question when swapping hard drives to a new pc.

[chris7021]

So i just ordered a new lenovo desktop (intel core i7 with 12gb ram) which im upgrading it from an hp pavilion desktop (intel core 2 duo with 4gb ram). and what im wondering is, if my hp hard drive (500gb sata) will work perfectly on the new lenovo desktop as the main bootable hd with windows 7 pro sp1 32 bit? or do i have to start from scratch?.

I try similar stuff with 2 laptops. i use a dell inspiron 1525 to reinstall windows 7 (intel core 2 duo) and put that hd on an acer aspire (intel core i5), and everything went fine. i just have to install the drivers again and the activation.
so it will work the same way as for the desktops i mention before?.. i hope yeah cuz then it will be a pain in the a_ _ to reinstall eveything again.. =)

 

[karlsnooks]

What is your objective? Stated in as few words as possible.

As you might surmise, your objective is not clear.

Please do not suggest solutions, just state the objective.

I'm trying to give you an accurate and concise answer.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You want to put the old drive (which contains an OS and installed apps) into the new PC to avoid having to reinstall your applications onto the new PC's hard drive--which presumably will have an OS on it when it arrives?

Sounds like you will also be dealing with a new motherboard and chipset that probably won't make nice with the Windows installation on the old hard drive.

 

[Corazon]

It's always worth a try - the OP did say that he did this once before and it worked fine after installing new drivers. It's always a 50-50 chance of it either working or horribly crashing and burning.

Recommend you have a safe backup of your system (at least your important personal data), but otherwise - go for it.

Let us know if you succeed.

 

[severedsolo]

I'll go with Corazon on this.

I actually did this the other day, a friend of mine's laptop was exhibiting all the signs of a dying hard drive. It turned out to just be a completely buggered Windows install.

So, I took his hard drive, installed it into my desktop, did a "clean all" and reinstalled Windows. After I plugged it back into his laptop it just installed all the necessary drivers and got on with it, so it's certainly possible.

Take backups first though, for gods sake.

 

[karlsnooks]

+1 on Corazon's and SeveredSolo's advice.

Go for the gold!

 

[chris7021]

You want to put the old drive (which contains an OS and installed apps) into the new PC to avoid having to reinstall your applications onto the new PC's hard drive--which presumably will have an OS on it when it arrives?

Sounds like you will also be dealing with a new motherboard and chipset that probably won't make nice with the Windows installation on the old hard drive.

yeah, i just want to put the old drive on it so i dont have to deal again by reinstalling everything. well i will keep you guys update it when i receive my lenovo desktop (probably by the 16th of october).

 

[chris7021]

+1 on Corazon's and SeveredSolo's advice.

Go for the gold!

yeppp i will take that advice. thats what technicians do.

 

[chris7021]

It's always worth a try - the OP did say that he did this once before and it worked fine after installing new drivers. It's always a 50-50 chance of it either working or horribly crashing and burning.

Recommend you have a safe backup of your system (at least your important personal data), but otherwise - go for it.

Let us know if you succeed.

yepp i have my backup ready just in case.. yeah i will keep you guys update it when i succeed swapping the hard drives.

 

[DeaconFrost]

windows 7 pro sp1 32 bit

I'm at a loss as to why you'd consider this anyway. You have 12 GB of system memory in the new system, and you'd be running an OS that would only make use of 25-30% of it. If you had a specific reason to need 12 GB of system memory, you'd already be aware that you'd need Windows 7 x64 to address and use all of it. That being said, you will need to do a clean install.

Besides, with that kind of power, why not do a clean install? If you plan ahead and use common sense, you can get a clean install down to about 2 hours.

 

[karlsnooks]

True. with win 32 you will be only using 4gb. You should install x64. A complete install of Win 7, of MS Office, all of your programs and the setting and configuring of your system to your preferences will last not 2 hours but 2 days from my personal experiece. In fact, am still in the midst of a completely fresh install.

 

[DeaconFrost]

You just have to streamline the process. I keep drivers and software updated to be reinstalled on a flash drive. So I pop in the flash drive, copy over everything to my data drive, and start installing. I delete the installers as I am finished, and within two hours, my system is fully functional and updated with my main, everyday apps. That takes me around 2 hours to do, start to finish.

 

[Layback Bear]

Didn't your new laptop come with Windows 7/64 installed?
Please fill in you specs of your new computer using the User CP at the top of every page. Take a look at lower left corner of my post. This allows someone trying to help you to see your specs without going here/their/every were to find your specs. Surly you and your new computer are worth a little extra time to get it right.

 

[chris7021]

windows 7 pro sp1 32 bit

I'm at a loss as to why you'd consider this anyway. You have 12 GB of system memory in the new system, and you'd be running an OS that would only make use of 25-30% of it. If you had a specific reason to need 12 GB of system memory, you'd already be aware that you'd need Windows 7 x64 to address and use all of it. That being said, you will need to do a clean install.

Besides, with that kind of power, why not do a clean install? If you plan ahead and use common sense, you can get a clean install down to about 2 hours.

true true!.. but i still gonna try it. and i just got a 2tb hd. sweeett!.. so guess what? i might install windows 7 ultimate 64-bit on it. then i could just migrate some data..

 

[chris7021]

Didn't your new laptop come with Windows 7/64 installed?
Please fill in you specs of your new computer using the User CP at the top of every page. Take a look at lower left corner of my post. This allows someone trying to help you to see your specs without going here/their/every were to find your specs. Surly you and your new computer are worth a little extra time to get it right.

is a desktop by the way.. sure i will do that in a few when im home..

 

[chris7021]

True. with win 32 you will be only using 4gb. You should install x64. A complete install of Win 7, of MS Office, all of your programs and the setting and configuring of your system to your preferences will last not 2 hours but 2 days from my personal experiece. In fact, am still in the midst of a completely fresh install.

yeah i think im doing that. windows 7 ultimate 64 bit on a new 2tb sata hd..

 

[Layback Bear]

Have you received your new computer. When you do let us know it's specs. Any computer with 12 gigs of ram surely comes with Windows 7/64 or no operating system installed.

 

[chris7021]

Have you received your new computer. When you do let us know it's specs. Any computer with 12 gigs of ram surely comes with Windows 7/64 or no operating system installed.

just got it last night and is awesome. yeah it didnt have an OS. i might take some pics tonight. the only problem im having is with the videocard (looks like a defect videocard) same issue as the other post. so im usng my original videocard for now. hopefully tonight i will finish installing my stuff and doing some troubleshooting with some softwares.

 

[Layback Bear]

Let me understand this correctly. You have just received a computer we have trying to help you with prior to you receiving it. Do I have this picture correctly?
Have a nice life.

 

[chris7021]

Let me understand this correctly. You have just received a computer we have trying to help you with prior to you receiving it. Do I have this picture correctly?
Have a nice life.

yeah correct. it didnt work the "swapping hard drives, the blue screen of death show-up". so now we all know that it will not work when migratting from intel core 2 duo to intel i7. So i started from scratch installing windows 7 ultimate 64-bit on a 2tb hard drive.


Here are the pics from my old hp desktop

next to the new buddy