@@PBoss0 Belarc Advisor, and other tools, can report the keys on a working system. Windows keys are useless, though, since for Windows 10 and 11 it's digitally licensed to the hardware, and won't activate on different hardware. That being said there's a bunc of ways to get Windows 10 and 11 on new hardware (install a copy of 7 first, for example, the upgrade is still free).
The best way to this: 1. Replicate the windows drive prior to anything just in case things go into disaster. 2. Moving drives around between OEMs such as DELL to HP etc. is usually safe. But the play and pray is when you start doing it with MSIs and Asus etc. hardware.
I would agree with most of the statement said, except for one. If your planning to upgrade to a total new hardware and if it does boot up then you should do a fresh upgrade to a next version up. This would solve the hardware inconsistency and you will still get all your old data accessed as is.
He is not kidding about others claiming to know how to do this, I wasted several hours attempting their fixes and none of them work, in fact, most of them don't know what they are talking about. At least this man was honest about it and gave good advice about the warnings about attempting to move one hard drive from one computer to another.
Microsoft's "Sysprep" is worth a mention. It can be used to remove PC-specific information from a Windows installation so it can be installed on different PCs.
@@Mobin92 Yes, Sysprep doesn't preserve user accounts. It is designed to present an "OOBE" for an installation onto a new PC with fresh driver detection/installation but with the option of having any extra software and settings pre-installed.
thanks, I used Sysprep in the past and it worked like a charm for me. Going from one system hardware to another and running Sysprep, there was no BSOD.
I backup and restore windows to dissimilar hardware all the time for enterprise purposes. Moving physical servers to virtual is the same process. Yes, you can, but you need to know what needs to be manually removed. The bigger problem is most novice installs of windows are OEMs and they are legally locked to the motherboard the license shipped with. They won't reactivate when moved to a new MB unless you buy a retail license or have a volume license. Licenses aside, its a false statement claiming windows installs can't be moved to different hardware with perfect success. Done it for decades.
I've been swapping hard drives ever since win 7 came out to now never once had issues if anything only benefited from it. Two examples had two separate hard drives with non genuine win 7 ultimate that have never been identified as fake yet. On one I installed the necessary software for hardware even did automatic updates download from Microsoft and 3 years later still haven't got not genuine yet. Second example did same thing as above, but this time got pop up giving me 3 days to activate. I just used product key from label on bottom of laptop and activated it. One hard drive has been used in 3 or more laptops using same windows with the files for each one still saved on drive. This guy probably works for or affiliated with Microsoft wants everyone to buy windows. If I bought a program for a computer that goes to hell next day you would hope that the copy of program can still be used elsewhere unlimited times as long as it's not simultaneously being use in multiple devices.
Thank you, Leo. I came to this video about two weeks ago because my video feed stopped working on my HP EliteDesk 800 G3 Mini Desktop Intel Core i5-6500. I read that the video card was imbedded in the mother board so checking and changing the VC was not an option. With a little bit of experience working on computers, I thought I might be able to just get another SAME or SIMILAR computer without a hard drive and put the current HD into the new (used) computer. It worked! Or at least it has for a week now. I watched this video and a few others, I took the appropriate precautions, closed my eyes, installed the hard drive and BAM! It's been working for at least a week now. I have run updates, and the system is operating smoothly. I am thankful for this video and the others I watched. They all helped give me the confidence to do the job. I installed the HD and the RAM from the first computer into the used HP EliteDesk 800 that I found on e-bay for under $60. I can delay purchasing a new computer for another day. Thanks again, DP👍
I have gone from Intel to Intel systems with the same c:drive. I now have an AMD X570 system on windows 11 and now in the middle of building a new Ryzen 7000 PC and was looking for a short cut for not having to reinstall and configure everything all over again. Thanks for the info. Hoping with just a BIOS update everything will be ok since their both AMD systems, but I think I'll just download a new windows and take my time reloading things before totally killing my current machine.
PC Guy with 25 years of experience. I would never drive swap or clone to new hardware. Same hardware is fine other than probably dealing with a Windows Activation from the new motherboard. Back in the day it was a disaster, now it works much better as Windows tends to boot on bad drivers and then will install correct drivers, but I wouldn't risk it. What I do for users is basically clone their data, including many things in their profile, so all there files/folders/etc will move over, favorites on browsers, signatures for email. Its like 98% of everything exactly as it was but with a fresh OS and Drivers. You can dive into Program Files & Registry to copy games/programs but if its a few simple things I just re-install them. If its a very complex program with a lot of customization, I install the program and then copy its configuration files, addons, plugins, etc.
You answered my question. I was going to add my Win7(x64) 256GB SSD into my Win11 PC for a dual boot after I converted it to GPT. But now after your advice, I'll only use it as a secondary drive.. Must a secondary drive be converted to GPT? I would think not but just checking. Thanks!
I do hope people will take what this man says to heart and save themselves a headache down the road. The best alternative is to just get another hard drive and install Windows on it and then bit by bit transfer files from the one drive to the new one in the system. I have attempted this numerous times and that is the only surefire way to make sure you don't have any driver file corruption and other corrupt files.
It can absolutely work. I put my windows 7 hard disk from a HP, and put it into an Asus. I accepted the windows 10 upgrade. That took care of everything. I was off to gaming in no time.
Wow. I've ran into this channel multiple times but its answers are always vague and probably incorrect. Would it be so hard to just try it out? Yes windows does configure a bit, but the only game breaker I'm aware of is legacy IDE mode vs. AHCI (standard since like 15 years or such). A IDE mode windows will not have any AHCI drivers and not run on a bios in AHCI mode. Id like to get information on SPECIFIC other things that are tailored to my specific PC by windows during setup. Because most drivers are just programs you install onto an already running Windows, so they can not matter.
Yes you can as long as you acquire the proper updates. Just use the upgrade key printed on the computer where the hard drive was taken. My process was completely successful.
First newer video of yours I have seen and am happy to see a video quality improvement (visual) the education with it has always been quality the videos just never looked the best. Thank you for your great knowledge and explanations of things Leo!
In my older pc I have a 2 TB HDD that is windows 10 with saved files for previous games I wanted to keep and not have to redownload them all to my new pc that also has 2 TB HDD but it is windows 11. Any recommendations that I should do to install my older 2 TB HDD into my new pc to have a total of 4 TB HDD? Please help.
I have two computers and the older one will not boot up at all. This happened suddenly and I have no idea why. There is about 300g of data on the old hard drive I really need. Can I put that hard drive into my newer computer as a second drive and pull all that data out of it and save it on the new computer? Then remove and discard it without any risk to the operating system of the newer computer?
Yup. I'd actually recommend putting it in a USB external drive enclosure. Makes connecting it to any computer in the future easier. (And if you were about to lose data, then you haven't been backing up. I would recommend you start doing that as well.)
Do you think I could plug in my old SSD drive to a new PC (that has windows installed) and run it as a secondary drive. Would I be able to use all my files without a problem? I need to make sure that all the programs and plugins installed to my old pc can be used on the new PC. OLD PC: 1 SSD 1 HDD (sata 2.5" windows on SSD) 1 SSD m2 on new pc (plenty of space to physically fit both drives from old pc to new pc)
I moved multiple times with Linux and macOS. My current macOS installation is on the 4th or 5th machine now, without problems. Just backup and restore it on a new computer. Linux is a bit more complicated, but still worked fine in my situations. And now I wonder if getting a Windows PC was a mistake. I want to move to a new one and the thought of installing and configuring it all over again, is nauseating.
Not to mention that hardware driver support is by and large managed within the kernel. There are some exceptions of course, but I've done hard disk transplants with Linux installed for many years and it works quite well.
That's not really true as a general statement, but mostly yes. That's because in most default installations Linux is super modular and doesn't have the modules compiled with the Kernel. If your Linux doesn't have all the needed modules (e.g. if you compiled your own Kernel for a lightweight installation) it won't work.
I used the windows preparation tool .I moved a windows 7 HD from a Dell dimension 9100 to a xps 8700 .Went pretty smooth ran operating system to end of windows 7 life .I can still boot into to thus day if I choose .
