Can I Swap my OS SSD to a New Computer? (desktop, hard drive)
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I bought that $199 MicroCenter deal on an i7 4770K cpu deal. Now I gotta build a new desktop for it, and that can be expensive if I buy another big ssd > 480gb and another 4 TB h.d.. So I was thinking, maybe I'll take out my OS Samsung 512GB 830 Pro and my 4TB h.d. from my current i7 2600K rig and put it into the new computer. So without reformatting I'd have all my savegames, programs, and Steam games from my current rig. All I have to do is enter a new Product Key for the OS, right? So that would be the Product Key from my 2nd reserve copy of Win 7 Pro I bought. Would this work? Has anyone here successfully tried such an upgrade approach?
I bought that $199 MicroCenter deal on an i7 4770K cpu deal. Now I gotta build a new desktop for it, and that can be expensive if I buy another big ssd > 480gb and another 4 TB h.d.. So I was thinking, maybe I'll take out my OS Samsung 512GB 830 Pro and my 4TB h.d. from my current i7 2600K rig and put it into the new computer. So without reformatting I'd have all my savegames, programs, and Steam games from my current rig. All I have to do is enter a new Product Key for the OS, right? So that would be the Product Key from my 2nd reserve copy of Win 7 Pro I bought. Would this work? Has anyone here successfully tried such an upgrade approach?
While it's theoretically possible, it's pretty ugly IMO.
You wouldn't even need to change the key (since you seem to be retiring the old machine), you'd just have to reactivate it.
But so much hardware is going to change that I'd be leery of having Windows refind all of the drivers for things like chipsets, USB, NIC, etc.
Now, moving the non OS drives is a different matter, and should be a non issue.
I personally run Steam on a second drive already, and all I have to do when I move it to a new machine, is install Steam back to the folder it was installed in before, and it refinds all of my games. They do have to reinstall (rerun the buildbot, and possibly install VC patches, punkbuster, etc).
I won't retire my i7 2600K computer. It will be a backup computer now, and my old i7 920 computer will be sent to the Philippines, maybe given to my cousin. That's how I get rid of old hardware. So my i7 2600K computer will have a new 256GB ssd Win 7 Prof install with it's same Product Key.
I have to change the Win 7 Product Key when I put the 512GB ssd into the new build. Saving a lot of money from buying a new 750GB to 1TB ssd and a 4TB h.d. would help a lot.
and all he has to do is make an image of the hard drive to the ssd drive. now be warned that he will have to burn all of his pics music ect ect off the pc before making an image of the drive. though I would reformat the drive and not let it update just my preference
It's PC Building 101 that you should do a clean, fresh OS install on a new or heavily upgraded system. Assuming the 4TB is a strorage drive, that should swap over with no problem. However, you should wipe and format the SSD going into the new system and go with a fresh install of Win7. There is absolutely nothing to be gained, except for maybe saving an hour or two, by trying to just swap the drives...and a lot of headaches that can be caused; headaches that will probably led you to wiping the drive and doing a clean OS install anyway. Don't be lazy and do it right.
It's PC Building 101 that you should do a clean, fresh OS install on a new or heavily upgraded system. Assuming the 4TB is a strorage drive, that should swap over with no problem. However, you should wipe and format the SSD going into the new system and go with a fresh install of Win7. There is absolutely nothing to be gained, except for maybe saving an hour or two, by trying to just swap the drives...and a lot of headaches that can be caused; headaches that will probably led you to wiping the drive and doing a clean OS install anyway. Don't be lazy and do it right.
Since the op doesn't know the difference between a fake email, a reinstall will be good just to clean it out.
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