Cloning a HD from one laptop to a desktop

kyomagi

Honorable
Jun 3, 2013
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Basically my question is if i clone my HD on my laptop and put it on my new desktop, what issues can i run into?

I know for one, the drivers, im going from an nvidia gt750 to a HD7870. Are these types of issues easy to fix?

going fresh install is not an option because of all the games and other files i have on my laptop takes up almost 500gb.
 
The drivers? Easy enough. However, switching from EMT64/Intel 64 Bit to AMD64 might be slightly changing architectures. Expect problems. However, Windows is surprisingly flexible. I seen it detecting the new HDD, CPU, chipset, and other important interfaces, and after rebooting, it was okay.

So until you reach a problem, you should be fine.
 
Since you seem so hell bent on it, I'ma tell it like it is. Windows does not like to be played with. Can it go smoothly? Ya. Will it? Not at all likely. Windows ties itself to the motherboard, that's the part you can't change out without problems. In my experience, I've not been able to change motherboards without a fresh Windows, that's for 7. 8, 8.1, Not sure. XP, Might work. Once you have your desktop straight, you can setup Windows so that all of your data is easily movable and re-do-able. Even if the move goes well, you're going to have driver issues, and it can be an issue. Good Luck, and report back, I'd be glad to hear everything went well, also, If you do have problems, there are many people here much more knowledgeable than me who can probably help with more specific questions.
 

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