One thing that was not mentioned was the Windows License....unless things have changed....the Windows License will not allow you to move from one computer to another, even if you use the install disk. My understanding is that it will simply fail on the new machine because the existing Windows License Key will not work on the new machine. I have always understood it to be that whenever you upgrade or switch computers, if the new machine does not already have Windows on it, you have to purchase a new copy of Windows.
IF it works (which, as the video explains, is something you cannot count on), if a new key is needed, then Windows will prompt you for activation and give you the opportunity to provide or purchase a new license key.
I just put my old hard drive into a second hand laptop I got because my original laptop was damaged. No keyboard function, but mouse worked. There is a free program you can download called Nirsoft Produkey. It doesn't need installed and runs from a USB pen drive. It will retrieve the windows key from the Bios. I used it on the damaged laptop to get the 25 digit key. On the new laptop, which demanded I active windows, I entered it. Bingo - windows was activated! There are also command line and powershell commands that allow you to retrieve it if your keyboard is working.
@@gomo123 Yes. Try nirsoft produkey first on the laptop. Get the product key from the bios and save it somewhere. Save the ID number also. My laptop came with Windows preinstalled. The label with the product key was lost years ago but after windows 7 it was stored in the bios. On the new laptop it showed that windows needed activated so I used the key I retrieved from the bios on the old laptop and it worked. If you can retrieve the 25 digit product product key (licence) from the laptop, then on the desktop you transfer the hard drive to to, go to start menu, run, and type in slui. Then you can enter the key. However if it doesn't work for some reason then type in slui4 to use the automated system. Microsoft allows reactivation due to hardware changes.
A new Dell lasted 2 years of occasional use as I am retired. Then simple kills the power supply green light as soon as plugged in. They have 6 different motherboard in the same model depending on the supply chain. A "Cedar AMD XXX" is the only motherboard this hard drive will work. No backup disc, no book, I am surprised Best Buy has them in a box. Sad. Even $250 is out of reach. $2.65 @ month for magic jack phone, $17.45 for internet, no big screen TV's, no new or leased cars or subscriptions online or paper. I put money into insulation, high efficiency 2 stage furnace & A/C and now my own yard. Covid pricing makes everything expensive! Sad!
Yes, just purchased a new dell and exchanged my HP hard drive mainly because it was twice as big as the new one. Absolutely no problems after running Windows Update.
I'm getting a new PC and I want to transfer files, data, pics, and desktop icons from the old PC to the new PC. So what would you say is the best and easiest way to do this? (from Windows 10 to my new PC that has Windows 11)
So my question is, what if you put your old hard drive into the same EXACT model tower Dell Precision T3500 more specifically, and take all the parts you added to it to the new tower? RAM, Power Supply, Processor etc? Is there any chance of that succeeding?
I have two HP laptops that are identical. One of them the hard drive has crashed. The other the hard drive is functioning fine but the physical body of the laptop itself is falling apart. My original thought had been to move the hard drive from the laptop that is falling apart physically to the body of the other laptop where the hard drive has crashed, your thoughts? Clueless about this, never done anything like it before. But I work daily on the laptop that is physically falling apart.
Looking for a driver injector prog so i can run an old C: drive on an old lap top. Why? There's a few old progs on there that i don't want to go through the hassle of looking for them and reinstalling. My old pc's watercooler pump finally died so i thought. Why not try it. Well the acer i put it in said no boot and then i rememebered there's a driver prog out there but it's been years. Anyone know of one?
I have an old vista laptop and an old MacBook Pro. I want to extract certain files….. my MacBook Pro have windows options if I am not wrong. All I know is I need an external hard drive….. my old inspiron 1546 is responding to reboot…battery reseated. Could I take out the hard disk and put it in a special contraption? To extract the data? Tq
good video, you have a nice presentation style and you're easy to understand. I like your idea about data recovery if you can't access the hard drive thru a usb cable, like I've done many times. That's a good point to remember. :)
Over the years ive heard that it was impossible to put a hd set up for amd into and intel machine and vice versa. Would appreciate any insight on this matter.
Tried to clone my disk from HDD to SSD both WD. Actually booted really quickly but quickly noticed off things. Keyboard would work in chrome, but no where in windows. Not even the on screen keyboard. Couldn’t read any videos. Quickly formatted SSD and created a Disk image onto the SSD. Will next find a way to make sure it’s aligned. What a curve ball when it actually booted.😅
If you have an original Full Retail (the expensive one) installation, Microsoft will allow you to transfer to a new machine. If it's an OEM installation, there is not much you can do.
Thanks for the video! I have a 10 year old Acer laptop with windows 8 and all my programs in it... the laptop is working great but I needed some features it does not have so I purchased a 5 year old HP laptop with Windows 11 in it. I wonder if I could erase this new hard drive with Windows 11, install windows 8 for which I have an original CD the same I used for my laptop now and then replace the hard drive with my current hard drive with windows 8 and all programs in it. Would that help the newer computer to "accept" my older hard drive? Thanks!!
Since the the release of windows 10 i have refused to use it and have continued to use windows 8.1 and i move the ssd around like im changing girlfriends from one machine to another from Dells, Hp's and Asus this is with both laptops and desktops and have never had a problem all i do is just update the drivers using software and the bios and restart and all is Great i have never had a problem with any system by doing this...
i have a question, i recently bought a new laptop and it has an empty slot for a hard drive and wanted to take hard drive from old computer to new one for storage and games. Would i be able to do that. If i could do that would i have to wipe the data from old hard drive to make i work on new laptop?
It has worked when I replaced the MB with an identical board, but the best thing would have been wipe the hd and do a fresh install. That way you get the best performance from your system.
Try this before unplugging the disk on computer A Open the command prompt cd C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown Now you are ready to move the disk to computer B. Enjoy!
i tryed that & got problems my computer work but i have to do things to it befor it start working , now i have a new one & this old one i will use it for testing on.
Wow, the expert believes he knows… Facts now: Since W10, windows will boot on a different hardware AND then it simply uses windows updates to get ALL the drivers needed. I do this all the time. If you want to do it by the book, simply use a backup program that has Universal Restore, done.
Hi sir,if i have two hp mini 210,one is motherboard broken,the other one is functional. The point is if i can to replace hard drive from the broken one to the other one who are working,can i do this? Will work all my programs ? Thanks
I have a laptop that I want to keep as the shell. Is it possible to completely change everything? I have so many stickers and memories on my laptop but I want to just change the inner workings. Is that possible?
I installed Windows 10 on a laptop, that hard drive is currently on my desktop as I watch this video (Samsung laptop to MSI desktop). I didn't do anything special but I have both laptop and desktop drivers on this HDD so maybe that's the catch
It worked when moving from my surface pro 7+ to a surface pro 8 it first booted with no proper drivers (some stuff wasn't working) but it quickly found the drivers on windows update and after it installed them and manually installing the rest of the drivers everything works, but I guess those are both devices directly made by microsoft and it's the direct successor. I usually would reinstall but since they both surfaces I decided to just try to move the ssd and it worked.
Im planning on getting a new motherboard and cpu soon so i must ask what would become of the files on my hard drives? I plug in and connect my hdd and ssds and they would presumably have all the same data on them correct? I would just need to install windows again?
