Moving a formatted drive from one PC to another

[bigshotceo]

Please tell me, would this work?

If I remove the hard drive from a laptop, put it in my desktop and install windows xp on it, can I then re-put it in my laptop and have the laptop work properly, or will there be issues? Thanks!

[Ned_19]

I don't know but...
aren't the connections a little different in a laptop, I can't imagine a fat IDE cable and 4 pin power connector being crammed in there at least.

Assuming that is not an issue, I have heard of people having problems installing an OS on a drive, then putting it in a different computer afterwards; basically the hardware setup is different from when you installed, but that doesn't always happen as far as I know.

Hope that helps a bit

[Deal]

The hardware is totally different so device drivers, settings, HAL, etc wouldn't work.

That said, perhaps you might try this advice from MS on how to replace a different motherboard, which is about as drastic a change as moving from a laptop to a PC.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125

MS XP also has something called Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, but it's not as good as a dedicated migration app, like this one from Acronis:
[URL=http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/

[bigshotceo]

yeah, I should clarify that.

1) Yes, I'll use an adapter to connect the laptop hd to my computer.
2) I'm not looking for a "stick it back in the laptop and everything's done" solution. I just want to know if the laptop will boot the OS properly.

[spm24]

depends on what OS you are using . if u are using XP it should hang and not boot up properly and give u a error . if u use a older OS it might work try win2000 it should boot up but like said in the thread already it will not function like a new OS on ur laptop it will be slow cause its not configured for the drivers on the laptop.

[rangermcfadden]

Could you try copying the Windows CAB files to the HD using the desktop, then moving the drive back to the laptop, booting somehow, and starting the install process from there?

[rock hard]

I think if you do that.. after you put the hdd back in the laptop.. make sure you place the winxp cd in and boot to that on startup.. then go into the repair mode.. once it gives ya the dos prompt, try 'fixmbr' and 'fixboot' these commands will rewrite the master boot record and the boot sector of the HDD and set the hdd to the laptop.
IMHO

Jesse

[sleepyguy]

if it's just idle data... no problem if you have a 2.5 to 3.5 converter cable. if it's the OS then you may be in some trouble... read up on sysprep though... you can restart the hardware scan on bootup and refresh the device list.