is it possible to use windows 8.1 that is pre-installed on a laptop hard drive on a self built desktop

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mobilegamer

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Feb 28, 2015
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I have a hp laptop and i want to use its hard drive that has windows 8.1 on it and also has documents that are really really hard to transfer , so i wanted to know if i can use that for a budget build or if its better to buy a hard drive and download a free os. I did see on other threads that it might not work but i only saw that for older os. Finally to kill two birds with one stone, does anybody know a company that makes wireless monitors so i can play pc games in a similar fashion to the ps vita's ps3(4) remote play or the nvidia shield's remote steam acsess, which means i can play games anywhere but dont need the power of my desktop in the monitor itself just a wireless connection.
 
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Kyle_L
If you move it to another PC, it has to have UEFI support to be able to boot it unless your reinstalled windows at some point and formatted the HDD to "MBR". It will give you lots of errors, including Windows is not Genuine, so long story short, not windows, but you CAN format the drive and install Linux or something on it and move it over to the desktop. darkbreeze is partially correct, but its jsut the Windows Product keys that are tied, not the drive itself. I use a Toshiba Laptop HDD in a Core 2 Duo BOINC system. Works fine after 6 months of 1 bad sector (no more since).
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Kyle_L

Kyle_L

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Mar 11, 2015
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If you move it to another PC, it has to have UEFI support to be able to boot it unless your reinstalled windows at some point and formatted the HDD to "MBR". It will give you lots of errors, including Windows is not Genuine, so long story short, not windows, but you CAN format the drive and install Linux or something on it and move it over to the desktop. darkbreeze is partially correct, but its jsut the Windows Product keys that are tied, not the drive itself. I use a Toshiba Laptop HDD in a Core 2 Duo BOINC system. Works fine after 6 months of 1 bad sector (no more since).
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Jun 24, 2014
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I never said the "hard drive" was tied to the system. I said the OS was tied to the system. Of course you can move any drive to any system you want. However, his question was whether or not he could move the OS to the new system so he wouldn't have to reinstall.
 
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