New laptop, use old hard drive?!

RunOrDie · 06 Mar 2013

Hello everyone,

I am buying the same laptop as I had before with the same specs. The only problem is that the new laptop is Windows 8 and my hard drive from the previous laptop is Windows 7.

Will everything function fine if I just swap hard drives? My Windows 7 laptop has all of the correct Drivers and such and since the laptops are the same, shouldn't this method work?

Personally, I do not like Win8 and I want all of my files and programs to be on the laptop.

Thanks in advance!

indianacarnie · 06 Mar 2013

It should work, but you'll probably have to change a few things.You MAY have trouble with validation because thats tied to the motherboard. (I could be wrong about this.) And just because its the same make and model DOES NOT mean that the hardware is exactly the same. Any internals could be from different suppliers as production lines are refilled by whats in stock. Which is mandated by corporate buyers,e.g. drives from W.D. instead of generic etc.

Let me do some checking.

whs · 06 Mar 2013

Matter of trying. Activation will probably be your biggest problem.

ICIT2LOL · 07 Mar 2013

Absolutely Indy is right the activation is tied to the old machines motherboard the only thing you can do is contact Microsoft as I did explain what you want to do and generally speaking and from my own experience with them they are fairly accommodating - mind you I would be renewing the hard drive as soon as though.

An option I don't know if the others would agree would be to get an SSD a 7 OEM and install those in the new machine and use the old drive as an external - best of both worlds. You can then transfer the old drive data in bits to a new external. I know this might blow your budget but.....

Plus you lose the bloat from the first machine.

AddRAM · 07 Mar 2013

Don`t loose your COA from the old laptop, you could always try the key and see what happens.

But I agree, a new install would be best.

ICIT2LOL · 07 Mar 2013

AddRAM said:

Don`t loose your COA from the old laptop, you could always try the key and see what happens.

But I agree, a new install would be best.

Hum good thinking AddRam! had missed that completely

RunOrDie · 07 Mar 2013

Thanks for the help guys!

I am just wondering what you guys mean by "Activation"?

My Windows 7 is completely registered with the current laptop..

Also, to clarify, my current laptop is SSD, and with it, I did an Fresh Install on the current Win7 laptop.

indianacarnie · 07 Mar 2013

When windows updates it will check for validation if I'm not mistaken. If the numbers don't match you'll get a "not valid" error.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...-is-validation

AddRAM · 07 Mar 2013

Windows must be activated on a pc or it will stop working after 30 days. When you pull the hard drive from the old and put it in the new, it will more then likely need to be re activated. I`m betting using the COA key from the old laptop will activate windows on the new laptop. That is if windows will boot.

Read up on windows activation, you do know where google.com is ?

Product Key Number for Windows 7 - Find and See

Clean Install : Factory COA Activation Key

I would do a clean install of 7 on the new machine if you swop out the drive. Using the key from the old laptop`s COA.

Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

jimbo45 · 07 Mar 2013

Hi there
on Windows 7 provided the hardware is identical you are unlikely to get activation problems if you just swap the HDD. Even if you are prompted due to say more RAM or even a more powerful processor it will 99% update without a problem.

The only issue you *might* find is if the BIOS is a UEFI protected one on the new laptop -- then "All bets are off".

If the laptop is really identical or very very similar just swapping the drive should work.

You can usually swap a laptop drive very very easily.

I've done this quite frequently -- often swapping W7 and W8 drives both ways round without a single activation problem on "identical laptops" -- with "Normal BIOSES -- not UEFI protected one's which tend to have an in built serial number for Windows 8.

Cheers
jimbo