Swap hard drive from old to new laptop

richpodraza · Jun 12, 2014

At work I was recently given a new computer. My old one is a Toshiba R940 and my new one is a Toshiba W50. I have done so much in terms of IT setup, application installation, etc., I would really like to avoid doing all that again. I can copy my data over no problem but the re-installation of all that stuff might take a couple weeks.

I tried swapping hard drives, and the new W50 with the old hard drive blue screened on start up. It got to the windows splash screen but crashed after that. When I booted into recovery mode, it seemed like it couldn't see the OS on the drive. Could it be some kind of hard drive driver issue?

Or, is there some kind of tool for exporting application installation data that would make that kind of migration easier?

Any ideas?

Masterchiefxx17 · Jun 12, 2014

I would recommend you deal with your IT group when it comes to work computers. They own the PC, and they are there to assist you.

richpodraza · Jun 12, 2014

I agree with you. But the IT line is: "here's a 23 page manual on how to reinstall everything, have fun."

Panther063 · Jun 12, 2014

Swapping hard drives wont work due to differences in hardware.
You could connect the old hard drive externally in a USB housing or try connecting the two laptops with an ethernet cable and migrating the software that way.
Note: It may be possible to only transfer files that way, not programs.

jcgriff2 · Jun 12, 2014

Windows licensing also comes into play here.

It is likely that the copy of Windows on your old HDD is tied to that particular system.

spunk.funk · Jun 12, 2014

When Windows is installed on computer. It takes a snapshot of the hardware, chipset, motherboard etc and loads drivers specifically for that drive.
If you remove the HDD and place it into a different computer with a different chipset etc, It will BSOD and not boot. If you boot off of the new HDD, As stated, you can copy over your files, but not programs from the old HDD.
Other then that, you may try putting the old HDD in, and booting off of the Windows DVD and choosing Repair Your Computer, this may replace the drivers required for the old HDD. However, it may not work. Obviously, your IT dept should do this for you, but if they don't want to, then you are stuck reinstalling all of your programs.

Swap hard drive from old to new laptop

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