I'm new, please help

[Dasa]

Ok hi, I don't even know how to start this...

 

I'm screwed. Also before i say anything I wanna let you know I barely know anything about tech.

 

Here's the situation. We (me on behalf on my dad) have 2 comps right now

COMP 1 (One used until now), Win 7, HUA722010ALA330 (some 1TB drive from Hitachi), Intel E6550 (Duo Core), 4 GB RAM

COMP 2 (One just got used), Win 10, Seagate Desktop HDD ST250DM000 (250 GB), Intel E8400 (Duo Core), 4 GB Ram

 

My dad is a proofreader and whatever and his computer is rocking some old motherboard from God knows when and it's just awfully slow. So we got some half-not-too-shabby used computer running Windows 10 and like ok... Now what? He needs to transfer all his programs which range from things like Office - which the new comp doesn't have - to programs which aren't even available to download anymore so there's not even an option to fork over some extra cash to reinstall those.

 

Besides that, the hard drive on the new computer has a lot less space. Both are regular HDDs, but Idek if the one on COMP 1 is like worse than the one in COMP 2. Honestly, I can't tell. And the processor, I assume E8400 is better than E6550. Both Duo, whatever that means.

 

Basically I want to know a couple of things:

1) Can I unplug the hard drive from COMP 1 and shove it in COMP 2? (Meaning will a) all the programs work and files go in the right place and b) will the OS even boot up?)

2) Is there any way I can determine what's making COMP 1 slow? I don't think it's the RAM bc again, he's a proofreader, all his really does is watch YT and have a couple of Word Docs open at a time. It could be the processor, it could be the motherboard, it could be the HDD, I AINT GOT A CLUE. But what I mean by slow is that it takes 5 seconds for the mouse to move from point A to B...

 

pls help linus ppl? i hope i came to the right place.

[Protean]

Some general rule of thumb: while working with prehistoric software is to just backup the disk anyway. Most of the old software is never going to get a W10 support, nor the activation process will be available all the time (the servers will go down).

 

If software is like really old then it may not work on newer OSes. Expect a lot of troubles with making them work after "installation".

 

If you want to make that working on W10 then go for VM like virtualbox and emulate the older OS if this is something from XP era

[Dasa]

9 minutes ago, Protean said:

Some general rule of thumb: while working with prehistoric software is to just backup the disk anyway. Most of the old software is never going to get a W10 support, nor the activation process will be available all the time (the servers will go down).

 

If software is like really old then it may not work on newer OSes. Expect a lot of troubles with making them work after "installation".

 

If you want to make that working on W10 then go for VM like virtualbox and emulate the older OS if this is something from XP era

I dont mean will they work bc they're old programs per se, I mean generally will taking the hand drive from COMP 1 and putting it into COMP 2 allow for ANY of the programs to work? 

[Protean]

4 minutes ago, Dasa said:

I dont mean will they work bc they're old programs per se, I mean generally will taking the hand drive from COMP 1 and putting it into COMP 2 allow for ANY of the programs to work? 

Yeah, it should. Both E6550 and E8400 were working fine with W7. Both CPUs has LGA775 socket... I don't see there any hardware complications

[Dasa]

1 minute ago, Protean said:

Yeah, it should. Both E6550 and E8400 were released while W7 was still in active duty. Both CPUs has LGA775 socket... I don't see there any hardware complications

What about the fact that COMP 1 is running Win 7 and 2 is running Win 10. If i place HDD from COMP 1 into 2, will it boot up with Win 10 or 7? Bc again, idk anything but afaik the OS is installed on the motherboard but the OS files are obvsly on the drive.

[Protean]

Just now, Dasa said:

What about the fact that COMP 1 is running Win 7 and 2 is running Win 10. If i place HDD from COMP 1 into 2, will it boot up with Win 10 or 7? Bc again, idk anything but afaik the OS is installed on the motherboard but the OS files are obvsly on the drive.

OS is never installed on motherboard.

 

You will have two disks with their own MBR (master boot record), this is a part of the disk that is related to a bootloader, and a bootloader is a OS selector (if you ever had dual OS on a HDD then you had to make a choice where u want to boot).