You can not always just get away with install windows from scratch . In my example I have thousands of thousands of music programs and plugins and if I was to do a total reinsatall I could litterly spend the next year ( if not more ) on just reinstall all the software . That is the reason Im still using win XP ( and the fact some programs wont even runj on newer versions ) and NOT getting a newer OS despite I have original installations media for every windows made . You can NOT upgrade from win XP to win 7 ( or never ) directly . Only perform clean install . ( unless you are a multi coorporate company that can pay big money to microsoft , in that case they will privide you with tools to just upgrade and never have to worry about reinstall your software ) That mean im stuck with older hardware , it make it more difficult to get ' new ' if something break . Especially because new hardware doesnt have drivers for XP at all . I use the computer as a music studio and have litterly set it up in all the years with software so trough the years it is an insane amount . Thus NOT possible to ever reinstall all this again . Good thing is that I have NEVER experienced any slow windows or such at all and despite I have NEVER reinstalled windows it run even faster than it did with a fresh installation . only two times since 2004 I have REPAIRED system files because I got a virus attack and it did some dammage to the system . Im using a chinese security software solution ( have used for past 12 years ) and I DO still get updates to my win XP . ( yes they write them themself ) Before I got this security system I got many slowdows because of antivirus and such and risk of blue screen when microsoft released a bad update ect . But I NEVER had any of this since I changed to the chinese security system . In fact my win XP have never being faster and they keep improve the system files . I can use more than 4 Gb ram ( I have 8 gb running perfect ) use directX 11 and execute 64 bit software on a 32 bit OS byt using Virtual machines and hardware virtualisation on 64 bit hardware ( even play 64 bit games too ) So even im kind of stuck on 32 bit win XP im not limited that much . It is very possible to change to a new computer and keep your windows installation , BUT you need to do it in steps . Never throw the harddisk into a 100 percent new system . Change ONE thing at a time so to perform update after update of the hardware . You can install a new motherboard by change all chipset drivers and harddisk controllers ect ect to win default ones and then swap motherboard and do a win repair and install the new original manufactorers drivers . It is possible and can actually work well . Most critical is chipset and hard drive . Install win default otherwise it will never boot . also in bias simply dissable everthing such as network , onboard sound card , onboard screen and even usb . Remove those drivers completely from windows and boot using ps2 keyboard . After windows is running then one by one activate the stuff and install driver and reboot in between each one . also remember to set screen and screen card to default . jUST never CHANGE ALL THE PARTS AT ONCE , It will fail . Nice video and you are totally right , it is a yes and no or something in between question . It all depending on how you prepare to do the ' transition ' to new hardware . Edit - ps Nice channel and great to see common questions being answered to help average people. I dont understand why you have so few views when compare your content but I guess it is the clickbait titles that make most traffick and yousubes algorithm doesnt care about quality content at all . Just found your channel and subscribed . keep up the nice work .
Wait.. so what if you do notice hardware slow down? I have tons of programs and plugins for making music. And I really don't want to go through the headache to reinstall windows and reinstall all those plugins, and organize everything again. Etc etc.
@@wheniztheend if your computer have run fine all time but suddenly , you notice slowdown . then look at your last installed stuff , from a simple driver upgrade to a plugin , it is most likely there you find your problem , It can happen bevause of a poor written plugin there is not quite optimized or a new badly written driver , then roll back to previous driver and / or remove the bad plugin or program .
what about registered software that may cost 1000's in the old machine, will the registration be still be valid when the hard drive is transferred to a new machine?
I have a question since I have so many drives my main hard drive I installed windows fresh on the drive. Should I delete all the other drivers or is it safe to keep the software I have on the other drives. So I have 5 hard drives 2 ssd NVME, 1 sold Stat, and 2 different externals. I do photography so I also have cloud storage but that's only for photos really. I'm hoping this is enough information to get some help. Thanks if anyone can help 😊
Honestly, it's not enough information. It really depends on what YOU want and are attempting to do. Normally a reinstall of Windows on one drive doesn't mean you need to anything to your other drives, though.
So I need help. I'm replacing a PC for a elderly couple. Old pc MB died but HHD was fine. I have no clue what OS it was using (it had ddr3 ram, so no telling). New machine has Win11. She can't remember any passwords and says she didnt have a gmail linked to chrome so the sync option is out of the table. Is it possible I boot from old HHD and it'll restore old browser informaiton?
and if it isn't bootable but it is functional as a secondary, is there a way to locate the PST file with such information? Any help would be appreciated. She's devastated and I'm helping off the clock because I just want to be their resolution and help them.
You could try booting from the old disk. It may work, it may not. As a secondary if she's using Outlook and has a PST the place to look is \Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
I swap the hdd and now my laptop is working very well but just cannot connect to Bluetooth devices..is it because I directly put one hdd to another laptop?
If the hard drive had an OS configured for another machine, and you didn't reinstall windows from scratch, then yes, it's entirely possible. This is exactly the kind of possibility the video talks about.
This is a perfect explanation and I agree with you 100% ,, for the sake of a few £ , buy a new SSD , period, people think it's like dropping a *Reconditioned car Engine* in Car A to B , let's face it , will it run without multiple tweaks on the freeway ? I'd not chance that long journey
After Watching you video, I think i have a solution but I would like to hear your thought on my idea. background: My old Motherboard MSI B450 has Windows 10 on it on a Samsung 970 Pro M.2 that contained only my OS of Windows 10. That board I think only had a Bad Lan Port on it, but it still worked, but it drove me to upgrade to a New MSI B550 Tomahawk board with a New Samsung 980 Pro M.2 that now has on it a new OS of Windows 11. I used the same Ryzen 7 3700X CPU from my old Motherboard in the new B550 Motherboard. I as well upgraded my Ram but I'm not sur if that has any impact on the story. My PC Case Lian Li Lancool II has three Hot swap Bays (removable trays) with 1TB/2TB/4TB drives that are currently not recognized in the New upgraded build in Windows 11 (from the old Windows 10 motherboard). Now I really want to keep the data on them, they contain about 90 percent of my 20 years photos of my time in the US Navy, as well as many family photos, as well as Games and many other things that i want to keep. So I really don't want to Format and loose all that data. Even so in Disk Manager none of the Drive Bays are shown in the Windows 11 build. After writing my idea I realize I may be barking up a bad path. Will a 8TB external drive i format in Windows 11 be recognized in a Windows 10 system and accept files from my 3 drives and be recognized in my Windows 11 system after I transfer the files to it, or will the Win 11 system do the same and want to reformat the 8TB drive getting me nowhere. Are Drives External USB or SATA never compatible with other systems? Any advice you can give would be great.
Not talking about my operating system to move. Just Data Drives to a new computer. Here is the situation. HELP!!!, So my case has 3 Hot Swappable Bays with three different SATA drives. I have been using these drives without issue in Windows 10 for 3 years now. Well I recently had a problem with my system that drove me to update My Motherboard and GPU as well Installing Windows 11 on a new M.2 Samsung 980 pro that is complete installed. When I did this WIN 11 install I removed the three HOT SWAP Bays with the Drives i was using for backups/Games and Files I wish to keep, so I do not want them to be FORMATTED OR ERASED. When I returned them in their Bays and rebooted my system they did not show up. I'm overly frustrated and not sure what I can do to return my drives and the Data not being lost. The Drives range from 4TB/2TB and 2TB bay drives. I hope a smart person can help out this Dumb old man. I would be most very relieved if someone can help me with this.
I'm assuming my motherboard was fried because woke up to water spilled all over it overnight and won't turn on. I'm wondering if I buy the exact same model laptop can I switch out the harddrive from my old one and have it work? I did listen to your entire video but still unclear. Thank you!
I did exactly this a few years ago. A workstation in the shipping dept where I worked got soaked when they accidentally busted the firemain with a fork lift. Fortunately the hard drive was spared any water damage. Dragged another machine (same model) out of an unused cubicle in the office and swapped the hard drive over to it. It fired up like nothing happened. I had the shipping dept up and running in less than an hour. Even the company's IT guy was impressed that it was resolved so quickly. I should mention that this was a WinXP installation. Newer versions of Windows will probably whine about a licence key.
@@xaenon Good work and quick thinking! I ended up pulling my files and photos off with a cheap usb to harddrive adapter, but still have one serious problem and that is that I don't have the code for Authy and it doesn't seem to load right on this windows 7 laptop, just showing me a hollow box with the logo on top. I guess worst case scenario is if I do get the same model and it doesn't do the trick I can at least just resell it. I wish they had given a more serious warning about that pass code! What makes you think it would tag the licence key if same model of windows 7 with the old hard drive, and if it did couldn't you just punch in the code from the first one?
