Swap drives 1 drive two identical systems....

[bigbadbill]

I do work from both my work place and my home, and so I am trying to set up two identical systems and use a swap drive with operating system and all my files on it, so when I go home, I can just plug it in and everything is identical to my work system.

Windows 7 is popping up and saying it is detecting new hardware and needs activation.....

So will I be able to do this "swap" thing, or is windows only going to allow me to run on one of the systems?

Thanks!

 

[tecmo34]

By identical... You mean every component is the same with the same revision level, BIOS and settings?? If they aren't, it won't work. If they are the same, I don't see why it won't work in theory.

 

[bigbadbill]

By identical... You mean every component is the same with the same revision level, BIOS and settings?? If they aren't, it won't work. If they are the same, I don't see why it won't work in theory.

Yes, I bought two dell systems exact same model etc....

It's windows that is flagging "different" hardware and asking for an activation.....
So If I activate on one, will it then void the activation on the other?

 

[tecmo34]

Being a Dell Manufactured system, the components may not be identical even though the system is the same, which is why you get the error.

I would say put the drive back into the system to see if you get the error. If it boots fine, put the drive back in the other system and see if the activation screen starts over, specially a day later. Meaning, each time you swap, the activation starts over at 30 days. If that is the case, don't worry about the activation screen unless you plan keeping it in for 30 days or more.