Hard Drive swap, Compatible or not?

[clockwrrk]

Hello! I am new to the community here, so this will be my first question. I have a laptop that I am currently using, and I am looking in to getting a new desktop around May. Would the new system/windows go crazy when I would switch the hard drive from my laptop, or would it be a possibility to save some cash?

Thanks in advance.

 

[firo40]

The form factor of your laptop harddrive is differnt then a desktop, You can however get adapters to connect them to a desktop. I would still suggest getting a faster bigger harddrive for cheap as HDD's are less 100$

 

[mcnumpty23]

if your laptop has a sata connection then you dont need an adaptor to put it in a desktop with sata

though driver conflicts may cause blue screens so a reformat may be needed

 

[clockwrrk]

The form factor of your laptop harddrive is differnt then a desktop, You can however get adapters to connect them to a desktop. I would still suggest getting a faster bigger harddrive for cheap as HDD's are less 100$

The thing is I was wanting to do this so I wouldn't have to have any conflicts with my data, because It is a pain to get every single file you need onto a brand new hard drive.

 

[foscooter]

If/when you were to get the laptop drive to connect to the desktop, You would still have to re-install Windows on it, with a new copy.

I would violate the EULA of Microsoft to even try to boot from the drive into a new machine. Too many things would change from the previous rig to the new one.

If you just wanted to use the drive, it should be okay. But if you are building a new sytem, you're pinching pennies by not get a new drive. Keep the laptop, biuld a new rig, that way you have two. Then you could network the 2 together, and share/move files.

 

[clockwrrk]

Best answer selected by clockwrrk.