Windows 7: Moving hard drive from one computer to another, will it work?

Hello, I am planning on building a new computer. I was wondering if my current hard drive that is running Windows 7 64bit upgraded from windows vista would work in the new computer? It is a 750Gb sata HDD. The computer I am on now is a gateway lx6200-01.

Thank you.

You won't know it until you try, but...

My system was partially damaged during Sandy Storm, the motherboard, CPU, and memory among other things had been replaced. Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit booted up on the new hardware without loosing a beat. That did take place despite going from i5-760 to i5-3350P CPU, not to mention the difference in chipsets. While they are certainly two generations apart, they seem to be close enough for Windows 7 to boot up.

Your milage may vary...

personally , i did it and it was successful .

factors play role in transfer process are the matchability of motherbord .. i mean does you mobo have a socket that fits the type of socket you HDD has ?

in case of connectors , i think no problem .. you may find connectors ... but is mobo supporting ? IDE and SATA

Me too - success!

But only tried this with 'retail' versions of MS OSs

enable "view" > show "hidden devices" too on device manager menu.

Just wiped all the drivers out of 'computer management' > 'device manager'

then let OS redetect all drivers after moving to new motherboard.

(Can't remember if I managed this with normal boot or emergency mode though)

(You need to delete your mouse or keyboard drivers last to enable this - thus you have to suss the usb port they are on and leave till last too)

Use 'auslogics' reg cleaner (miles better than CCleaner cos it finds far more) to clear old crap out of computer registry

(Last did this with Win XP as a last resort)

That sounds like an OEM version. You will have 2 challenges - 1) the drivers and 2) the activation. I would say your chances are slim. But try it anyhow - what can you lose.

In my case, Auslogic found 822 more than CCleaner. The Auslogic Registry Cleaner doesn't do additional functions like CCleaner, but it is nice.

Thanks for the tip...

it worked!!! Windows 7 took to the new hardware like it was a child in a candystore

Tell others how you did it then - after we shared our knowledge with you.
Thousands will read your thread in future years!

Glad you are sorted

All i did was put the parts together, tested it once without the hard drive. it worked like it should, then i plugged the hard drive in, and it started up like normal. detected and replaced drivers and everything

Have you got a Retail Box version of Win 7 (Two DVD's, Multiple installs)
- or just a single Win 7 64bit DVD in a paper/cardboard sleeve (OEM tied to one hardrive etc)