i have a crap hardrive in this computer But i have a better one in my other computer im wondering can i go on my other computer and take out that hardrive and place it in the computer that im on right now
2007-10-14 10:40:56 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
not really. Unless they have the exact same motherboards. If they don't then you'll never be able to uninstall and reinstall the correct system drivers to get it working. That's why so many people install an OS fresh when they change motherboards.
If they do have the exact same motherboard, exact being the key word it could be done in theory. You'll probably have to uninstall and reinstall drivers for the differing hardware.
It would just be easier to buy a better hard drive and clone your current install over to the new one and then use the new one as your primary drive. Just make sure to change the boot.ini file to reflect that you want to boot from the new disk rather than the old one.
2007-10-14 11:06:12 · answer #1 · answered by Adam F 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Assuming that they are both IDE drives (otherwise known as PATA) or are both SATA drives then yes you can but it will not work "out of the box" as the hardware in the computer is very dependant on the software on the drive. It is possible to swap drives and reload the operating system (not repair) and have it work. You will also have to reload all of the programs. The good thing is that you will save all of the data - assuming you want to. You can go from a PATA to a SATA if you mobo supports it. You would be much better off buying a new drive and either cloning the old one or load your OS on the new one, make it a master and put the old one in and make it a slave to have all of your data. Yes you will have to reload all of your programs as well but this way you stay with two working systems.
2007-10-14 13:54:02 · answer #2 · answered by smgray99 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it really depends on the connection type of the hard drives. if they are both a bit older then you should have no problems. you will just need to reformat the working drive with an OS for it to work.
2007-10-14 10:47:11 · answer #3 · answered by lrdnitecon 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i'd strongly suggestion against thoroughly moving a present day deploy of living house windows to a thoroughly distinctive hardware setup. it might desire to artwork nice, or it might desire to go away you with a lot of problems.
2016-12-29 09:29:54 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