I will paste your reply in here & add (in BOLD font) my replies (answers to your questions) to it. I, as well, obviously wud like to ensure we're both on the same page.
So what is stopping you from just plugging in your Windows 7 HDD to the Windows 8 machine's motherboard and booting from it?
WHEN I DO THAT, A BUNCH OF WIN 7 HD FOLDERS COME UP THAT I'N UNFAMILIAR WITH...MOSTLY TO DO WITH INSTALL.
You press a keyboard shortcut
(DO U HAPPEN TO KNOW WHAT THAT KEYBOARD KEY IS? during the initial system bootup process and select the HDD to boot from and if all goes well then you will launch in to Windows 7, otherwise you'll need to set up your boot path entries on either OS and the Windows boot manager will give you the option after the initial bootup process to select which operating system to launch.
Whether or not the Windows installation will have the necessary
driver software to operate your other machine without failure is a completely different deal altogether, and another process that will take some time and no manner of imaging or stuffing around will help you there. You don't need to make an clone image. You just need to put the other HDD in to the machine that you're calling your Win 8 computer. Whether that is via a USB interface or otherwise.
Please note, when we're talking about Win 8 computers and Win 7 computers we are not talking about builds or models.
CORRECT..THE WIN 8 PC IS NOT A BUILD BUT IT IS REFURBISHED OEM. THE WIN 7 HD IS OUT OF A COMPUTER I BOUGHT AT A LOCAL COMPUTER STORE 4 YRS AGO. THE CPU IS DYING. THAT'S Y I TOOK THE HD OUT. This is the operating system software that we are
confirming works on that machine. Like, you turn it on and eventually Windows 8 starts. Okay?
Edit: If I'm reading this correctly, you've installed Windows 7 on a USB HDD while operating another, completely separate machine from the one you're using to operate Windows 8 on, with what I can only assume is an
NO. I NEED TO CLARIFY: WIN 7 WAS ALREADY INSTALLED ON THE PC (LAPTOP) I TOOK THE HD OUT OF. I PUT THE WIN 7 HD INTO AN EXTERNAL CASE SO I COULD USE IT (HAVE FULL ACCESS TO IT) WITH ANOTHER COMPUTER internal HDD. The USB HDD is conditioned for another PC, and thus merely plugging it in to your other machine is not enough to get in to your Windows 7 desktop.
Now we're trying to address why, right? The other thing I can think of is that the Windows 7 installation was initially installed on another machine's internal HDD and you've taken that out to put in to an external enclosure and are hoping for the best by taking your chances with another completely different machine EXACTLY I can think of a few different things.
- You're not trying to boot from the USB HDD. You are letting your system automatically boot from the internal HDD that has Windows 8 on it, so you're ending up at the Windows 8 desktop. THAT IS TRUE
- #1 ASSUMPTION:Windows is not presenting you with an option prior to starting up to choose which OS to boot in to. This is normal unless configured. EXACTLY TRUE AGAIN
- 2 ASSUMPTION Your system does not recognize the USB HDD as a bootable device. This is normal unless configured. CORRECT
- The drive isn't functioning or being read on the other machine for what ever reason.
- It's broken. THE DEVICE IS NOT BROKEN & THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE WIN 8 PC I'M PLUGGING IT INTO VIA THE USB EXTERNAL CASE. YOUR FIRST 2 ASSUMPTIONS I MARKED AS #1 ASSUMPTION & #2 ASSUMPTION WERE EXACTLY CORRECT
- Your motherboard can't use it, faulty USB etc. ON THE WIN 7 PC...CORRECT
- The operating system on the USB HDD is installed for fundamentally different base hardware like motherboard and chipset components, so it will not function on your other device without some heavy tinkering. You would be getting error messages after attempting to boot from this USB HDD if this were the case.
Are we on the same page now?
I HOPE SO
