Hard Drive Swap Between Latitude 6510 and 6320

I bought a refurbished Latitude E6320 with 750 GB hard disk w/ Win 7 Pro 32 bit

I have a Latitude E6510 w/ 160 GB HD w/ Win 7 Home Premium 32 bit

I want to put the 750 GB in the E6510 and 160 GB in E6320.

If I just put the new 750 GB in the E6510, I assume that would work as long as I update drivers?

If I put the 160 GB to the E6320, same thing just change drivers?

I'm thinking to add to 8 GB ram on my 6520, which means I'd need a 64 bit Windows. Since the 750 GB is brand new, if I decide to go w/ 64 bit windows, this would be a perfect time. Am I correct?

Thx!

 

Are you asking if you need to reinstall Windows? Generally speaking, you always need to reinstall Windows when moving the hard drive to another computer.

There are some exceptions if the hardware is very similar or if the OS is generalized with sysprep, but even if you are able to boot without bluescreen, performance won't be optimal.

 

With Vista/7, it is alot more friendly about it. Theoretically yes it should boot up and reinstall drivers but you could still get random BSOD, and Windows might whine about activation as well as other software. In any case, a fresh install is probably a better idea or making the recovery discs and reimaging the machine with the larger hard drive.

 

So is there any easier way to swap HD between machines?

Mainly the 160 to the new machine. If I backup my documents and desktop, I still need to reinstall all the programs.

 

A quick question on the two Windows 7 I have from Dell.

The 6510 is w/ Win 7 Home Premium

The 6320 is w/ Win 7 Home Professional

Would I be able to install Home Premium on 6320 and Pro on 6510 without licensing issues?

 

After re-thinking of what I need, here are the possible steps:

- Treat the 750 HD as a new blank HD
- Backup the image on the 750 using True Image
- Clone the 160 GB to the 750 HD
- Restore the True Image image to the 750 HD

I just need to find an external HD that can store the 750 image.

I assume I can use the Acronis True Image trial version to do this.

Am I correct?

 

With regards to licensing, you'll be able to install any OEM version of Windows 7 on either system and it will activate. However, this would violate the EULA, so you should only install the version that is listed on the COA sticker (though there is nothing preventing you from doing otherwise).

Actually, you can use the built-in Backup & Restore in Windows 7. Create a system image, move the image to another system, and restore using the Windows disk. You will need to create an extra partition on each HDD (shrink C:\ to get the space), but when you're done, just delete it and extend C:\.

 

Well, my 160 G is Home Premium and it doesn't come with Windows backup (I think). I have an external HD around. It has 320 G capacity. I can backup the new 750 G and clone the 160 G onto the 750 G. Then restore the initial 750 G install.

The key is to keep the 160 G data.

 

Also, both drivers have only one C: partition in NTFS.

I have a Carryon HD with FAT32. I will clone the 750 to the Carryon HD. Then clone the 160 to 750. Put the 750 in 6510. Put 160 into 6320 and reimage the 6320.

Dudh, just found out the Home Premium has Backup and Restore except to a network location. I think I'm all set.

 

As long as both laptops were purchased Windows 7, and were installed with the official Dell media, you should be able to swap the drives between them without any activation.

But the idea to move to 64-bit Windows at the same time is a good one.