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    Moving a HDD installed with windows to another computer

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Neubeehunhun, Apr 21, 2011.

  1. Neubeehunhun

    Neubeehunhun Notebook Evangelist

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    Basically I want to move a HDD from my old rig to a completely new one, would it be able to boot up and keep all the files I stored/installed on the HDD?
     
    Neubeehunhun, Apr 21, 2011
    #1
  2. ViciousXUSMC

    ViciousXUSMC Master Viking NBR Reviewer

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    Not really.

    Its possible with some software to clone the image in a way that it keeps the software and programs and files but leaves behind drivers and other stuff that are system specific. However I would not trust it

    You definitely cant just drop the HDD into a new system, that will not work.

    Id backup your files and just do a clean install and then transfer your files back over.
     
    ViciousXUSMC, Apr 21, 2011
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  3. Pirx

    Pirx Notebook Virtuoso

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    No, the new machine will just bluescreen on boot. However, using disk imaging software with a universal restore option this can be done just fine.
     
    Pirx, Apr 21, 2011
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  4. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    If it's Vista/7 more than likely it will boot, however software requiring activation will likely hiccup (Windows, Adobe).

    If it is XP, 99.8% of the time it will BSOD. The other .02% Windows will be so unstable it won't be usable.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Apr 21, 2011
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  5. Neubeehunhun

    Neubeehunhun Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks for the inputs.

    I'm not concerned about the files since I can easily back them up. All I really want are the installed softwares, would be a really big mess of wasted time if I had to reinstall all them, not there are quite a few free ones I really like that I got from giveawayoftheday.

    Any recommended software for doing this?

    @Tsunade_Hime, I'm running windows7 ultimate
     
    Neubeehunhun, Apr 21, 2011
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  6. raserdk

    raserdk Notebook Geek

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    Acronis True Image can do something called
    Recover to Dissimilar Hardware


    taken from their site
    Acronis Backup and Security 2011 Plus Pack is an optional module enables you to restore files, applications and an operating system to dissimilar hardware, great for hardware upgrades. And it provides support for dynamic disks and Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environments (WinPE).
     
    raserdk, Apr 21, 2011
    #6