@@survivormary1126 Not sure if it's true of Win7, but Win 8 and 10 have the licence key in BIOS / UEFI if it's an OEM. My Acer laptop came with 8.1 and when a Windows update completely borked 8.1 I had to upgrade to 10. It pulled the licence right from the machine. Also, I installed a completely new HDD in an old Dell tower this past week; Windows 10 installed directly without any request for a key. Activated and everything, right out of the gate. The key I was referring to, though, was for your automotive keygen software... or did I misunderstand what you were doing?
If you're not worried about the existing programs, no worries. If you have any data (photos, music, documents, etc.), just copy them off the the hard drive, then do a proper install of Win7 on your laptop as a 'new' installation. Much cleaner and easier.
@@xaenon I’m actually still thinking of trying this. The windows 7 laptop I use for car diagnostic purposes and it’s literally falling apart. The only thing that worries me is the keygen programs for the diagnostic systems I use
@@paularmstrong605 Those keygen programs will have to be reinstalled (and likely re-activated, if they are licenced the way I think they are) if you go the 'fresh OS' route.
Hey guys, I ordered a new PC with a SSD. I want to build in my old HDD of my current PC in addition to the SSD. Is it the best to save everything on an external drive and to empty my old HDD? And the build in my empty old HDD in my new PC and install everything fresh from my external Drive? Edit: I want to install Windows fresh on the new SSD I am very new to this, so any advice would be highliy appreciated :)
It's really up to you. You'll end up with a cleaner system if you empty that second drive and only copy over what you need, but leaving everything on that drive is also a fine option.
$55.00. That's what it cost me to get a "box" off ebay. A box is a computer with no hard drive or operating system, that is otherwise identical to my Dell 780 in both model and form factor. A full size horizontal desktop must be supplemented with a full size box. A small form factor requires a small form factor box. And likewise, a tower desktop requires a tower. In this way, the cloning option can be a full function back up solution. Clones made on one will boot up and operate on the other. Boxes range from $30.00 to $70.00 on ebay. A full size desktop can be distinguished from a small form factor desktop by the location of the power plug in back. A full size has the plug just left and outside of the power supply vent. A small form factor has the plug within the power supply vent. And unlike images, a clone's operation can be verified the day that it is created. There's no waiting for the source drive to fail before verifying the reliability of an image.
Thanks for this....not the answer I wanted to hear, but I think I will give it a try anyway. I have a 12 year old PC running Win10, bought a new PC running Win11. Will clone old HDD onto new NVMe SSD, and try that as a boot drive in the new PC. If it works, then I will upgrade that cloned NVMe drive to Win11. If it doesn't work, then I will revert back back to the NVMe boot drive that came with the new PC and have the cloned NVMe in my new PC as a data only second drive. The reason I want to do this is because I have some old legacy programs currently installed on my old PC HDD that can no longer be installed in Win10 or Win11. If I can't make this work, then I will likely lose those programs for good. :(
What I did when I got a new PC, was boot from the external SSD I cloned from my old PC. Then clone the SSD to the new PC's internal SSD. This is how I've always done it. It's interesting tbh.
Does it actually account for all the drivers needed to function? Does your external SSD when booted to a new computer "see" the drivers functioning and automatically downloads the right ones?
@@reviewchan9806 with Windows, it worked. Windows just auto downloads any different drivers from Windows Update. If the new system has a dedicated GPU, I just install the GPU drivers (AMD or NVIDIA). With Linux, everything just works out of the box. I install NVIDIA drivers if needed dependent upon if the system has NVIDIA drivers.
Question. I have 3 hp z800 workstation that are identical about 75%. The processors and internal hard drive are different but the motherboard is the same. Cloneing my c drive to work in my other z800 should work yes or no?
I am here because I am prepping to go from a windows 10 on my ancient HP xw 8400 into my less ancient HP XW 8600 workstation that is running window 7 but wont take an Win 10 update for some reason. Both have dual Xenon HD however the window 7 is getting really tempermental and I get all these messages about unsupported op sys from the browsers. But that baby is still a 3.1 ghz powerhouse so I said let me give it a shot before I go with a HP Z class that cost $1500.00.
I totally agree. I've tried it recently. It turned out to be a disaster. Eighty percent of the time the system was hanging. Reinstallation was compulsory in the end. The reason is that it was a drastic change in hardware from Intel iCore 4th Gen to Intel iCore 12th Gen.
That's NOT what I said. If you're just upgrading a hard disk on an existing machine, no problem. Backup the old hard drive, replace, restore the image and you're good to go. What this article/video is all about is moving to a completely new machine. Yes, then you need a new windows.
I'm writing this message from my Thinkpad x250 laptop. The drive with Windows 10 comes from my old Thinkpad T410 whose motherboard died last year. Sorry for my bad English, but I think I'm a better technician than I am a bullshitter.
Everything on your pc has either a MAC address or serial number or both. If you change the motherboard and Processor, you are basically changing everything and Windows will most likely tell you that there are too many changes and want you to activate again and will most likely fail.
It would make some things easier. But probably won't work.
WHAT about collecting the licence KEYS for WIndows , MS OFFICE OR OTHER Progams so you don't have to re purchase? HOW CAN that be done???
@@PBoss0 Belarc Advisor, and other tools, can report the keys on a working system. Windows keys are useless, though, since for Windows 10 and 11 it's digitally licensed to the hardware, and won't activate on different hardware. That being said there's a bunc of ways to get Windows 10 and 11 on new hardware (install a copy of 7 first, for example, the upgrade is still free).
i wanna change the motherboard and cpu of my pc what should i do? erase all data in my drive and install windows from scratch?
@@wtfurlookingat1514 Yup. Backup, reformat, reinstall from scratch.
“Probably” is not language that “experts” use about deterministic hardware like a computer.
Uninstall the display driver, processor driver, and chipset driver from the device manager. Done it before with no issues.
The best way to this:
1. Replicate the windows drive prior to anything just in case things go into disaster.
2. Moving drives around between OEMs such as DELL to HP etc. is usually safe. But the play and pray is when you start doing it with MSIs and Asus etc. hardware.
I have two laptops one is dell Inspiron n4050 and the second is dell Inspiron n5010 is it safe to swap hdd from one to other
@@driee1482 highly safe
I would agree with most of the statement said, except for one. If your planning to upgrade to a total new hardware and if it does boot up then you should do a fresh upgrade to a next version up. This would solve the hardware inconsistency and you will still get all your old data accessed as is.
So, would that recover things like webpage data? IE saved passwords, bank info, email info etc? If possible?
@@Pulp95 yes. And I would clone a test drive to verify everything is saved.
He is not kidding about others claiming to know how to do this, I wasted several hours attempting their fixes and none of them work, in fact, most of them don't know what they are talking about. At least this man was honest about it and gave good advice about the warnings about attempting to move one hard drive from one computer to another.
Microsoft's "Sysprep" is worth a mention. It can be used to remove PC-specific information from a Windows installation so it can be installed on different PCs.
can you give me a brief explanation about it?
Thanks for informing be about this. Totally makes sense
Doesn't work great though, since it also messes with the user accounts. It's best to just try without it first.
@@Mobin92 Yes, Sysprep doesn't preserve user accounts. It is designed to present an "OOBE" for an installation onto a new PC with fresh driver detection/installation but with the option of having any extra software and settings pre-installed.
thanks, I used Sysprep in the past and it worked like a charm for me. Going from one system hardware to another and running Sysprep, there was no BSOD.
I backup and restore windows to dissimilar hardware all the time for enterprise purposes. Moving physical servers to virtual is the same process. Yes, you can, but you need to know what needs to be manually removed. The bigger problem is most novice installs of windows are OEMs and they are legally locked to the motherboard the license shipped with. They won't reactivate when moved to a new MB unless you buy a retail license or have a volume license. Licenses aside, its a false statement claiming windows installs can't be moved to different hardware with perfect success. Done it for decades.
@ blasterman789, Thanks for your comments. Your comments make more sense than his opinion.
Ah! Somebody that actually knows!
