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Can I take the hard drive, Windows 7 SSD, from my old laptop, and swap it in the new laptop, Windows 10? Thanks
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You want to move the drive and software, or just the drive?
Drive swap should work fine but there are things you will run into if you expect the OS to just boot and run.
Right out of the gate you will probably have activation and driver package issues because I would assume it was an OEM copy of Windows 7 that came with the laptop.ExtremeX -
If you are wanting to swap the drive with the OS installed, you'll have major problems, if it works at all, due to hardware drivers and other system-specific dependencies. I would highly recommend swapping the drive then reinstalling the OS. But yes, SSDs are for the most part universally compatible, as long as its a 2.5 inch form factor.
Whatever you do, make sure you have the windows 7 key recorded somewhere just in case. If it was OEM installed, you can use software such as ProduKey and Belarc to extract your software keys.
Sent from my SM-G935P using TapatalkLast edited by MrFancyPants; 11-11-2017, 4:58 PM.Comment
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Make sure the PC vendor supplies video, sound, network and chip set drivers for Win 7 for the new PC model. They may have given up on Win 7 if they are supplying Win 10 now.#NotMyPresident
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You need to be more clear. Do you still want to run Windows 10, but just on your old SSD?
If yes, then I would clone your new laptop Win 10 image onto the SSD from your old laptop. That will of course blow away Windows 7, but your new laptop will be exactly as it was before just with a faster drive.
You need software that will let you clone the disk while probably shrinking the partition, as I imagine your SSD is probably smaller. I like Acronis True Image for this, but there are free packages too. Best to make a boot disk that runs all this in a pre executable environment while Windows is dormant.
You will also need a way to temporarily mount both drives on one laptop (preferably the new one) . I use an external USB drive case for this. You can get them for maybe $10 now on Amazon. Put your old SSD in the USB box, clone the disk image to it, remove your disk from new laptop and put the SSD disk into the new laptop. Congrats, you have just upgraded to SSD.
On the other hand, if you want to take your old SSD drive out, put it in the new laptop, and boot Windows 7 - you are going to be in a world of hurt, as others have noted. It will take a lot of work and drivers to make Win 7 happy on your new hardware.Last edited by SkyHawk; 11-11-2017, 7:12 PM.Comment
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Yes I want to use the old hard drive Windows 7 and all. I lost the use of several apps that Windows 10 will not instal but will install on Windows 7. It appears I'm SOL Thanks all for the responces.Comment
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It sounds like you just want to run Windows 7 on your new laptop for compatibility with software you're using which isn't compatible with Windows 10, correct? If so, you're not SOL. All you have to do is either clone your existing Windows 7 partition to the hard drive in the new laptop, or do a fresh install of Windows 7 on the new laptop. I always opt for a fresh install, which is good to do from time to time anyway. If you don't know how to do that, maybe you can find a Calgunner or somebody local who can help. Not sure where you live, I live in El Dorado County, Cameron Park.
Sent from my SM-G935P using TapatalkComment
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Another option:
Make a P2V copy of the Win7 disk and run it in a VM on the Win10 machine. Completely plug and play, driver-wise. Don't you get like 1 or 2 hardware changes before the activation croaks?
If for games, you might just want to dual boot on the Win10 laptop.
ETA: looks like only retail Win7 or Tier one OEM (Dell, HP, IBM) license supports moving to a VM, P2V.Last edited by Robotron2k84; 11-12-2017, 6:51 PM.Comment
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Mooksigpic94th ENGR. BN. USAEUR 75-78 / N.R.A. Life Member / SASS / Mineral County SARComment
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It's an extremely slim chance that his new laptop has hardware he can't get Windows 7 drivers for. A vast majority of hardware manufacturers write drivers that are compatible with multiple generations of Windows OS, so it's most likely the drivers are available in a Win7/8/8.1/10 package. Laptop manufacturers in general use name brand hardware, like Realtek, Intel, Creative, nVidia, AMD, Atheros, etc. Very easy to find drivers for, and Windows 7 is still an officially supported OS. Not to mention many people prefer to downgrade to Windows 7 from Windows 10.
If OP posts his laptop model, we'll know for sure.
Sent from my SM-G935P using TapatalkComment
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True, however, Ryzen processors currently have no Win7 support, although AMD says "They're working on it". As far as I know, this is still the case. Top it off, if you have Win7, and are still getting updates, Microsnot has gifted you with updates to shut off Windows 7 from Ryzen processors. You'll have to find those updates, remove, then block them.
Earlier Kaybe Lake processors didn't have support for anything before Win 8.1, and the latest Kaybe Lake processors, only have support for WinX. Chipsets are another matter. Although, your chipset may WORK with older, Win7 drivers, that doesn't mean they'll work well, or will be fully functional with them. Most people don't understand just how important proper chipset drivers are.
Video (except for latest HD graphics)/Audio/firmware/etc. are well supported by Win7, However, Intel is playing games right now.
Just something to keep in mind when buying a new computer.Last edited by Dragunov; 11-13-2017, 8:13 AM.Comment
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