna
    Posts : 1
    Windows 7 32bit Professional
       New #1

    Booting from old laptop HDD in new desktop via USB


    What I have:

    A failing laptop with Windows 7 installed on the internal HDD
    A computer with Ubuntu currently installed on the internal HDD (it's free!)
    An enclosure and USB cable for the laptop hard drive

    What I'm trying/want to do:

    Put the laptop HDD in the enclosure, connect via USB to the desktop, boot Windows 7 on the desktop from the enclosure and use all the currently installed programs on the laptop HDD with their current settings.

    What happens:

    With the HDD in the enclosure and connected to the desktop, I power up the desktop. Going straight to the boot menu, I select the new option which is labelled something like "USB-HDD0". "Starting Windows" appears as expected, followed after a bit by the logo, but then the desktop restarts before reaching anything the blue patterned default screen before login options.

    Extra info:

    When I replace the laptop HDD back into the laptop and boot, everything still works fine.
    Windows Startup Repair cannot find a problem (big surprise!)
    If possible I'd like to avoid the hassle of clean installs etc.

    Thanks for your help!
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  3. F5ing
    Posts : 2,171
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       New #2

    It's not going to work that way. That w7 install was customized for the hardware it was originally installed on. The following tutorials may help you out:

    New Installation: How to Create a General System Image in Audit Mode

    Windows 7 Installation - Transfer to a New Computer
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

 

  Related Discussions
Hey, I have this desktop for some years now and recently it started messing up, sometimes it doesn't boot and shows a No Signal error on my LCD. There are different things that happen, randomly: 1 - When it doesn't boot, it makes a weird noise that sounds like a "mini tractor trying to start...
Ok so I researched all over the internet and didnt find a fix for this stupid problem. Whenever I boot my laptop in normal mode, it kind of freezes on the desktop. Everything happens hella slow and ive no alrernative but to force shutdown the laptop by pressing the power button. But the thing is,...
My laptop freezes during booting and always in the same manner. The system starts normally, giving me the F2 and F8 options. Afterward the system will be dark for a good 2+ minutes and then load the desktop background image in low resolution. The mouse cursor is also available and active. However,...
When I boot up from an ssd I purchased recently (so fresh install) it freezes during the startup logo sequence and goes into startup repair. After failing to repair the startup it gives these error messages- Problem signature: Problem Event Name: StartupRepairOffline Problem...
booting into desktop
in General Discussion

when booting up desktop a file opens: computer>os(cs:)windows>system32, :cry:I have searched everywhere to try and figure out how to stop this from happening but can't resolve it. It looks the same as if you opened a windows file and it listed the entire contents.
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 7 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 7" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

 © Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:22.
Find Us