Solved Installing Win7 on a machine1 and then moving hdd to machine2

[sushi96]

Installing Win7 to machine1's HDD from machine 2

I recently purchased a blank Lenovo machine for cheap. I would like to install Windows 7 on this machine but the BIOS is locked with Lenovo's cryptographic password of which I or the previous owner doesn't know. As far as I know the only way to bypass this is to purchase a new motherboard for the laptop.

I thought that I could remove machine1's HDD, install it into machine2 (which I can enter the BIOS and change the boot sequence), install Windows 7 to the HDD and then reinstall the HDD into machine1. The problem with this is that the machines are entirely different so Windows 7 wouldn't boot on machine1 if I did this.

Is there any way that I could install Windows 7 on machine1 without modifying its BIOS settings to change the boot sequence? I could install a Linux distro and have it run on machine1 with the same method above, do any tools exist that allow you to boot to a USB from Linux?

Thanks in advance, any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[AddRAM]

You would only have to hit the one time boot key to start the Windows install process, you don`t have to go into the bios.

It could be F9 or F10

 

[sushi96]

You would only have to hit the one time boot key to start the Windows install process, you don`t have to go into the bios.

It could be F9 or F10

Just tried all F keys, delete and escape with having the bootable USB in, nothing happened but F1 (accesses the locked BIOS). Would there be any other methods of installation?

 

[sushi96]

I found a link to a site that has a promising method of installation. I'll check it out first. Here's the link if anyone is interested Here's a smart way to move internal hard drives between computers - fixedByVonnie

 

[gregrocker]

On many Lenovos the small One Key Recovery or Thinkvantage button next to Power Button is used to access Recovery and One-Time BIOS Boot menu key. On others it's F12. I would go to the Lenovo Support Downloads webpage for your model to read the Manual.

You can also try Partition Wizard which normally will autostart at reboot, then you can Quick Wipe the HD from Disk tab, which will in turn autostart the Win7 Installation media.

Otherwise if you remove HD to install on another PC, you can SysPrep to move HD to another computer
since you may not be able to boot the even easier Paragon Adaptive Restore CD used to http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/292068-make-windows-7-bootable-after-motherboard-swap.html

 

[sushi96]

Solved

Thanks everyone for your help. Sysprep was the way to go. The link to the site I posted before has instructions on how to use it if your interested.

Cheers