How do I swap HDDs between two different laptops?

Ok, here is the problem.

I have a DEll XPS M1330 with a 120 GB SSD. I also have a new Sony Vaio CW with a 250 GB 5400 rpm HDD. I would like to swap the two.

The only things I've got at my disposal are screwdrivers, and an external USB harddrive with 250 GB free space on it (another 250 are full.)

Can I do the swap?

(Both laptops are running Windows 7.)

 

One or both will have to be clean installed for 'best performance'. Do you have the recovery disks for each system?

First, you'll screw up the Windows licenses if you simply swap and boot them up, but you do have the tools to do it.

The external 500GB HD needs to be completely clean to use it as a source/destination drive with cloning software - if it isn't - it will be once the cloning starts! Beware.

You can download Acronis trial for the cloning, but you'll have to find a way to put the data on your external somewhere else temporarily.

Once you do that to simply clone the HD's across;

Install Acronis on the Dell:
Clone the Dell to the external drive. Boot up the external drive inside the Dell to make sure the cloning worked!

Once that is verified, install Acronis on the Sony:
Clone the Sony to the 120GB SSD from the Dell. Boot up the Sony with the now cloned SSD and verify that the cloning worked!

Once that is verified, boot up from the 500GB HD on the Dell:
Clone the Dell onto the 250GB 5400 RPM HD from the Sony. Boot up the Dell with the now cloned 250GB HD and verify that the cloning worked!

You may now format the 500GB external and copy back your data to the external.

If you don't have anywhere to put the data that is now on the external, you may want to buy from somewhere with a no restocking fee return policy and perform the above on that drive, instead.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!

 

Yea, I'm out of the country right now so I can't buy (and return -- they don't do those in Europe ) a new hard drive.

I do have 250 GB out of 500 GB with information that I need, and that I cannot lose on my external HDD.

I can create recovery discs for the Sony Vaio (there's software on the laptop that lets me do that.) So I would not need to clone the Vaio HDD onto the 128 SSD.

I do not have the Dell M1330's recovery DVDs (misplaced them etc.)

I DO also have a SATA 3.5'' regular drive (which is about 100 GB). Could I use that in the process?

 

Edit: If I get it right, I could do the following: directly clone the Dell SSD onto the 5400 RPM Drive. Check if it works. If it does, use the recovery CDs on the Vaio with the SSD (formating it in the meanwhile.)

So I could do without the external HDD altogether, am I correct?

 

Yes, if you have an external enclosure that fits it so you can use it as an external drive to clone/copy to.