Dual Boot - Booting from SSD (from laptop)

AlenO

Honorable
Jan 23, 2014
7
0
10,510
I have a Win7 Pro 32bit on my desktop, now I would like to add a SSD from a dead Lenovo B560 laptop which had a Win7Pro 64bit installed. I tried it on 3 different desktops, but dual boot doesn't work (no selection menu) and when I unplug the main HDDs to boot from the SSD only I get an "Recent hardware change" failure.

My question:
- is it possible to boot from that laptop SSD at all (since HW is not the same);
if yes:
- can I use the SSD as the second drive in dual boot setup?

LP
Alen
 
Solution
You can't use the Windows installation that's on the SSD since it was installed with a different motherboard. You must reformat it and install a fresh copy of Windows from scratch when you've fitted in your desktop PC.

Yes, you can use the SSD for a dual-boot setup, or use it just for additional storage space.

Note: you can't convert a PC to dual-boot just by adding a hard drive that's already got Windows on it. It doesn't work that way and it's not as simple as that.
You can't use the Windows installation that's on the SSD since it was installed with a different motherboard. You must reformat it and install a fresh copy of Windows from scratch when you've fitted in your desktop PC.

Yes, you can use the SSD for a dual-boot setup, or use it just for additional storage space.

Note: you can't convert a PC to dual-boot just by adding a hard drive that's already got Windows on it. It doesn't work that way and it's not as simple as that.
 
Solution

AlenO

Honorable
Jan 23, 2014
7
0
10,510
Hi,
sorry for replying so late.
I got the SSD to work in a HP laptop, got the W7 and MSO codes, so the SSD, which turned out to be a HDD after all, will serve as a backup drive.

Thank you for your answer. :)

LP
Alen