Troubleshooting changing HDD from Dell to HP

[lalo_caballero]

So yeah, I need to change a HDD form a Dell laptop to a HP laptop, in which the Dell is freaking old but has a lot of sensitive information of the company and the HP is pretty new, Dell one is running Windows 7 and HP running Windows 10. I already try swapping HDD just like that but the laptop didn't turned on, I entered the BIOS and change to Legacy (I think) Boot and it started but didn't pass from "WIndows needs to be repair", try that but didn't work, I think that it's a Drivers problem but not quite sure. I hope someone could help me. Cheers bros 

[KhakiHat]

Switch HDD's in that manner typically doesn't work from what I understand

[rcmaehl]

There's a lot to take into consideration that can prevent a successful hard drive transfer:

 

• 32 vs 64-bit (You can only go from 32->64, not vice versa)
• Hardware drivers (Windows generally has generic drivers but some device specific drivers may need to be installed before transfer)
• UEFI vs Legacy BIOS (A disk made in UEFI mode won't work with Legacy BIOS)
• GPT vs MBR (Generally not an issue unless you have multiple hard drives in a system with a different bootloader)

Edited March 27, 2019 by rcmaehl
s/mpt/mbr/

[lalo_caballero]

9 minutes ago, rcmaehl said:

There's a lot to take into consideration that can prevent a successful hard drive transfer:

 

• 32 vs 64-bit (You can only go from 32->64, not vice versa)
• Hardware drivers (Windows generally has generic drivers but some device specific drivers may need to be installed before transfer)
• UEFI vs Legacy BIOS (A disk made in UEFI mode won't work with Legacy BIOS)
• GPT vs MBR (Generally not an issue unless you have multiple hard drives in a system with a different bootloader)

 Thanks for that quick answer!

 

• Both laptops are 64 bit
• How to know which ones would be need installed? 
• BIOS let you chose from UEFI and Legacy
• Just checked and Dell's MBR and HP is GPT

Or there is a way to copy the entire computer to the other? 

[rcmaehl]

1 minute ago, lalo_caballero said:

 Thanks for that quick answer!

 

• Both laptops are 64 bit
• How to know which ones would be need installed? 
•  BIOS let you chose from UEFI and Legacy
• Just checked and Dell's MBR and HP is GPT

Or there is a way to copy the entire computer to the other? 

• Good to hear, are they both Intel, or is one Intel and the other AMD?
• You can download the drivers for the new device from https://support.hp.com/ You'll want to search for the model of the HP laptop and install drivers listed for that device while the drive is still in the Dell. This may not always work as some drivers run a compatibility check beforehand.
• Depending on the age of the Dell, you'll likely want to set the HP to Legacy mode
• Shouldn't matter unless there's another hard drive in the HP at the same time, but good to note.

 

[lalo_caballero]

1 hour ago, rcmaehl said:

• Good to hear, are they both Intel, or is one Intel and the other AMD?
• You can download the drivers for the new device from https://support.hp.com/ You'll want to search for the model of the HP laptop and install drivers listed for that device while the drive is still in the Dell. This may not always work as some drivers run a compatibility check beforehand.
• Depending on the age of the Dell, you'll likely want to set the HP to Legacy mode
• Shouldn't matter unless there's another hard drive in the HP at the same time, but good to note.

 

• Both are Intel, so I don't think there will be compatibility problems. 
• I extract the drivers from the HP laptop on a External HD, is there a form to batch install the drivers on the Dell?
• Yep, HP ready on Legacy.

[rcmaehl]

4 minutes ago, lalo_caballero said:

• Both are Intel, so I don't think there will be compatibility problems. 
• I extract the drivers from the HP laptop on a External HD, is there a form to batch install the drivers on the Dell?
• Yep, HP ready on Legacy.

• That's good to hear
• Not that I'm aware of
• Good

[lalo_caballero]

1 minute ago, rcmaehl said:

• That's good to hear
• Not that I'm aware of
• Good

One last doubt, it is possible to install the driver even if the hardware is not on the laptop?

[rcmaehl]

Just now, lalo_caballero said:

One last doubt, it is possible to install the driver even if the hardware is not on the laptop?

Depends on the driver. Some check if the hardware is installed already, some don't.

 

Once all the drivers are installed. The PC still may not boot and if so you'll want to run startup repair once given the option.

[lalo_caballero]

3 minutes ago, rcmaehl said:

Depends on the driver. Some check if the hardware is installed already, some don't.

 

Once all the drivers are installed. The PC still may not boot and if so you'll want to run startup repair once given the option.

Good to know, time to get the hans dirty. I'll keep you post if any problem.