two different hard drives on same laptop

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  1. Posts : 15
    IN - Indiana
       #1

    two different hard drives on same laptop


    My question is can I swap two different hard drives one with windows 7 and other with 8.1 back and forth on same laptop?
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  2. Posts : 225
    Microsoft Windows 10 Professional 64-bit
       #2

    Assuming your laptop supports Windows 8.1, and you installed 8.1 initially on that machine, absolutely you can. I've done this before, at least with Windows XP and Vista, had 2 different hard drives, and swapped them out as needed.
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  3. Posts : 15
    IN - Indiana
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thanks for the quick reply Shadow. My Acer 5517 came with windows 7 and I want to use it for my music studio and new creations ect. and put 8.1 on a new same size drive...possible?
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  4. Posts : 225
    Microsoft Windows 10 Professional 64-bit
       #4

    genso said:
    Thanks for the quick reply Shadow. My Acer 5517 came with windows 7 and I want to use it for my music studio and new creations ect. and put 8.1 on a new same size drive...possible?
    As long as the Hard Drive is big enough, you can make 2 partitions on it, and have your 7 install on one partition, and install 8 on the other and dual boot. That is definitely an option, and would be easier than having to swap HDD's everytime. Granted, if you have a smaller HDD, then I'd probably stick with swapping HDD's, so you don't run the risk of running out of space.
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  5. Posts : 15
    IN - Indiana
    Thread Starter
       #5

    I would like to put a larger one in probably for studio purpose but you are saying I can simply take one out and put other in?
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  6. Posts : 1,346
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       #6

    genso said:
    I would like to put a larger one in probably for studio purpose but you are saying I can simply take one out and put other in?
    For simplicity use the following;
    Drive A is in the laptop and Windows 7 is installed
    Drive B is placed in the laptop replacing Drive A and Windows 8.X is installed.
    (In the above scenario both operating systems will run with no problem, generally speaking)

    If, however, you are swapping a drive from another computer with the operating system already installed you will have issues.
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  7. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #7

    I would run one of the OS systems from an external USB3 attached enclosure.. You only have to change the boot sequence - now tools required. That is a 10 second operation.

    If you don't have the second disk yet, buy a SSD for the second OS. That will be a lot faster from the external attachment. A 120GB SSD costs appr. $60 - a 240GB SSD is under $100.
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  8. Posts : 15
    IN - Indiana
    Thread Starter
       #8

    very helpful advice. The only thing is that I already have a new sata hd.
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  9. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #9

    You can use the HDD. It will just a bit slower for boot. But for the normal operation it will be fine. Do you have a USB3 port?

    But you can always buy an additional SSD and use the HDD for images. Get an open external enclosure, then the disks are easy to swap.

    Example:

    HighPoint RocketStor 5411A Single Bay USB 3.0 SATA 6Gb/s Storage Dock - Newegg.com
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  10. Posts : 15
    IN - Indiana
    Thread Starter
       #10

    that is a great option an open external enclosure that's just what I will do...thanks fellas
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