Can I Just Switch The Hard Drives?
Answers:
The easy answer is maybe.
It true that you MAY be able to switch them, but you may not. I have done this successfully multiple times, but it all depends on the hardware.
If the machine you're putting your old drive into has a graphics adapter that will work with the graphics adapter of your old machine, you're halfway there- if it doesn't, even if everything else does, you won't be able to see what's going on to fix it.
If it works, your machine will likely make some driver changes, say it's found new hardware, etc. Occasionally there may be a problem with windows recognizing the hardware is different and asking you to go through their authentication process, too, and that's a pain, but it can be done if you have records of your windows license (that 25 digit code on the little sticker) and can give ownership information, because sadly, sometimes you have to talk w/ Microsoft on the phone.
Best of luck!!
Can be any other laptop period.
You just have to do the following:
1) Drop to VGA resolution before you pull it so it will work in your new laptop then swap the disk.
2) Re-register your XP... which might be a bit of a pain with Microsoft as your license key is probably OEM and therefore *only* valid in the original PC.
3) Put in the appropriate drivers for the new hardware.
But like I said, it's probably an OEM license which may mean that step 2 fails... Microsoft will refuse to activate the XP install.
it really depends on how old the computer is, most of the time no because laptops are specially built for a certain size hard drive and the operating system (windows) will be stored on the old sytems hard drive so if you replace the hard drive you will have to reinstsall the OS.
I think all dells are compatible but im not entirely sure.
You can ask someone at dell, or check it out online with Help & Support.
Switching Hard Drives Doesnt do Anything to the os. It just wants to re-install the unknown drivers and devices...
you should be able to put it in the other laptop,
unless it has some new cable design im not aware of.
The only problem i see is that windows will see all that new hardware in the new laptop and will give a protection error.
The only way i know to get rid of that is to format it and install windows under that hardware config.
hope it helps
You. can... but. It's not my recommendation, you see, when you swap drives between computers, Windows needs to update all the drivers which is most likely to miss 3 to 4 drivers, something that can be very frustrating for you, also you will have to reactivate your windows because of the disk swap, Windows' definition of "new computer" is the complete change of the mother board, so windows will act as if it was in a new computer (which obviously it is). So, yes you can hehe
Moving a drive from one computer to another is never a good idea unless the computers are identical. The BIOS version, chipset, ethernet controllers and other hardware devices of the new laptop are all likely to be different. So what will happen is the first time you boot your new computer, Windows will have to plug-n-play all these new devices. It's registry will now contain information for two of everything, each with its own id and drivers. Conflicts, blue screens and migranes are the likely result. I would do as suggested in another Email - reformat and install from scratch. Or better yet, buy the new laptop with Windows already installed.
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