Moving HDD with pre-installed Windows 7 to new Motherboard

[Kalihari]

Hi.

I currently own a HP laptop, which came with with Windows 7 Home Premium pre-installed. I'm currently considering building a Desktop, and I'm going to re-use the Hard drive from the laptop in the Desktop. I'm wondering if the Windows 7 installation will continue to work on a new motherboard?

I've read that the Hard drive must be reformatted and Windows must be installed again on the new computer - that's not an option for me because the laptop came with no Windows 7 installation DVDs.

I have the HP recovery disks (which, from what I can gather, would be useless in this situation) and the Windows 7 repair disk - and I've also read that the System Preparation Tool (sysrep) can be used to allow the operating system to work on new hardware, but I don't know if that works with HP pre-installed Windows.

So, what are my options? I'd rather avoid buying a retail copy of Windows 7 if there's a way to transfer the installation on my Hard drive; to clarify, my question is this: Is there any way of keeping the HP installation of Windows 7 when I move the hard drive it's on into a new computer?

Thanks.

 

[house70]

Nope. Your Windows copy was OEM, linked to that laptop. Most you could do would be to transfer it to a similar machine (laptop), but you'll need a retail key (and copy of OS) to put it on the desktop.

 

[drtweak]

Yes you have to reinstall for a few reasons 1) Most likely they will have different chipset, SATA controllers, just hardware all around 2) That version of windows running on that HP is designed to be activated on the HP and only ran on it so if your caught running it on a custom built desktop they will have a hiss fit.

Most of the time those system recovery stuff isn't a clean windows install. Its a Prebuild version of windows that is in a image and it just copies that image to the hard drive. Its more of Restoring a Premade image for that PC to the hard drive so there is no "Windows Install" that you go though.

I'm sorry but really the only way and the best way is to reinstall from scratch.

 

[rhysiam]

You almost certainly have an "OEM" copy of Windows which is licensed for the computer you purchased it on only.
To double check, press start, right-click "Computer" and choose Properties. Look at the "Product ID" (down the bottom of the screen). If it says "OEM" in the product key, then an OEM copy it is.

Unfortunately if it is OEM, the only legal option is to purchase a new Win 7 copy.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Unfortunately there's no way you can transfer the laptop's Windows 7 installation and hard drive over to your new computer. The license is tied to your laptop and cannot be moved. Your best option would be to purchase an OEM version of Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 for $85 (after $10 MIR).

One other possibility, and there's no guarantee it will work, is to download the same version of Windows from SevenForums (100% legit) and use this ISO to install on the formatted laptop hard drive (now installed in your new desktop). Use the product key from your laptop to attempt to activate Windows on the new system. I expect it will fail and you will be required to contact Microsoft via phone and request re-activation. They may say yes or they may say no.

If they say, "Yes", then you're good to go. If not, then your installation will work for 30 days, at which time you will be required to have purchased a new license and activated it.

-Wolf sends