I've been swapping hard drives ever since win 7 came out to now never once had issues if anything only benefited from it. Two examples had two separate hard drives with non genuine win 7 ultimate that have never been identified as fake yet. On one I installed the necessary software for hardware even did automatic updates download from Microsoft and 3 years later still haven't got not genuine yet. Second example did same thing as above, but this time got pop up giving me 3 days to activate. I just used product key from label on bottom of laptop and activated it. One hard drive has been used in 3 or more laptops using same windows with the files for each one still saved on drive. This guy probably works for or affiliated with Microsoft wants everyone to buy windows. If I bought a program for a computer that goes to hell next day you would hope that the copy of program can still be used elsewhere unlimited times as long as it's not simultaneously being use in multiple devices.
Remember when *"Plug 'n' Play"* was often referred to (not always in jest), *"Plug 'n' Pray?"* 😂
Thank you, Leo. I came to this video about two weeks ago because my video feed stopped working on my HP EliteDesk 800 G3 Mini Desktop Intel Core i5-6500. I read that the video card was imbedded in the mother board so checking and changing the VC was not an option. With a little bit of experience working on computers, I thought I might be able to just get another SAME or SIMILAR computer without a hard drive and put the current HD into the new (used) computer. It worked! Or at least it has for a week now. I watched this video and a few others, I took the appropriate precautions, closed my eyes, installed the hard drive and BAM! It's been working for at least a week now. I have run updates, and the system is operating smoothly. I am thankful for this video and the others I watched. They all helped give me the confidence to do the job. I installed the HD and the RAM from the first computer into the used HP EliteDesk 800 that I found on e-bay for under $60. I can delay purchasing a new computer for another day. Thanks again, DP👍
I have gone from Intel to Intel systems with the same c:drive. I now have an AMD X570 system on windows 11 and now in the middle of building a new Ryzen 7000 PC and was looking for a short cut for not having to reinstall and configure everything all over again. Thanks for the info. Hoping with just a BIOS update everything will be ok since their both AMD systems, but I think I'll just download a new windows and take my time reloading things before totally killing my current machine.
I'm pretty sure AOMEI Backupper can do it. You.cline the drive then restore it with no machine specific stuff .
PC Guy with 25 years of experience.
I would never drive swap or clone to new hardware. Same hardware is fine other than probably dealing with a Windows Activation from the new motherboard.
Back in the day it was a disaster, now it works much better as Windows tends to boot on bad drivers and then will install correct drivers, but I wouldn't risk it.
What I do for users is basically clone their data, including many things in their profile, so all there files/folders/etc will move over, favorites on browsers, signatures for email.
Its like 98% of everything exactly as it was but with a fresh OS and Drivers.
You can dive into Program Files & Registry to copy games/programs but if its a few simple things I just re-install them.
If its a very complex program with a lot of customization, I install the program and then copy its configuration files, addons, plugins, etc.
You answered my question. I was going to add my Win7(x64) 256GB SSD into my Win11 PC for a dual boot after I converted it to GPT. But now after your advice, I'll only use it as a secondary drive.. Must a secondary drive be converted to GPT? I would think not but just checking. Thanks!
I do hope people will take what this man says to heart and save themselves a headache down the road. The best alternative is to just get another hard drive and install Windows on it and then bit by bit transfer files from the one drive to the new one in the system. I have attempted this numerous times and that is the only surefire way to make sure you don't have any driver file corruption and other corrupt files.
So my question is, better to install win 8.1 on new machine, then restore the backup files from easyus, aomei, ashampoo programs?
It can absolutely work. I put my windows 7 hard disk from a HP, and put it into an Asus. I accepted the windows 10 upgrade. That took care of everything. I was off to gaming in no time.
Wow. I've ran into this channel multiple times but its answers are always vague and probably incorrect. Would it be so hard to just try it out? Yes windows does configure a bit, but the only game breaker I'm aware of is legacy IDE mode vs. AHCI (standard since like 15 years or such). A IDE mode windows will not have any AHCI drivers and not run on a bios in AHCI mode. Id like to get information on SPECIFIC other things that are tailored to my specific PC by windows during setup. Because most drivers are just programs you install onto an already running Windows, so they can not matter.
Ive used the same hard drive with windows in 3 different computers and every-time it worked perfect with no issues
Yes you can as long as you acquire the proper updates. Just use the upgrade key printed on the computer where the hard drive was taken. My process was completely successful.
First newer video of yours I have seen and am happy to see a video quality improvement (visual) the education with it has always been quality the videos just never looked the best. Thank you for your great knowledge and explanations of things Leo!
In my older pc I have a 2 TB HDD that is windows 10 with saved files for previous games I wanted to keep and not have to redownload them all to my new pc that also has 2 TB HDD but it is windows 11. Any recommendations that I should do to install my older 2 TB HDD into my new pc to have a total of 4 TB HDD? Please help.
Mine worked with no problems. I just had to install some drivers for the new laptop. Granted the laptop I was replacing was only 2 years old.
I have a HP 8470p, i5, running windows 7.
Would the HD from it work on a 8470p with i7 instead of the i5?
Thank you.
I have two computers and the older one will not boot up at all. This happened suddenly and I have no idea why. There is about 300g of data on the old hard drive I really need. Can I put that hard drive into my newer computer as a second drive and pull all that data out of it and save it on the new computer? Then remove and discard it without any risk to the operating system of the newer computer?
Yup. I'd actually recommend putting it in a USB external drive enclosure. Makes connecting it to any computer in the future easier. (And if you were about to lose data, then you haven't been backing up. I would recommend you start doing that as well.)
Do you think I could plug in my old SSD drive to a new PC (that has windows installed) and run it as a secondary drive. Would I be able to use all my files without a problem? I need to make sure that all the programs and plugins installed to my old pc can be used on the new PC.
OLD PC: 1 SSD 1 HDD (sata 2.5" windows on SSD)
1 SSD m2 on new pc (plenty of space to physically fit both drives from old pc to new pc)
Usually, yes. Works great.
I moved multiple times with Linux and macOS. My current macOS installation is on the 4th or 5th machine now, without problems. Just backup and restore it on a new computer. Linux is a bit more complicated, but still worked fine in my situations.
And now I wonder if getting a Windows PC was a mistake. I want to move to a new one and the thought of installing and configuring it all over again, is nauseating.
Interestingly Linux does handle really well a drive transplant. Quite useful for troubleshooting.
Since Linux is generally free, it doesn't have to check if there's a possibility of the user cheating the company out of a license fee.
Not to mention that hardware driver support is by and large managed within the kernel. There are some exceptions of course, but I've done hard disk transplants with Linux installed for many years and it works quite well.
That's not really true as a general statement, but mostly yes. That's because in most default installations Linux is super modular and doesn't have the modules compiled with the Kernel. If your Linux doesn't have all the needed modules (e.g. if you compiled your own Kernel for a lightweight installation) it won't work.
Glad you mentioned that. I am using it now!
I used the windows preparation tool .I moved a windows 7 HD from a Dell dimension 9100 to a xps 8700 .Went pretty smooth ran operating system to end of windows 7 life .I can still boot into to thus day if I choose .
One thing that was not mentioned was the Windows License....unless things have changed....the Windows License will not allow you to move from one computer to another, even if you use the install disk. My understanding is that it will simply fail on the new machine because the existing Windows License Key will not work on the new machine. I have always understood it to be that whenever you upgrade or switch computers, if the new machine does not already have Windows on it, you have to purchase a new copy of Windows.
IF it works (which, as the video explains, is something you cannot count on), if a new key is needed, then Windows will prompt you for activation and give you the opportunity to provide or purchase a new license key.
OEMs don't transfer. Try taking a Dell install of Windows and installing it on an HP. You will need a new license: retail or volume to activate.
I just put my old hard drive into a second hand laptop I got because my original laptop was damaged. No keyboard function, but mouse worked. There is a free program you can download called Nirsoft Produkey. It doesn't need installed and runs from a USB pen drive. It will retrieve the windows key from the Bios. I used it on the damaged laptop to get the 25 digit key. On the new laptop, which demanded I active windows, I entered it. Bingo - windows was activated! There are also command line and powershell commands that allow you to retrieve it if your keyboard is working.
