Question Replace 256G Drive in new Lenovo IdeaPad 1 15 IAU7 with a 1T SSD Drive from old IdeaPad 3 - Touchscreen, touchpad and WLAN were not functional.

[spraguewrjk]

So, I asked BB before buying, they said the 1T drive would work fine in the new one and to replace it, before booting it up on the 256G drive. Step one - Opened case, following instructions and pulled out the 256G and put in the 1T from my old, dead for other reasons IdeaPad 3. It booted up fine in Windows 11, I got it running. However, the keypad worked, but not the touchpad or touchscreen or WLAN. I used a USB mouse to get things going, but, no wireless etc. I figured the WLAN was the key issue, I needed to get online to work out things. When i looked at hardware/drivers, it said that 'The WLAN was NOT mechanically installed'. I took the 1T out and put the 256G back in. I was able to boot it up as a new laptop and went through all the normal setup steps (i'm having a Windows 11 S issue but hopefully that will become moot). So i have read solutions about getting into the BIOS and all sorts, but to me the best one i ran across was to put the WLAN driver on a thumbdrive via a third laptop, but not sure what to then do with it on the IdeaPad 1 with the 1T back in it. Should this be simple once I understand it, or will it lead me in circles trying to fix. Thanks!

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

you do not want to use this old OS installation for a different device on the current IdeaPad 1 15IAU7.
it will only lead to multiple problems now and further down the road, as you've already encountered.

download all required drivers & utilities from the Lenovo product support pages and store in an accessible location,

create a new USB Windows installation package using the MS Media Creation Tool,

install the 1TB drive in the IdeaPad 1,
remove any other installed drives,
reboot and run the new Windows 11 USB install package through the MS media Creation Tool,
select to format all drives / delete all available partitions before running the installation.

once installed and booted into the new Windows 11 OS
install all drivers & necessary utilities for the IdeaPad 1 15IAU7.

-
you can attempt to bypass the new OS installation, but it always leads to some sort of conflict, hardware issue(s), and/or general performance loss when installing on a different motherboard or device.

 

[USAFRet]

So, I asked BB before buying, they said the 1T drive would work fine in the new one and to replace it, before booting it up on the 256G drive.

Clueless BB person.

This requires a full wipe and reinstall. Nothing less.

 

[geofelt]

Re installing windows on a laptop can be a tricky business.
Drivers and keyboard functions may not be standard and are hard to find.
To keep it simple, clone your C drive to a replacement ssd.