Will Win7 "complain/work" if I clone first and then replace a hard drive

[oldpro]

Sorry for such a beginner's question: If I first clone (using one of those USB-to-SATA cable kits) my existing hard drive in a laptop running Win7, and then install this newly cloned HD, will Windows run without any problems/complains ? I am asking this because I'm concerned that a new hard drive may be viewed by windows as a new computer (new model and serial of the new HD) and will refuse to run.

Many thanks :)

[pax1234]

No problem at all. After you installed the cloned new hard drive in the computer, on first start, Win7 will load, then detected the new hardware. It will ask you for a restart, that is it.

[oldpro]

No problem at all. After you installed the cloned new hard drive in the computer, on first start, Win7 will load, then detected the new hardware. It will ask you for a restart, that is it.
That's great - thank you so much :)

[george__]

Should be fine if it is the same computer and no settings are changed on the computer (for example set ACHI to IDE or something)!

[arm2000]

Nope, it won't work. You will be asked to provide a new registration. You may contact Microsoft and talk with their CSRs.

[george__]

Nope, it won't work. You will be asked to provide a new registration. You may contact Microsoft and talk with their CSRs.

You are correct. Activation will fail but if his system is legit, who cares? He can just reactivate.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/piracy/mpa.aspx

[Kwirky]

Nope, it won't work. You will be asked to provide a new registration. You may contact Microsoft and talk with their CSRs.


You are correct. Activation will fail but if his system is legit, who cares? He can just reactivate.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/piracy/mpa.aspx

Incorrect; as long as the hard drive is the only thing that changes, Windows won't care. I can say this from experience, and from the following info at the link george__ provided:


In the case where a pirate copies data from one PC hard drive to another to illegally run the software on two PCs, Product Activation stops that by forcing the copied software to be reactivated. It does so by comparing the hardware on which it was activated to the hardware on which it is now being booted. If the hardware is substantially different, then reactivation is required. If it is the same or similar, then the software will continue to work.

[george__]

Incorrect; as long as the hard drive is the only thing that changes, Windows won't care. I can say this from experience, and from the following info at the link george__ provided:

OP says hard drive is different model with new serial #. That's pretty significant.

[oldpro]

OP says hard drive is different model with new serial #. That's pretty significant.
This is a very interesting thread for me - thanks all for helping. I guess the answer is not that easy, afterall :)
Maybe Win7 needs to see a "substantial" change in hardware before it refuses to run, and the HD change is ***NOT*** considered "substantial change" and thus it will accept it ?

Thanks all :)

[rfder2011]

Microsoft introduced product activation in Windows XP. The general algorithm is likely still the same for Windows 7 but they may have updated the types & number of components checked or their assigned values (e.g. in Windows XP, any ram amount above 1GB received the same assigned bit value of 7)

For example, Windows XP recorded the following component values at the time of activation and would check & compare them during start up:
- volume serial number
- string of system volume
- network adapter MAC address string
- CD-ROM drive hardware identification string
- graphics adapter hardware identification string*
- CPU serial number string
- harddrive hardware identification string
- SCSI host adapter hardware identification string*
- IDE controller hardware identification string processor model string*
- RAM size

*Omitted from the component check for "dockable" PCs

For a non-dockable PC (e.g. desktop machine), if 3 of the 10 above components have changed since activation then reactivation is required.

For a dockable PC (i.e. laptops when connected to a docking station can have drastically different hardware configurations), if 3 out of the 7 components checked have changed since activation then reactivation is required.

You can read more about Windows Product Activation (WPA) here (http://www.licenturion.com/xp/). Click on the The Fully Licensed WPA paper (ASCII, 24.4 kb) (http://www.licenturion.com/xp/fully-licensed-wpa.txt)

[oldpro]

Microsoft introduced product activation in Windows XP. The general algorithm is likely still the same for Windows 7 but they may have updated the types & number of components checked or their assigned values (e.g. in Windows XP, any ram amount above 1GB received the same assigned bit value of 7)

For example, Windows XP recorded the following component values at the time of activation and would check & compare them during start up:
- volume serial number
- string of system volume
- network adapter MAC address string
- CD-ROM drive hardware identification string
- graphics adapter hardware identification string*
- CPU serial number string
- harddrive hardware identification string
- SCSI host adapter hardware identification string*
- IDE controller hardware identification string processor model string*
- RAM size

*Omitted from the component check for "dockable" PCs

For a non-dockable PC (e.g. desktop machine), if 3 of the 10 above components have changed since activation then reactivation is required.

For a dockable PC (i.e. laptops when connected to a docking station can have drastically different hardware configurations), if 3 out of the 7 components checked have changed since activation then reactivation is required.

You can read more about Windows Product Activation (WPA) here (http://www.licenturion.com/xp/). Click on the The Fully Licensed WPA paper (ASCII, 24.4 kb) (http://www.licenturion.com/xp/fully-licensed-wpa.txt)
Very, very interesting and instructional - many thanks !