@@gomo123 Yes. Try nirsoft produkey first on the laptop. Get the product key from the bios and save it somewhere. Save the ID number also. My laptop came with Windows preinstalled. The label with the product key was lost years ago but after windows 7 it was stored in the bios. On the new laptop it showed that windows needed activated so I used the key I retrieved from the bios on the old laptop and it worked. If you can retrieve the 25 digit product product key (licence) from the laptop, then on the desktop you transfer the hard drive to to, go to start menu, run, and type in slui. Then you can enter the key. However if it doesn't work for some reason then type in slui4 to use the automated system. Microsoft allows reactivation due to hardware changes.
@@gomo123 is it Windows 10?
A new Dell lasted 2 years of occasional use as I am retired. Then simple kills the power supply green light as soon as plugged in. They have 6 different motherboard in the same model depending on the supply chain. A "Cedar AMD XXX" is the only motherboard this hard drive will work. No backup disc, no book, I am surprised Best Buy has them in a box. Sad. Even $250 is out of reach. $2.65 @ month for magic jack phone, $17.45 for internet, no big screen TV's, no new or leased cars or subscriptions online or paper. I put money into insulation, high efficiency 2 stage furnace & A/C and now my own yard. Covid pricing makes everything expensive! Sad!
Yes, just purchased a new dell and exchanged my HP hard drive mainly because it was twice as big as the new one. Absolutely no problems after running Windows Update.
So my Win 7 system failed, but I can no longer install Win 7 and activate it, so how can I move my drive/OS to another system or ssd & system
I'm getting a new PC and I want to transfer files, data, pics, and desktop icons from the old PC to the new PC. So what would you say is the best and easiest way to do this? (from Windows 10 to my new PC that has Windows 11)
Thank you! This really helped, I’m going to go buy a new drive and avoid any possible headaches
Great video! I just bought a laptop and was wondering if transferring my ssd from my pc will work
So my question is, what if you put your old hard drive into the same EXACT model tower Dell Precision T3500 more specifically, and take all the parts you added to it to the new tower? RAM, Power Supply, Processor etc? Is there any chance of that succeeding?
No guarantees, but seems likely.
I have two HP laptops that are identical. One of them the hard drive has crashed. The other the hard drive is functioning fine but the physical body of the laptop itself is falling apart. My original thought had been to move the hard drive from the laptop that is falling apart physically to the body of the other laptop where the hard drive has crashed, your thoughts? Clueless about this, never done anything like it before. But I work daily on the laptop that is physically falling apart.
Looking for a driver injector prog so i can run an old C: drive on an old lap top. Why? There's a few old progs on there that i don't want to go through the hassle of looking for them and reinstalling. My old pc's watercooler pump finally died so i thought. Why not try it. Well the acer i put it in said no boot and then i rememebered there's a driver prog out there but it's been years. Anyone know of one?
I had it work perfectly when swapping from a Mac Pro 5,1 Bootcamp to HP Z840 (Windows 10 22H2)
I have an old vista laptop and an old MacBook Pro. I want to extract certain files….. my MacBook Pro have windows options if I am not wrong.
All I know is I need an external hard drive….. my old inspiron 1546 is responding to reboot…battery reseated.
Could I take out the hard disk and put it in a special contraption? To extract the data?
Tq
good video, you have a nice presentation style and you're easy to understand. I like your idea about data recovery if you can't access the hard drive thru a usb cable, like I've done many times. That's a good point to remember. :)
Over the years ive heard that it was impossible to put a hd set up for amd into and intel machine and vice versa. Would appreciate any insight on this matter.
Thanks!
Thank you!
@@askleonotenboom This advice is exactly what I needed as I will be doing a motherboard replacement during the summer so getting my intel first ! 👍
Tried to clone my disk from HDD to SSD both WD. Actually booted really quickly but quickly noticed off things. Keyboard would work in chrome, but no where in windows. Not even the on screen keyboard. Couldn’t read any videos. Quickly formatted SSD and created a Disk image onto the SSD. Will next find a way to make sure it’s aligned. What a curve ball when it actually booted.😅
If you have an original Full Retail (the expensive one) installation, Microsoft will allow you to transfer to a new machine. If it's an OEM installation, there is not much you can do.
Thanks for the video! I have a 10 year old Acer laptop with windows 8 and all my programs in it... the laptop is working great but I needed some features it does not have so I purchased a 5 year old HP laptop with Windows 11 in it. I wonder if I could erase this new hard drive with Windows 11, install windows 8 for which I have an original CD the same I used for my laptop now and then replace the hard drive with my current hard drive with windows 8 and all programs in it. Would that help the newer computer to "accept" my older hard drive? Thanks!!
Since the the release of windows 10 i have refused to use it and have continued to use windows 8.1 and i move the ssd around like im changing girlfriends from one machine to another from Dells, Hp's and Asus this is with both laptops and desktops and have never had a problem all i do is just update the drivers using software and the bios and restart and all is Great i have never had a problem with any system by doing this...
i have a question, i recently bought a new laptop and it has an empty slot for a hard drive and wanted to take hard drive from old computer to new one for storage and games. Would i be able to do that. If i could do that would i have to wipe the data from old hard drive to make i work on new laptop?
As long as it fits, should work. No wipe needed, unless is shows up as unformatted, in which case you would just format it.
Bios at startup are different from PC to PC I discovered, even if they were both ASUS M32 series towers, no they can't interchange.
It has worked when I replaced the MB with an identical board, but the best thing would have been wipe the hd and do a fresh install. That way you get the best performance from your system.
How do you wipe your boot drive without being in Windows 10?
@@ThomasJDavis Installation media allows you to repartition and format your system drive before loading a fresh copy of windows.
@@JanetDax Okay so like a USB boot drive type thing?
Try this before unplugging the disk on computer A
Open the command prompt
cd C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep
sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown
Now you are ready to move the disk to computer B.
Enjoy!
Very nicely explained! Really satisfied with the helping video!!!
I just did it and it works fine.
i tryed that & got problems my computer work but i have to do things to it befor it start working , now i have a new one & this old one i will use it for testing on.
Wow, the expert believes he knows…
Facts now:
Since W10, windows will boot on a different hardware AND then it simply uses windows updates to get ALL the drivers needed.
I do this all the time. If you want to do it by the book, simply use a backup program that has Universal Restore, done.
Hi sir,if i have two hp mini 210,one is motherboard broken,the other one is functional. The point is if i can to replace hard drive from the broken one to the other one who are working,can i do this? Will work all my programs ? Thanks
All I can say is maybe. There's no way to be 100% certain without trying it.
I have a laptop that I want to keep as the shell. Is it possible to completely change everything? I have so many stickers and memories on my laptop but I want to just change the inner workings. Is that possible?
Not typically, but it REALLY depends on the specific laptop.
I installed Windows 10 on a laptop, that hard drive is currently on my desktop as I watch this video (Samsung laptop to MSI desktop). I didn't do anything special but I have both laptop and desktop drivers on this HDD so maybe that's the catch
Can I move my sata hard drive to a working pc to back up my data onto a new external hard drive since I don't have a sata to usb connector?
Assuming there's a spare sata connector in that PC, sure.
It worked when moving from my surface pro 7+ to a surface pro 8 it first booted with no proper drivers (some stuff wasn't working) but it quickly found the drivers on windows update and after it installed them and manually installing the rest of the drivers everything works, but I guess those are both devices directly made by microsoft and it's the direct successor. I usually would reinstall but since they both surfaces I decided to just try to move the ssd and it worked.
Might work if the laptop you switch your old hard drive to is from the same era and has the same version of windows.
So much better than techquickie
Im planning on getting a new motherboard and cpu soon so i must ask what would become of the files on my hard drives? I plug in and connect my hdd and ssds and they would presumably have all the same data on them correct? I would just need to install windows again?
Yes. Back up first anyway.
@@askleonotenboom thank you so much!
You can not always just get away with install windows from scratch .
In my example I have thousands of thousands of music programs and plugins and if I was to
do a total reinsatall I could litterly spend the next year ( if not more ) on just reinstall all the software .
