Question Could I swap out the boot drive from one computer with another’s?

[airwickk]

To make a long story short, I have two desktops in my home, and one of them currently doesn’t work.

Both PCs only use a single M.2 SSD, therefore both have Windows 11 installed onto them, and both are the boot drives for their respective desktops. Each system also has an Intel processor, so there’s no complications of swapping from AMD/Intel.

Would it be possible to just remove the M.2 from the working PC and replace it with the M.2 from the non-working PC with no problems, or is it just not that simple?

 

[rgd1101]

intel have more then 15/20 gen of cpu. not sure what no complication mean

 

[drivinfast247]

Maybe. Maybe not.

Possible, but unlikely.

 

[airwickk]

intel have more then 15/20 gen of cpu. not sure what no complication mean

They both use an i5 11400-F. No complications because I’m not switching from an AMD desktop to an Intel desktop, i.e. no driver conflicts

 

[rgd1101]

this time you are correct both the same gen. but if you try a 6th to 13th gen. probably not going to work.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

As Windows is not designed to be moved in that manner you're likely to encounter problems, especially if there are other drives with software installed on them. The Windows license (at a minimum) will also be invalidated and need to be fixed. And, Microsoft only allows a limited number of moves before they disable the license altogether. The number is known only to Microsoft.

 

[USAFRet]

Would it be possible

Maybe, maybe not.
There is no 100%.

But if they're both running Win 11, why this drive swap?
On the one that is still working, just install whatever applications you were using on the other system. Avoid all hassles completely.