Question How to install my previous SSD in new laptop?

[EJx]

Hey guys, hope you can provide some help.

I had a T490 intel i5 and evertyhtin was fine, until one day it died. So to replace it I got a T14 gen 2 AMD, both with Win 11 Pro.

I was just wondering if I can just take the SSD from my T490 and install it in my T14 and just keep on working. The reason I want to do this is, my new laprop has 512gb, previous SSD is 2tb, also I had a few browsers and don't want to lose my browsing history and passwords which I didn't back up or sync. And also a few programs that were already installed.

Can this be done? Could I damage my new system?

Thanks!

 

[USAFRet]

I was just wondering if I can just take the SSD from my T490 and install it in my T14 and just keep on working.

Probably not.

 

[EJx]

Probably not.

Thanks, what would be the best option to keep all my info, browsing history, bookmarks, programs, etc.
Any advice?
Do I risk anything by trying?

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks, what would be the best option to keep all my info, browsing history, bookmarks, programs, etc.
Any advice?
Do I risk anything by trying?

The "best way" would have been to rely on the backup situation you had in place before the old system died.

These are laptops?

"T490 intel i5" moving to "T14 gen 2 AMD"....this is highly unlikely to actually boot up.

A Windows install is not as modular as we'd all like.

 

[Lafong]

You should be able to salvage your bookmarks.

Where they live depends on your browser.

 

[EJx]

So could I install windows in another ssd same size, and then just copy/paste replace programs & user files? Would that work?

 

[Lafong]

So could I install windows in another ssd same size, and then just copy/paste replace programs & user files? Would that work?

Unlikely.

Personal data can be copied/pasted. Pictures of grandma. The novel you are working on.

Installed programs? No. Reinstall them from scratch.

The "another" SSD doesn't have to be same size.

 

[USAFRet]

So could I install windows in another ssd same size, and then just copy/paste replace programs & user files? Would that work?

No.

When an application is installed, it make dozens/hundreds of entries in the registry and elsewhere.
The other OS knows nothing about those.

 

[Moonstick2]

Years ago, and I forget why/who for but I took the HDD from one Dell Laptop, installed it in a different model of Dell laptop and could boot Windows 7into Safe Mode to access various files etc on the laptop.

If your issue is to access passwords etc from the old drive, you can try this and I don't see how you'll damage your new laptop. Or you can plug the old drive as a secondary drive into a PC if you can access one and access the files from there.

As far as a permanent setup goes, al your Windows settings and programs you'll need to reinstall the long way.

 

[USAFRet]

Years ago, and I forget why/who for but I took the HDD from one Dell Laptop, installed it in a different model of Dell laptop and could boot Windows 7into Safe Mode to access various files etc on the laptop.

If your issue is to access passwords etc from the old drive, you can try this and I don't see how you'll damage your new laptop. Or you can plug the old drive as a secondary drive into a PC if you can access one and access the files from there.

As far as a permanent setup goes, al your Windows settings and programs you'll need to reinstall the long way.

That it works in one instance is no guarantee of working in another.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Hey guys, hope you can provide some help.

I had a T490 intel i5 and evertyhtin was fine, until one day it died. So to replace it I got a T14 gen 2 AMD, both with Win 11 Pro.

I was just wondering if I can just take the SSD from my T490 and install it in my T14 and just keep on working. The reason I want to do this is, my new laprop has 512gb, previous SSD is 2tb, also I had a few browsers and don't want to lose my browsing history and passwords which I didn't back up or sync. And also a few programs that were already installed.

Can this be done? Could I damage my new system?

Thanks!

You won't damage the new system but transferring the Windows install from an older Intel machine to a new AMD would likely cause problems later on even if it did work. Best case scenario is you plug it in, it works and you backup the things you need and then reinstall Windows on the new machine. That's assuming it would boot at all, which it may well not.

Plugging the drive into a USB NVME enclosure and using recovery software to retrieve the data may also be a solution.

 

[Moonstick2]

That it works in one instance is no guarantee of working in another.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails.

Oh entirely. But the point is, it might work and it's not going to damage anything trying it.

As I said, a temporary measure using Safe Mode to access data on the drive. Not some kind of long-term solution.

 

[EJx]

Thanks guys, What I ended up doing is cloning the drive to another drive, and now I'm gonna clean install windows. I tried on another machine to just copy the programs folder and the app data folder, and all browsers worked and had their history, passwords and bookmarks, so once I have my clean install I will do that just for browsers.

For the other files (pics, vids, documents) I am able to just copy paste.

Thank you all