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2 PC's - swapping HD's ?

pipfan

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Posted September 15, 2011 at 8:11PM

I have 2 identical mini desktop PC's (Fujitsu's). One has a working Hard Drive but the fans are noisy, the other has a problem with the HD but is nice and quiet.

I can't change the fans around so what I wanted to know was - if I simply swap the HD's around, will the one that works work as before in the other PC? Will it 'know' it sits in another machine and refuse to work?

Any help and advice very much appreciated, thanks

Pip

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mgmcc

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Posted September 15, 2011 at 11:07PM

"Will it 'know' it sits in another machine and refuse to work?"

Yes, Windows will know that it's installed in a different machine but, as they have identical hardware, you might get away with it. Windows could boot OK and make the necessary driver/registry changes. Where you will probably then have a problem is with Product Activation because, with the complete change of hardware, this will trigger the need to Activate Windows again and this you may be unable to do.

Before doing anything, I'd strongly advise fully backing up your existing installation with something like Acronis True Image, so you don't end up with a hard disk that won't run in either PC.

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rdave13

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Posted September 15, 2011 at 11:31PM

As mgmcc's post. I think the OEM installation will be tied to the Bios information and won't allow activation, even though both PCs are identical.

Having said that, I've installed numerous new hard drives on PCs where the hdd's have failed and used recovery discs to reinstall to factory settings. All activate OK. Best to make a clone before giving it a go.

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Zeppelyn

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Posted September 16, 2011 at 1:12AM

The key word here is "identical." If that is the case then yes it will work fine but as said you may have to reactivate as the hardware keys used by Windows may be slightly different. The thing that normally stops a switched hard disk from booting is the diffent hard disk controller but if the chipsets are identical then go ahead and do it, you have nothing to lose. The worst that can happen is a blue screen with a Stop 0x7b error. If thats the case just put it back as was.

Oh and you probably can change the fans, probably just needs a good clean out of accumulated dust and fluff.

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onthelimit1

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Posted September 16, 2011 at 8:59AM

If you have problems with activation, they can normally be solved by phoning Microsoft and explaining what you've done.

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