HDD Replacement Question

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Setsukai

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Mar 28, 2013
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I have an Alienware PC that's going on a decade old, and while most of the hardware still functions fine, the hard drive is on its last legs. I was thinking of replacing the hard drive and selling the PC for a few extra bucks since it still runs current games decently, but I heard once that HDDs and MoBos were 'serial linked' and you can't replace one without the other, and given that the motherboard I would need to replace this one with would be a newer model, I would also need a new CPU to fit the socket.

Is this correct?
 
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Dom_79

Dom_79

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No that is not correct. They are not linked. What that may be referring to is that the OS these days is linked to the motherboard (MAC address).

But that shouldn't be a problem since at 10 years old it's most likely running Win XP (which isn't registered to the mobo - just the serial key for activation)
 
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Setsukai

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I'm almost certain that it's running Win 7. Should that be a problem?

 
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OnkelCannabia

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Where have you heard this? This might be true for some consoles but I have never heard of this in PCs. I can tell you with absolute certainty that this is not a common thing. If at all that would be a thing that Alienware implemented on their own and I'd expect a ton of backlash for such artificial restraints. Even then, they would have to mess with hardware that isn't even theirs to implement such nonsense.I think it is extremely likely to be complete BS.
 
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urbanrider

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As mentioned above I’d say your VERY safe assuming that they aren’t linked and that you can replace the HDD.

One thing to keep in mind when buying a HDD for a laptop that old is that the connection might not be a SATA connection. Be sure to open it up and check it before buying a new one.

Here’s a picture of two types compared:

attachment.php

 
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Dom_79

Dom_79

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I'd recommend following urbanrider's advice on making sure you get a properly compatible HDD (size, power requirements and connector type - SATA or IDE)

As for the OS, you aren't changing motherboards so it's not an issue at all. If you have the Win 7 disk you can simply re-install on the new HDD, if not clone you old HDD to your new one with your program of choice.
 
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