Moving HDD to New Computer from Old Computer

[FH Rob]

Can a hard drive with Windows 7 32 bit be moved to a new computer from an old computer?

The hard drive is about six months old and is running a retail version of Win 7 Professional - i.e. I bought the box containing the Win 7 discs.

I know a clean install is always best, but my question deals more with the issue of the O/S being tied to a computer, which I believe isn't the case here.

BTW, using the instructions on this forum, I successfully re-installed Win 7 on this drive without deleting any data or programs.

Thanks,

Rob

 

[Dsprague]

Yes because you have a retail license key you can move the hard drive from one computer to another, weather the OS will agree with the new computer or not is a thing that is debatable.

 

[benjy206]

Hi Rob and welcome to Seven Forums.

The hard drive will work no bother on the new computer. Will it run the OS? It depends are the computer makes and models completely different? If so they more than likely will not. As the chipsets will be different.

 

[FH Rob]

Yes because you have a retail license key you can move the hard drive from one computer to another, weather the OS will agree with the new computer or not is a thing that is debatable.

That's interesting. I'm hoping to upgrade from a Pentium 4 to something more up-to-date.

Is this possible - can I simply move the old hard drive to the new machine, and use that as a data drive?

Rob

 

[Dsprague]

It is entirely possible to simply use the drive as a data drive, there is no problem with that because then the operating system on that drive will have nothing to do with the new hardware. you wont need to worry about messing around with trying to get the proper drivers running if your using it simply for data, all of that will be contained on what ever drive you use for the OS.

 

[benjy206]

Yes because you have a retail license key you can move the hard drive from one computer to another, weather the OS will agree with the new computer or not is a thing that is debatable.

That's interesting. I'm hoping to upgrade from a Pentium 4 to something more up-to-date.

Is this possible - can I simply move the old hard drive to the new machine, and use that as a data drive?

Rob

You can use that as a data drive no problem. If a operating system is on the hard you would want to make sure it is not marked as active ( http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71432-partition-mark-active.html )

 

[FH Rob]

Hi Rob and welcome to Seven Forums.

The hard drive will work no bother on the new computer. Will it run the OS? It depends are the computer makes and models completely different? If so they more than likely will not. As the chipsets will be different.

Hi Benjy:

Thanks for the welcome - this is an excellent forum, because the answers are in plain english.

I see your point regarding the chipset - didn't think of that.

How about the "trick" reinstall of Win 7 so that the data files and programs aren't erased? Is that good, or is a clean install the only way to go?

Rob

 

[FH Rob]

You can use that as a data drive no problem. If a operating system is on the hard you would want to make sure it is not marked as active ( http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71432-partition-mark-active.html )[/QUOTE]

That's great news. Can a drive be changed to another designation, assuming it's marked as active?

 

[benjy206]

Ya the easiest way is to make a back up of the data files to an external device ( http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/615-backup-user-system-files.html ) and do a clean install ( http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html )

 

[AddRAM]

To answer your blatant question the answer is YES, you can move a hard drive to another computer any time you want, but the drive has to contain data or be empty or raw unallocated space. Windows will find the drive, install the drivers and ask you to reboot.

To answer your roundabout question, can a hard drive with an OS be moved to another computer, flat out answer in my book is a big NO ( unless it`s the same exact motherboard, and it still may not boot ) and it shouldn`t even be attempted. It should be formatted, then used for it`s intended purpose. This is the proper way to take a hard drive and use it on a new system. IMO

 

[benjy206]

You can use that as a data drive no problem. If a operating system is on the hard you would want to make sure it is not marked as active ( http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71432-partition-mark-active.html )

That's great news. Can a drive be changed to another designation, assuming it's marked as active?

Basically just make it not active and that should work when used in the new PC. But I always do a backup of my files and do a clean install

 

[AddRAM]

Yes because you have a retail license key you can move the hard drive from one computer to another, weather the OS will agree with the new computer or not is a thing that is debatable.

That's interesting. I'm hoping to upgrade from a Pentium 4 to something more up-to-date.

Is this possible - can I simply move the old hard drive to the new machine, and use that as a data drive?

Rob

A big YES !!

 

[AddRAM]

You can use that as a data drive no problem. If a operating system is on the hard you would want to make sure it is not marked as active ( http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71432-partition-mark-active.html )

That's great news. Can a drive be changed to another designation, assuming it's marked as active?

Basically just make it not active and that should work when used in the new PC. But I always do a backup of my files and do a clean install

It should be fromatted, no reason to keep it like that with wasted space on it. Get the files off it, format it.

 

[benjy206]

It should be fromatted, no reason to keep it like that with wasted space on it. Get the files off it, format it.

For sure That is what I always do. Do it all the time on my own system just to clean the HD

 

[AddRAM]

Batta Bing

and if you`re in no rush and really want it done, run the cleanall command or I`ll use ccleaner to wipe the free space, takes awhile but who cares , right ?

 

[FH Rob]

I need to clarify three important points:

1 - When we say "Data" we're talking about files other than Program files. Am I correct here?

2 - In all cases when migrating from Computer A to Computer B, must your program files be reinstalled?

3 - Do you copy the data files to the new computer first, or install the programs on the new computer, and then copy the data files?

Thanks

Rob

 

[FH Rob]

Batta Bing

and if you`re in no rush and really want it done, run the cleanall command or I`ll use ccleaner to wipe the free space, takes awhile but who cares , right ?

Are you running ccleaner before formatting or after?

 

[benjy206]

Were not talking about programs just your own data files.

 

[AddRAM]

Batta Bing

and if you`re in no rush and really want it done, run the cleanall command or I`ll use ccleaner to wipe the free space, takes awhile but who cares , right ?

Are you running ccleaner before formatting or after?

It`s all the same thing, it formats it.

 

[FH Rob]

Were not talking about programs just your own data files.

Benjy:

OK. So what you're saying is copy the data files from your programs, such as downloaded content from your game programs.

Install the programs and any updates on the new machine, and then copy the data files onto the new machine.

Am I on the right track here?

Rob