Moving PRIMARY HDD from one computer to another, would it work ?

Forums › Desktop computing › Moving PRIMARY HDD from one computer to another, would it work ?

GReX

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Master Geek

#116738 8-May-2013 15:31

hi guys

just need your expert advise please

i finally got a chance to upgrade my htpc from dual-core to quad core

now, is it possible for me to transfer my PRIMARY HDD from my old dual core 32-bit PC to the new quad core 64-bit PC and expect it to work straight away without reinstalling anything ? OS is windows 7 ultimate 32-bit

i got the feeling it will not work straight away, unless i reformat it and reinstall everything - which is the thing that i'm trying to avoid

is there a way at all to make it to work ?

appreciate any help

:)

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Geek @ Coastguard NZ
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#813728 8-May-2013 15:41

You can, but because of the hardware changes on the mainboard, the OS will try installing drivers etc.... and potentially end up with conflicts etc.

You can try doing a Windows repair which can sometimes work, but I find starting from scratch is the best option. Doing this myself hopefully this weekend....

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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GReX

88 posts

Master Geek

#813731 8-May-2013 15:44

bugga ! got quite a bit in it, and last time it took me a long time to set it up hence not looking forward to doing it again this time.

but i guess, if it had to be done properly so be it ....

if anyone knows a way to avoid this, pls let me know... of course without the conflicts / errors / blue-screen

trig42

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#813750 8-May-2013 16:01

It will not go from 32-bit to 64-bit without a reinstall.

If you were staying with 32-bit, it may work, but probably not.

networkn

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#813752 8-May-2013 16:04

You need something like Paragon with Universal restore which will remove the hdd controller drivers and install generic ones. It's not expensive software and well worth it. You can run 32 bit windows on 64 bit hardware, obviously you won't get all the benefits for it.

Also consider laplink who have software to migrate from PC to PC. The Personal one is about $20 which is well worth it.

Poll

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Ultimate Geek

#813754 8-May-2013 16:08

Primary thing to do if going this route is to uninstall all drivers before moving the hdd. The bit about the new pc being 64 bit is not relevant as the windows install decides if it's 32 or 64 bit. You also need to make sure the bios is set for the same hdd mode (ahci or ide, if it's an ssd it should be ahci and if it's not you probably want to do a fresh install with it set to ahci.)

Does the new pc have more than 4gig of ram? If yes then it might be in your best interests to do a fresh install of 64 bit windows 7 to take advantage of the extra ram.
Also if most of your installed programs are games through Steam then you can get most of that to copy over without too much trouble to a new install.
Additionally if you have a spare external hdd the windows easy transfer wizard can sort out most of your files and settings and creates a document for you listing which programs need to be installed.

old3eyes

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#813755 8-May-2013 16:09

I've done it with Win XP 32 bit with a 50/50 success rate. Sometimes it's OK other times BSOD.

Regards,

Old3eyes

networkn

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#813760 8-May-2013 16:10

old3eyes: I've done it with Win XP 32 bit with a 50/50 success rate. Sometimes it's OK other times BSOD.

The BSOD will be a 0x000000007 which is a boot error from the controller not being the same and requiring different drivers. If you change your hdd controller to the standard one, most motherboards work this way.

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gzt

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#813763 8-May-2013 16:12

What is the CPU brand and spec for each machine?
What is the motherboard brand and chipset for each machine?
Similar enough, well you could get away with it and have only a few drivers to tidy up afterwards.

GReX

88 posts

Master Geek

#813781 8-May-2013 16:19

don't know the technical details without looking into it further

all i know the old machine is compaq 32-bit and the new machine is lenovo thinkcentre m58 64-bit machine

yes, ram will be 6 or 8gb ddr3

not going to run ssd

gzt

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#813800 8-May-2013 16:36

If it is carrying the old compaq name then the hardware in that will be not a lot like a new lenovo.

Why would you want to do this anyway? Just install a 64bit o/s on a new drive and use the old drive as a data drive.

GReX

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Master Geek

#813803 8-May-2013 16:40

gzt... i got the feeling that i might have to do just that... a nice fresh clean install

trig42

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#813805 8-May-2013 16:41

So they are both out of the box systems - surely the Lenovo will already have Windows installed and running?

Your best bet is to reinstall everything you need application wise and then do a Windows Easy Transfer for the data.

GReX

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Master Geek

#813806 8-May-2013 16:43

no, my replacement computer (lenovo) is a 2nd hand unit with NO hdd - hence i want to transfer my hdd from the my old pc

wellygary

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#813814 8-May-2013 16:52

Buy a new primary HDD, your old one is likely to be a bit of an anchor, and will slow down your new box,

tdgeek

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#813837 8-May-2013 17:34

Been a long time since I did that. I found XP to be quite good with such a transfer of drive. Goes AWOL while it fails on drivers, and auto installs most drivers. I found to remove most of the drivers in Device Manager, then shut it down worked well. There were less driver errors as they weren't installed and they self installed fine usually.

But, at the end of the day a nice clean install will always run better. PITB, but a better option

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