m14x > m17x r3 hardware swap

Ok here's the deal. I bought an m14x a couple weeks ago. I like it but I was really thinking i wanted a bigger laptop with the numpad and all. An m17x r3 came up locally and i bought it. The cpu on my m14x is better, and the hard drive is bigger and ssd. I am going to swap the cpu's out. I was wondering if the hard drives would be compatible to just change out also. Im going to upgrade the m17x and resell the 14 when im done. Thank you in advance!

 

The drive is physically compatible, but I would highly recommend a clean OS install to prevent BSOD/crashes.

 

Ok well both have the windows 7 premium os. I do have the cd for that. What do i need to do exactly to accomplish what you are saying? Remove the os before installing the hd in the other computer then reinstall?

 

Backup your important files.

Format the drive when you go to install windows, it gives you the option with the advanced settings.

Install Windows 7.

Add your backed up files back to Windows 7.

 

You forgot the reinstall your programs part after reinstalling Windows 7 HT.

 

Both computers were set to factory when i bought them so right now all i have on my m14x is wow and some addons (haven't been using it a whole lot ive been working a lot last couple weeks) So what would i need to back up? Also how do i wipe the os off the hd befroe taking it out. Im completely new to this stuff so the simplest version of what i need to do step by step would be awesome.

 

Once you install the new hard drive into the M17x, put the Windows installation dvd in and turn the computer on, then press f12 to get to your boot options and boot from the dvd drive. Then just follow the directions for the Windows installation. It's pretty simple from that point on, just choose advanced options once it gets to the drive options and format the ssd. Follow through with the install, then add all your drivers after it finishes. You can look on support.dell.com to see the correct order to install the drivers for the M17x. Make sure you install the chipset driver first.

 

If you have any personal data, documents, music, movies, pictures, etc. that is what you need to backup. You can wipe the drive during the windows installation process, at one point, you will be able to choose a custom install and you will have the option to format the drive. Format it, select it as the drive that you want to install Windows to and continue with the installation. It can seem a bit frightening at first, but there are some tutorials on NBR and elsewhere on the Internet and you get the hang of it pretty fast. These days, it takes me around 15 minutes to finish the basic Windows installation on a SSD (it is much longer for a normal hard drive).

 

Alright sounds simple enough. Thanks for all the information. It will be a few days as I had to order some thermal grease (not sure where to get any around here) but that should be here the middle of next week so ill post and let you know how it goes. Thanks again.