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    how to install OS into laptop harddrive using desktop computer?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by pkim1230, Sep 17, 2008.

  1. pkim1230

    pkim1230 Notebook Deity

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    my laptop is unable to run for more than 5 minutes because it overheats while its in DOS mode, so I want to take the HDD out and hook it up to the desktop, and install windows on it, and then move it back to the laptop. because the laptop doesn't overheat as much in windows.

    any way to do this? is it possible?
     
    pkim1230, Sep 17, 2008
    #1
  2. THE B1RDMAN

    THE B1RDMAN Notebook Guru

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    Windows probably wouldn't boot because of all of the hardware differences between the laptop and the desktop. the reason is because Microsoft doesn't want people to be able to install windows and bring their hard drive to any computer and now that computer can have windows. (Basically sharing Windows in Microsoft's minds). Same reason why they don't let you install windows on external hard drives but linux does.
     
    THE B1RDMAN, Sep 17, 2008
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  3. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Considering that during the install it configures a lot of stuff with the drivers, I'm thinking you might have considerable difficulty. I've never tried it myself to be honest.

    But if your laptop has problems like that, I suggest you try to solve them.
     
    Greg, Sep 17, 2008
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  4. powerpack

    powerpack Notebook Prophet

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    As Greg said, solve the problem first?
     
    powerpack, Sep 18, 2008
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  5. t30power

    t30power Notebook Deity

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    Which laptop do you have. You could try changing the thermal paste, or maybe opening it up and putting a fan or something to avoid overheating.
     
    t30power, Sep 18, 2008
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  6. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    naton, Sep 18, 2008
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  7. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    For the heat problem, if your laptop is over a year old and you've use it in and out, or in a dusty area, a thin/thick layer of dust my be blocking the fun exhust.

    Also, does your laptop overheat when running something heavy like a benchmark or a game under Windows?
     
    naton, Sep 18, 2008
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  8. davidfor

    davidfor Notebook Consultant

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    Actually, how badly this works is dependent on the version of Windows. I have moved drives between various laptops in the past. With 95 and 2000 it was no problem. In both cases I made sure I had all the drivers on the drive before moving it. But it was still scary to see what devices it was finding. The only time I tried it with XP, I got locked out because of the activation.

    But, I recently moved a drive between two ASUS laptops without any problems. The donor was an M51Sn running Vista Ultimate that had died after some apple juice was spilt on it. I moved it to an F3Sv with the intention of using a Ubuntu live CD to copy data from it. That didn't work as the NTFS partions were marked as dirty. So, I let Vista boot on it to do a scan disk and when that finished it booted with no problems (but it did miss a couple of devices - the camera and the TV card I think). I assume this worked because of the way the licencing for these is setup. When I cleaned the M51Sn and put the drive back in it, it was still OK.

    Of course, this probably wouldn't work for a standard Vista license, but it might with a corporate license. Or, if you don't activate the license until after you move the drive back to the laptop.

    Maybe the OP would be better off getting a cooling pad or even a large fan to blow on it while doing the install. I've done that: propped a laptop on two books and pointed a desk fan at on an over 30C day when I needed to do some CPU intensive tasks.

    David
     
    davidfor, Sep 19, 2008
    #8