That is the reason Im still using win XP ( and the fact some programs wont even runj on newer versions )
and NOT getting a newer OS despite I have original installations media for every windows made .
You can NOT upgrade from win XP to win 7 ( or never ) directly .
Only perform clean install .
( unless you are a multi coorporate company that can pay big money to microsoft , in
that case they will privide you with tools to just upgrade and never have to worry about
reinstall your software )
That mean im stuck with older hardware , it make it more difficult to get ' new ' if something break .
Especially because new hardware doesnt have drivers for XP at all .
I use the computer as a music studio and have litterly set it up in all the years with software
so trough the years it is an insane amount .
Thus NOT possible to ever reinstall all this again .
Good thing is that I have NEVER experienced any slow windows or such at all and despite I
have NEVER reinstalled windows it run even faster than it did with a fresh installation .
only two times since 2004 I have REPAIRED system files because I got a virus attack and it
did some dammage to the system .
Im using a chinese security software solution ( have used for past 12 years ) and I DO
still
get updates to my win XP . ( yes they write them themself )
Before I got this security system I got many slowdows because of antivirus and such and risk
of blue screen when microsoft released a bad update ect .
But I NEVER had any of this since I changed to the chinese security system .
In fact my win XP have never being faster and they keep improve the system files .
I can use more than 4 Gb ram ( I have 8 gb running perfect ) use directX 11
and execute 64 bit software on a 32 bit OS byt using Virtual machines and
hardware virtualisation on 64 bit hardware ( even play 64 bit games too )
So even im kind of stuck on 32 bit win XP im not limited that much .
It is very possible to change to a new computer and keep your windows installation , BUT
you need to do it in steps .
Never throw the harddisk into a 100 percent new system .
Change ONE thing at a time so to perform update after update of the hardware .
You can install a new motherboard by change all chipset drivers and harddisk controllers ect ect to
win default ones and then swap motherboard and do a win repair and install the new original
manufactorers drivers .
It is possible and can actually work well .
Most critical is chipset and hard drive . Install win default otherwise it will never boot .
also in bias simply dissable everthing such as network , onboard sound card , onboard screen and even usb .
Remove those drivers completely from windows and boot using ps2 keyboard .
After windows is running then one by one activate the stuff and install driver and reboot in between each one .
also remember to set screen and screen card to default .
jUST never CHANGE ALL THE PARTS AT ONCE , It will fail .
Nice video and you are totally right , it is a yes and no or something in between question .
It all depending on how you prepare to do the ' transition ' to new hardware .
Edit - ps Nice channel and great to see common questions being answered to help average people.
I dont understand why you have so few views when compare your content but I guess it is
the clickbait titles that make most traffick and yousubes algorithm doesnt care about quality content at all .
Just found your channel and subscribed . keep up the nice work .
Ps sorry for my typos im on coffe right now : )
Wait.. so what if you do notice hardware slow down? I have tons of programs and plugins for making music. And I really don't want to go through the headache to reinstall windows and reinstall all those plugins, and organize everything again. Etc etc.
@@wheniztheend if your computer have run fine all time but suddenly , you notice slowdown . then look at your last installed stuff , from a simple driver upgrade to a plugin , it is most likely there you find your problem ,
It can happen bevause of a poor written plugin there is not quite optimized or a new badly written driver , then roll back to previous driver and / or remove the bad plugin or program .
yes my new case already have an ssd with windows 10 on i want everything on my old hdd it will work if i put my old hdd as secendry?
You will be able to access the files, yes. But if you mean will the programs installed on the old hdd work as a secondary: no.
what about registered software that may cost 1000's in the old machine, will the registration be still be valid when the hard drive is transferred to a new machine?
That depends entirely on the specific software. And you'll probably need to reinstall it.
I have a question since I have so many drives my main hard drive I installed windows fresh on the drive. Should I delete all the other drivers or is it safe to keep the software I have on the other drives. So I have 5 hard drives 2 ssd NVME, 1 sold Stat, and 2 different externals. I do photography so I also have cloud storage but that's only for photos really. I'm hoping this is enough information to get some help. Thanks if anyone can help 😊
Honestly, it's not enough information. It really depends on what YOU want and are attempting to do. Normally a reinstall of Windows on one drive doesn't mean you need to anything to your other drives, though.
So I need help. I'm replacing a PC for a elderly couple. Old pc MB died but HHD was fine. I have no clue what OS it was using (it had ddr3 ram, so no telling). New machine has Win11. She can't remember any passwords and says she didnt have a gmail linked to chrome so the sync option is out of the table. Is it possible I boot from old HHD and it'll restore old browser informaiton?
and if it isn't bootable but it is functional as a secondary, is there a way to locate the PST file with such information? Any help would be appreciated. She's devastated and I'm helping off the clock because I just want to be their resolution and help them.
You could try booting from the old disk. It may work, it may not. As a secondary if she's using Outlook and has a PST the place to look is \Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
I swap the hdd and now my laptop is working very well but just cannot connect to Bluetooth devices..is it because I directly put one hdd to another laptop?
If the hard drive had an OS configured for another machine, and you didn't reinstall windows from scratch, then yes, it's entirely possible. This is exactly the kind of possibility the video talks about.
I’m using the same gpu, ram, and psu, will that help?
Maybe. It really depends on the motherboard.
Good advice Leo, I'll take it; thanks.
Is it possible to get the data from an encrypted drive but you don’t have the recovery key?
Nope. That's kinda the point of the encryption.
This is a perfect explanation and I agree with you 100% ,, for the sake of a few £ , buy a new SSD , period, people think it's like dropping a *Reconditioned car Engine* in Car A to B , let's face it , will it run without multiple tweaks on the freeway ? I'd not chance that long journey
Thanks a lot. This was very helpful.
Great explanation. Thank you.
After Watching you video, I think i have a solution but I would like to hear your thought on my idea.
background: My old Motherboard MSI B450 has Windows 10 on it on a Samsung 970 Pro M.2 that contained only my OS of Windows 10. That board I think only had a Bad Lan Port on it, but it still worked, but it drove me to upgrade to a New MSI B550 Tomahawk board with a New Samsung 980 Pro M.2 that now has on it a new OS of Windows 11. I used the same Ryzen 7 3700X CPU from my old Motherboard in the new B550 Motherboard. I as well upgraded my Ram but I'm not sur if that has any impact on the story.
My PC Case Lian Li Lancool II has three Hot swap Bays (removable trays) with 1TB/2TB/4TB drives that are currently not recognized in the New upgraded build in Windows 11 (from the old Windows 10 motherboard). Now I really want to keep the data on them, they contain about 90 percent of my 20 years photos of my time in the US Navy, as well as many family photos, as well as Games and many other things that i want to keep. So I really don't want to Format and loose all that data. Even so in Disk Manager none of the Drive Bays are shown in the Windows 11 build.
After writing my idea I realize I may be barking up a bad path.
Will a 8TB external drive i format in Windows 11 be recognized in a Windows 10 system and accept files from my 3 drives and be recognized in my Windows 11 system after I transfer the files to it, or will the Win 11 system do the same and want to reformat the 8TB drive getting me nowhere. Are Drives External USB or SATA never compatible with other systems?
Any advice you can give would be great.
Not talking about my operating system to move. Just Data Drives to a new computer. Here is the situation.
HELP!!!, So my case has 3 Hot Swappable Bays with three different SATA drives. I have been using these drives without issue in Windows 10 for 3 years now. Well I recently had a problem with my system that drove me to update My Motherboard and GPU as well Installing Windows 11 on a new M.2 Samsung 980 pro that is complete installed.
When I did this WIN 11 install I removed the three HOT SWAP Bays with the Drives i was using for backups/Games and Files I wish to keep, so I do not want them to be FORMATTED OR ERASED. When I returned them in their Bays and rebooted my system they did not show up. I'm overly frustrated and not sure what I can do to return my drives and the Data not being lost. The Drives range from 4TB/2TB and 2TB bay drives.
I hope a smart person can help out this Dumb old man. I would be most very relieved if someone can help me with this.
