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    Can hard drive be swapped from one computer to another exact same computer?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by nedsta, Jul 13, 2006.

  1. nedsta

    nedsta Notebook Enthusiast

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    This is a general question about laptops. Can a hard drive with data on it from one computer be put in another exact same computer and be expected to work or does it need to be formatted before it will work?
     
    nedsta, Jul 13, 2006
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  2. NetBrakr

    NetBrakr Notebook Deity

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    I dont see why not. It should work.

    JC
     
    NetBrakr, Jul 13, 2006
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  3. jetstar

    jetstar Notebook Deity

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    Yes its possible.
     
    jetstar, Jul 13, 2006
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  4. nedsta

    nedsta Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've tried it and it doesn't work. Wondering if there could be something different about the Bios or something.
     
    nedsta, Jul 13, 2006
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  5. nedsta

    nedsta Notebook Enthusiast

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    I know it would work if it was formatted but would it work without format and be able to see all the date?
     
    nedsta, Jul 13, 2006
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  6. RogueMonk

    RogueMonk Notebook Deity

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    It should work straight across with no issues. But, there can be some complications if your hardware has a different rev. to it than the original.

    Even then, as simple "repair installation" should do the trick.
     
    RogueMonk, Jul 13, 2006
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  7. mZimm

    mZimm Notebook Evangelist

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    In theory it's possible, but it's not generally that easy.
     
    mZimm, Jul 13, 2006
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  8. compaq64

    compaq64 Notebook Consultant

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    It has worked fine for me, I even did it a complicated way, I put my old 4200 notebook hd with the os still on it in an enclosure and booted from the external enclosure to my gateway desktop (nothing special). It worked fine. Although I did have to edit the boot.ini file after so it wouldnt try to boot from the external drive everytime the gateway was turned on, I would not reccomend doing this editing the right lines on the boot.ini file is a pain. If your desperate to try it set a restore point its much easier. Well Im rambling so, I hope this helps clarify your question.

    edit: Im sure on a mac it would do it no prob haha. (Well they do have the same logic boards so...
     
    compaq64, Jul 14, 2006
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