Transferring HDD from a prebuilt PC (Lenovo) to a custom built?

[sfsean04]

Hello, I am in the process of building a new PC from scratch, but I am considering keeping the current hard drive on my pre-built PC I bought a couple years ago (a Lenovo desktop with an A8-7600 mobo). It does come with a few Lenovo programs and was pre-loaded with Windows 8.1

My question is; if I take that hard drive and transfer it to the new mobo system, will it be safe and fully functional, or will this potentially cause a clash/error/conflict, and would the pre-built company's programs that were loaded potentially have errors?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Gyustarr]

No. First of all pre-loaded os means that Windows is tied to your motherboard. You cannot install it in an another PC. It will reject the license key. Even if that wasn't an issue, Windows would very likely not load in your new PC due to conflicting drivers. The best course of action would be to backup your important data, and install a fresh operating system.

 

[photonboy]

My quick answer is to get a W10 key and then use Microsoft Media Creation Tool to create an install USB stick (8GB+) or get a W10 copy.

My longer points are:
1) W8.1/W10 might work on a new system but it's difficult to say if you'll get errors.

2) It's almost certain it won't be activated so you may get popups telling you of this and possibly some things deactivated (I'm not up on what gets changed)

*There's a lot of confusion about all this since sometimes people ACTIVATED copies of Windows you wouldn't expect to work but my strong advice to be clear is:

1) obtain a W10 install USB/DVD as applicable
2) copy/backup important data, passwords etc (if you keep the entire "STEAMAPPS" folder you can reinstall Steam and not redownload games... for example let's say you bought a new HDD and just copied that folder to a new folder we'll call "E:\Steam" then reinstall Steam to Windows, login and then in the settings link to that folder on E-drive.

3) build system but don't attach drives yet
4) DDR3/4 memory to "XMP" or whatever is applicable

5) run MEMTEST86 www.memtest86.com (create on USB stick usually) to test DDR3/4 memory sticks prior to installing Windows
6) if working attach just the new Windows drive (i.e. 240GB SSD)

7) boot to W10 Install media but note:
a) should have login e-mail + password (probably want same one as before with W8.1)
b) connect speakers if you want since Cortona talks now

8) Once W10 installs wait for MS Updates to finish (Start->Settings->Update & Security)
9) install video drivers, fan control software (setup fan profile) etc as applicable

10) install programs, setup e-mail etc
11) make a backup IMAGE once everything works of (SSD?) to HDD. I use Acronis True Image (paid for automated solution but free versions exist for manual backup with some drives)

I've no doubt missed several things but PLANNING is key, especially your data.