Swapping hard drive from older computer to newer computer

allamerican02 · Mar 23, 2016

Hi,

I have a 2005 HP that is completely obsolete, but it does have a good working hard drive that I have windows 8.1 on, 32 bit version.

My parents just gave me their 2009 HP tower, which has a defective hard drive. It is a 64 bit system. I was wondering how feasible it would be to take my hard drive and put it in their tower and make that my computer?

I realize that there is an incompatibility issue with the 32 bit - 64 bit platforms, and that my current hard drive has all the drivers for my current computer, not the new one.

Thanks for any advice.

USAFRet · Mar 23, 2016

This will almost certainly need a full reinstall of the OS.
After that, licensing issues may ensue.

thx1138v2 · Mar 23, 2016

What USARet said and if you're going to have to do a fresh install why would you do that on a 10 year old hard drive that is probably going to fail in the near future? Drives are cheap. You can get a decent 500Gb drive for around $50.

They also may not be the same kind of drive. I'm guessing the 2005 drive is an IDE drive and the 2009 drive is probably an SATA drive. They use different cables. Something else to check. If you do buy a new drive make sure to get the right kind. You'll probably have fewer licensing problems with that approach also.

If you do decide to put a drive (old or new) in the 2009 box be sure to take everything apart and clean it while you have the case open.

djreedj · Mar 23, 2016

You are going to want a fresh install as it is highly recommended if not required for installation with new motherboards.

allamerican02 · Mar 24, 2016

Anyone know how I can get a clean install of Windows 10 64 bit version? Microsoft is only allowing me to download the 32 bit version.

USAFRet · Mar 24, 2016

allamerican02 :

From a 32bit 8.1 system, yes, it will only allow you to download Win 10 32bit.

You have a couple of issues here.
1. The 8.1 will probably not boot up properly in the new system.
2. Licensing. This is almost assuredly an OEM license for 8.1, and as such it is tied to that original motherboard.
You can't just swap drives and OS's around.

allamerican02 · Mar 24, 2016

Thanks for your help.

allamerican02 · Mar 24, 2016

Would it be feasible to buy a new hard drive and a new license of Windows 10, and just install those in my parents computer? What's the best place to buy Windows 10? Looks like it's $99 on NewEgg.

USAFRet · Mar 24, 2016

allamerican02 :

Yes (sort of), and Newegg works.

"Sort of" because this is a 7 year old PC. How much do you want to invest in this?
I have a 2009 era Toshiba laptop, currently running Win 10. It works, but it is slooooooow.

allamerican02 · Mar 24, 2016

I would rather spend $150 for a new disk drive and windows license than $1000 for a whole new computer.

USAFRet · Mar 24, 2016

allamerican02 :

Then go for it!

allamerican02 · Mar 31, 2016

Ok, so which makes more sense? Should I:

A: Upgrade this computer with a new hard drive and new Windows 10 license
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01852858

or

B: Just buy a new computer

Mind you, I am not a gamer or heavy program user. I mainly just use it for surfing the web and storing and editing pictures, using Google Earth, and Microsoft Office.

USAFRet · Mar 31, 2016

allamerican02 :

New drive and OS.

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Swapping hard drive from older computer to newer computer

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