How to swap drives from Dell 4400 to Dell 8300

[cwstrick]

I have a Dell Dimension 4400 1.6 ghz with 1 gb ram (max) (Motherboard 1K529) - 250 gb HD and a Dell Dimension 8300 2.6 ghz with 4 gb ram (max) (Motherboard G0728)- 60 gb HD. Any way I can simply swap the two drives?? I need the 250 HD in the 8300.

 

[Ubrales]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums!

I think these drives are IDE (PATA) drives. This is not an issue. I have an old Dell Dimension 4600 and it has an IDE drive which I cloned from 40 GB to 250 GB.

If it is the drive containing the OS, then no, you cannot just swap these drives between 2 computers.

However, there is a way to accomplish this by using a 3rd. drive and doing some cloning. For cloning, you will need some device costing around $40. Let me know if you want to go in this direction.

 

[rolli59]

Since the computers have different hardware you will at minimum have to do a repair install of windows and install motherboard drivers on both to get them to function properly.

 

[cwstrick]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums!

Ubrales ....... thanks for the reply ..... using Acronis 2012 I have already cloned the contents of the 250 gb drive to an external 320 gb drive. I also have another 500 gb storage device available ..... What's next ??

 

[Ubrales]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums!

Ubrales ....... thanks for the reply ..... using Acronis 2012 I have already cloned the contents of the 250 gb drive to an external 320 gb drive. I also have another 500 gb storage device available ..... What's next ??

Great! Now clone the 320 GB on to the drive you want in the computer. The only caveat is that the destination drive is large enough to hold all the information. Obviously you cannot use sector-by-sector cloning to clone from a larger drive over to a smaller drive.

You are using the right technique.

Another free software that you can use is "EASEUS TODO BACKUP" - It has a cloning option under 'Tools'.

In order for you to get to the configuration that you want, you may have to do a few cloning operations. And eventually you will get exactly what you desire.

 

[Ubrales]

I use EZ Gig IV Cloning Software with Data Select for Windows.

http://www.apricorn.com/products/software/ezgig.html (ISO version here along with detailed instructions)

 

[jitpublisher]

Uh, guys, if these Dells have OEM software, it is NOT transferable and will not work. You can change the drives, but the OS installation cannot be moved. If it is a retail version of Windows installed on the Dells, then clone away, but likely the install will still be problematic and need a repair install.

 

[Ubrales]

Uh, guys, if these Dells have OEM software, it is NOT transferable and will not work. You can change the drives, but the OS installation cannot be moved. If it is a retail version of Windows installed on the Dells, then clone away, but likely the install will still be problematic and need a repair install.

The OP is not trying to transfer the OS from one computer to the other. What he is trying to do is to swap hard disks; each computer will still retain its own OS. This can be done by cloning.

 

[cwstrick]

Thank you ... I'll look at these options .... will most likely be back with more questions down the road .... Thanks again

 

[Ubrales]

Thank you ... I'll look at these options .... will most likely be back with more questions down the road .... Thanks again

Sure. We'll be here.

 

[cwstrick]

Thanks to everyone for the help .... I just threw in the towel .... bought a new system ... I-3, 1.5 TB, 6 gb ram ... Win 7 64 bit .... now my new dilemma is learning Win 7 and Office 2010. Thanks again ...

 

[Ubrales]

Thanks to everyone for the help .... I just threw in the towel .... bought a new system ... I-3, 1.5 TB, 6 gb ram ... Win 7 64 bit .... now my new dilemma is learning Win 7 and Office 2010. Thanks again ...

Congratulations!

Win7 is a breeze, and MS Office 2010 is great (easy to master if you are familiar with any previous versions)