Win 7 on Sony Vaio -> Thinkpad T61

Hello,

I bought a Sony Vaio with Windows 7, but the entire computer is trashed at my own expense (long story). Is there anyway to move the Windows 7 Pro operating system that came pre-loaded on the Sony Vaio to my Thinkpad T61? I have the recovery discs and all from the Vaio and also for the Thinkpad. Any ideas?

 

Microsoft sells windows to PC/notebook makers at deep discounts. Buried in the ELUA is the fact that the copy of windows is tied to the machine being sold. I'm not super familiar with Sonys, but I would expect this to be the case. Long story short, you can't move it legally.

 

Thanks for the response ZaZ. This is a real bummer. In theory though could it even be done via the recovery discs? If anyone has an idea could they send me a PM? Thanks.

 

I don't think it can be done. I think the recovery discs check to see what computer you have before installing Windows 7. If they don't, then I am absolutely sure that the product key used in the recovery discs is tied to your motherboard/computer hardware, so when Windows authenticates its license it will come back saying you already used this key on another computer.

If you want to recover data you should use a 2.5" enclosure to connect your hard drive to another computer and copy your files. Then you can use your recovery discs.

Edit: also you could try reinstalling Windows and just use the Windows.old option and don't format your HD.

 

Thanks for the help. Looks like I'm stuck with vista, haha.