You MIGHT look at this: askleo.com/hard-drive-not-showing/
I'm assuming my motherboard was fried because woke up to water spilled all over it overnight and won't turn on. I'm wondering if I buy the exact same model laptop can I switch out the harddrive from my old one and have it work? I did listen to your entire video but still unclear. Thank you!
If the laptop is truly identical, then yes, it should work.
@@askleonotenboom Thanks so very much for responding. I've subscribed and will be listening to more of your videos. :)
I did exactly this a few years ago. A workstation in the shipping dept where I worked got soaked when they accidentally busted the firemain with a fork lift. Fortunately the hard drive was spared any water damage. Dragged another machine (same model) out of an unused cubicle in the office and swapped the hard drive over to it.
It fired up like nothing happened. I had the shipping dept up and running in less than an hour. Even the company's IT guy was impressed that it was resolved so quickly.
I should mention that this was a WinXP installation. Newer versions of Windows will probably whine about a licence key.
@@xaenon Good work and quick thinking! I ended up pulling my files and photos off with a cheap usb to harddrive adapter, but still have one serious problem and that is that I don't have the code for Authy and it doesn't seem to load right on this windows 7 laptop, just showing me a hollow box with the logo on top. I guess worst case scenario is if I do get the same model and it doesn't do the trick I can at least just resell it. I wish they had given a more serious warning about that pass code! What makes you think it would tag the licence key if same model of windows 7 with the old hard drive, and if it did couldn't you just punch in the code from the first one?
@@survivormary1126 Not sure if it's true of Win7, but Win 8 and 10 have the licence key in BIOS / UEFI if it's an OEM. My Acer laptop came with 8.1 and when a Windows update completely borked 8.1 I had to upgrade to 10. It pulled the licence right from the machine. Also, I installed a completely new HDD in an old Dell tower this past week; Windows 10 installed directly without any request for a key. Activated and everything, right out of the gate.
The key I was referring to, though, was for your automotive keygen software... or did I misunderstand what you were doing?
It's not about the data, it's about all the apps installed, many with licenses.
Can I move windows 7 from my worn out laptop to a good condition vista laptop? I’m not worried about any installed programs
You can try it, but as the video outlines, it's very likely to not work, or be unstable.
If you're not worried about the existing programs, no worries. If you have any data (photos, music, documents, etc.), just copy them off the the hard drive, then do a proper install of Win7 on your laptop as a 'new' installation. Much cleaner and easier.
@@xaenon I’m actually still thinking of trying this. The windows 7 laptop I use for car diagnostic purposes and it’s literally falling apart. The only thing that worries me is the keygen programs for the diagnostic systems I use
@@paularmstrong605 Those keygen programs will have to be reinstalled (and likely re-activated, if they are licenced the way I think they are) if you go the 'fresh OS' route.
Hey guys, I ordered a new PC with a SSD. I want to build in my old HDD of my current PC in addition to the SSD. Is it the best to save everything on an external drive and to empty my old HDD? And the build in my empty old HDD in my new PC and install everything fresh from my external Drive?
Edit: I want to install Windows fresh on the new SSD
I am very new to this, so any advice would be highliy appreciated :)
It's really up to you. You'll end up with a cleaner system if you empty that second drive and only copy over what you need, but leaving everything on that drive is also a fine option.
@@askleonotenboom Thank you!
$55.00. That's what it cost me to get a "box" off ebay. A box is a computer with no hard drive or operating system, that is otherwise
identical to my Dell 780 in both model and form factor.
A full size horizontal desktop must be supplemented with a full size box. A small
form factor requires a small form factor box. And likewise, a tower desktop requires a tower.
In this way, the cloning option can be a full
function back up solution. Clones made on one will boot up and operate on the other. Boxes range from $30.00 to $70.00 on ebay.
A full size desktop can be distinguished from a small form factor desktop by the location of the power plug in back.
A full size has the plug just left and outside of the power supply vent. A small form factor
has the plug within the power supply vent.
And unlike images, a clone's operation can be verified the day that it is created. There's no waiting for the source drive to fail before verifying the reliability of an image.
My windows does boot but my applications don't wanna open
It worked for me but all the applications were very slow and unworkable
What a big help thanks your awsome to the bone!
Thanks for this....not the answer I wanted to hear, but I think I will give it a try anyway. I have a 12 year old PC running Win10, bought a new PC running Win11. Will clone old HDD onto new NVMe SSD, and try that as a boot drive in the new PC. If it works, then I will upgrade that cloned NVMe drive to Win11. If it doesn't work, then I will revert back back to the NVMe boot drive that came with the new PC and have the cloned NVMe in my new PC as a data only second drive. The reason I want to do this is because I have some old legacy programs currently installed on my old PC HDD that can no longer be installed in Win10 or Win11. If I can't make this work, then I will likely lose those programs for good. :(
How did this go?
@@neonwolf9821 Didn't work out as I hoped.....couldn't get my new PC to boot up on the cloned drive from my old PC
Great answer. Thank you
So, best idea is to try to boot and "reconfigure" , and as soon as possible, reinstall Windows
What I did when I got a new PC, was boot from the external SSD I cloned from my old PC. Then clone the SSD to the new PC's internal SSD.
This is how I've always done it. It's interesting tbh.
Does it actually account for all the drivers needed to function? Does your external SSD when booted to a new computer "see" the drivers functioning and automatically downloads the right ones?
@@reviewchan9806 with Windows, it worked. Windows just auto downloads any different drivers from Windows Update. If the new system has a dedicated GPU, I just install the GPU drivers (AMD or NVIDIA).
With Linux, everything just works out of the box. I install NVIDIA drivers if needed dependent upon if the system has NVIDIA drivers.
@@StaceyAyodele Interesting. Did you use Sysprep?
@@reviewchan9806 Nope. Macrium Reflect. That was when I ran Windows.
With Linux, I just use GParted.
Question. I have 3 hp z800 workstation that are identical about 75%. The processors and internal hard drive are different but the motherboard is the same. Cloneing my c drive to work in my other z800 should work yes or no?
I am here because I am prepping to go from a windows 10 on my ancient HP xw 8400 into my less ancient HP XW 8600 workstation that is running window 7 but wont take an Win 10 update for some reason. Both have dual Xenon HD however the window 7 is getting really tempermental and I get all these messages about unsupported op sys from the browsers. But that baby is still a 3.1 ghz powerhouse so I said let me give it a shot before I go with a HP Z class that cost $1500.00.
answer i was looking for ty
I totally agree. I've tried it recently. It turned out to be a disaster. Eighty percent of the time the system was hanging. Reinstallation was compulsory in the end. The reason is that it was a drastic change in hardware from Intel iCore 4th Gen to Intel iCore 12th Gen.
Oh no... I was thinking on doing it from 4th to 11th xd
Did you reinstall the chipset drivers?
@@Mobin92 Yes. I even removed all the reserved drivers of the old hardware through Device Manager. The original system still went dumb.
my computer broke and they sent me the hard drive . instead of put it in the new computer n they should of fixed that
Thank you!
So if I want to upgrade just my hard drive I have to purchase Windows all over again? Seems a little unreasonable.
That's NOT what I said. If you're just upgrading a hard disk on an existing machine, no problem. Backup the old hard drive, replace, restore the image and you're good to go. What this article/video is all about is moving to a completely new machine. Yes, then you need a new windows.
Nah, man. Just clone your existing disk to the new drive, slap it in there, and you're good to go. Windows won't even notice it.
dual operating system like ubuntu to windowa and vice versa//
What if its a IDentical Laptop ?
Truly identical should work.
@@askleonotenboom Thanks LEO!
I'm writing this message from my Thinkpad x250 laptop.
The drive with Windows 10 comes from my old Thinkpad T410 whose motherboard died last year.
Sorry for my bad English, but I think I'm a better technician than I am a bullshitter.
well explained
Everything on your pc has either a MAC address or serial number or both. If you change the motherboard and Processor, you are basically changing everything and Windows will most likely tell you that there are too many changes and want you to activate again and will most likely fail.