Copying a HDD & Running It On 2 Machines?


  1. 2therock
    Posts : 97
    Win 10 Pro 64x
       New #1

    Copying a HDD & Running It On 2 Machines?


    I know you guys do not condone hacking but I have a question.

    My OS is Win7 Pro x64. My PC is a home build.

    I had an OS RAID1 WD640GB HDD fail and WD replaced it with a WD1TB Blue. So I cloned the remaining 640GB to a RAID1 set of WD 750GB RE3 drives and all is well.

    Now I have this 640GB with Win7 Pro x64. I have another System very similar in hardware being the mother boards are both Gigabyte. The one above a GA-EP45_UD3P and the other one a GA-EP45 DS3R.

    If I were to put the 640GB in that one would MS detect it as a second instance and make it fail?
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  3. gregrocker
    Posts : 50,642
       New #2

    Yes, you cannot run Win7 on more than one machine at a time. It will be deactivated on a second machine if cloned with activation intact.

    The solution in your case is to SysPrep your HD on the old hardware which will remove all drivers, activation and hardware ID's so it will start up on the new hardware. You can then insert a Product Key purchased for this purpose.
    SysPrep to move HD to another computer
    Last edited by gregrocker; 12 Apr 2011 at 17:10.
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  4. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       New #3

    Forget it. That will not fly. Run Linux on the other system. It is free.
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  6. 2therock
    Posts : 97
    Win 10 Pro 64x
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    Thanks Guys........... I have never seen Linux. Maybe some day.
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  7. Julio Cortez
    Posts : 107
    Windows 10 1703
       New #5

    Would you mind a suggestion in that direction?
    Maybe you could try Linux Mint: Download - Linux Mint

    The latest release, Julia, is the one I'm currently running (along with Windows 7 and XP for legacy software) and I feel very comfortable with it.
    The DVD edition comes with quite everything available out of the box (codecs, an office suite, flash, and so on) and it even looks good:

    Well, I guess it's all about taste anyway...

    And yes, as whs mentioned, you don't have to pay for it
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