Using PC harddisk in my laptop

[tiebushan]

I'm going abroad and I feel that bringing my PC with me is very impractical, so I'm thinking of just taking my PC's hard drive and my laptop. Now I just need to figure out two things:
1. how to make said laptop to boot from my PC's hard drive.
2. I heard that this might corrupt my PC's hard drive. Is this correct?

thanks

 

[Karsten75]

You can't make a computer boot from an external drive.

THe drivers on the PC's installed OS will not have drivers for the laptop's hardware, so you can't clone to the right form factor for an internal installation, it since it won't boot.

At best you can get an external enclosure for the PC 3.5 inch drive to attach it to your laptop so you can get to the data files (installed programs will still not function unless you install them again in the laptop.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Can't be done mate. You can read data from the desktop drive but you can't run Windows from it unless it's installed in the PC it belongs to.

 

[Recycled]

It should be simple to clone the HDD to a same-capacity-or-larger 2.5" HDD.

This is not a technical problem, it's a legal problem.

The problem is that some companies (like Microsoft) will not allow You to do this. At best, they will make You pay for another copy of all the commercial software including Windows and Office. Often they will simply shut down the system.

 

[Recycled]

I would just visualize my desktop's OS inside my laptop's OS, but again, that breaks the silly constraints that Microsoft imposes on it's slaves. (Come on, You didn't think You were a customer, did You?)

 

[USAFRet]

It should be simple to clone the HDD to a same-capacity-or-larger 2.5" HDD.

This is not a technical problem, it's a legal problem.

The problem is that some companies (like Microsoft) will not allow You to do this. At best, they will make You pay for another copy of all the commercial software including Windows and Office. Often they will simply shut down the system.

It is also a technical problem.
Install an OS on a desktop PC. Take that drive out and install it in a laptop....it probably will not boot. Completely disregarding any licensing issues.
It may or may not boot, depending on the actual hardware differences. Desktop -> laptop....significant differences.

And getting to the licensing - 1 license, 1 PC.

 

[USAFRet]

And putting that drive in an external enclosure and hoping it will boot? No.
There are methods of making Windows to boot from an external drive, but they are neither easy nor optimal. And have to be done during the actual install. Not after the fact.

 

[Karsten75]

And getting to the licensing - 1 license, 1 PC.

That's a slight oversimplification. Manufacturer's volume licensing ties the license to the specific PC it was installed on - and then the endless debate on whether that is motherboard or CPU or ...

OEM System Builder licensing is the same. It can't transfer to another system.

OEM for personal use - yea, you can transfer it.

Retail - 1 license - 1 PC at a time as many times as you want.

 

[USAFRet]

And getting to the licensing - 1 license, 1 PC.

That's a slight oversimplification. Manufacturer's volume licensing ties the license to the specific PC it was installed on - and then the endless debate on whether that is motherboard or CPU or ...

OEM System Builder licensing is the same. It can't transfer to another system.

OEM for personal use - yea, you can transfer it.

Retail - 1 license - 1 PC at a time as many times as you want.

There is no more 'endless debate'. The motherboard constitutes the PC. Change CPU, hard drive, GPU, whatever. The motherboard is the part that matters.

"1 license, 1 PC " should probably have been expanded to "1 license, 1 PC at a time"

 

[Recycled]

USAFRet, the reason Microsoft Windows refuses to boot on a different PC is that they deliberately limit Windows' ability to adapt to new hardware on boot. It's a control decision, not a technical one.

 

[USAFRet]

USAFRet, the reason Microsoft Windows refuses to boot on a different PC is that they deliberately limit Windows' ability to adapt to new hardware on boot. It's a control decision, not a technical one.

Could they create installs that would work on a removable drive, and be portable to a different PC? Sure.
Did they? No.

Newer versions of Windows are far more adaptable to different hardware then previous. 8 is better than 7 is better than XP.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.