 

I expect that your motherboard will boot a OS that is on a first disk in boot order in your BIOS, if you will want to boot into other OS then you would need to press F10-F12 (it depends) to select another disk as the one you want to boot from.

[Dasa]

3 minutes ago, Protean said:

OS is never installed on motherboard.

 

You will have two disks with their own MBR (master boot record), this is a part of the disk that is related to a bootloader, and a bootloader is a OS selector (if you ever had dual OS on a HDD then you had to make a choice where u want to boot).

 

I expect that your motherboard will boot a OS that is on a first disk in boot order in your BIOS, if you will want to boot into other OS then you would need to press F10-F12 (it depends) to select another disk as the one you want to boot from.

Just to be clear this applies even if I take out the HDD currently in COMP 2 and put the HDD from COMP 1 into it? Meaning I can take HDD 1 from a comp running Win 7 and swap it into a comp running Win 10, with all the files running and programs (besides the ones that ofc arent compatible with the OS)? I just don't understand where the Win 10 OS would be located then if I completely remove the HDD from COMP 2 to make room for the other HDD from the Win 7 comp... And if all this is true, can I just copt a .exe file onto a USB and import it to a new comp? Like, cuz then why aren't there unlimited versions of my paid programs like Adobe Acrobat and the like?

 

On a side note I find all this very strange bc I spoke to some1 from Microsoft and they told me that the OS is installed on the motherboard. Weird.

 

Thx so much btw for sticking with my newbie-ness.

[Protean]

9 minutes ago, Dasa said:

Just to be clear this applies even if I take out the HDD currently in COMP 2 and put the HDD from COMP 1 into it? Meaning I can take HDD 1 from a comp running Win 7 and swap it into a comp running Win 10, with all the files running and programs (besides the ones that ofc arent compatible with the OS)? I just don't understand where the Win 10 OS would be located then if I completely remove the HDD from COMP 2 to make room for the other HDD from the Win 7 comp... And if all this is true, can I just copt a .exe file onto a USB and import it to a new comp? Like, cuz then why aren't there unlimited versions of my paid programs like Adobe Acrobat and the like?

 

On a side note I find all this very strange bc I spoke to some1 from Microsoft and they told me that the OS is installed on the motherboard. Weird.

 

Thx so much btw for sticking with my newbie-ness.

Your OS is on the disk entirely, you can put both of these disks into COMP 2 since there are always at least 2 sata cable slots on any motherboard.

 

When you mentioned a dude from Microsoft I may think that he mentioned the OEM version of the OS.

 

OEM versions of the OS are bound to the hardware ID, it does not mean that its installed on your motherboard, but it mean that it will run on exactly that hardware configuration.

 

First check if your W7 is an OEM version (google how-to). If it is an OEM then probably you should not put it in other hardware configuration (same principle for W10).

 

My knowledge around OEM revisions is very limited since I never bought an OEM OS.

[Dasa]

1 minute ago, Protean said:

Your OS is on the disk entirely, you can put both of these disks into COMP 2 since there are always at least 2 sata cable slots on any motherboard.

 

When you mentioned a dude from Microsoft I may think that he mentioned the OEM version of the OS.

 

OEM versions of the OS are bound to the hardware ID.

 

First check if your W7 is an OEM version (google how-to). If it is an OEM then probably you should not put it in other hardware configuration (same principle for W10).

 

My knowledge around OEM revisions is very limited since I never bought an OEM OS.

Ok so assuming it's not an OEM version (side note: what's the term for 'not OEM'?) I plug both it, boot it up into the boot menu and boot it up on the new HDD (the one that is currently in Comp 2)? Then all my programs files should be located in a Drive which will not be labeled C, correct?

But that's essentially wasting a whole HDD just for an OS, is there anyway I can transfer the OS to the other HDD so I can basically remove the new HDD and use it maybe for some other purpose while then having all my files/programs from my old PC coupled with the new OS on one single (not to mention higher capacity) HDD?

[Protean]

2 minutes ago, Dasa said:

Ok so assuming it's not an OEM version (side note: what's the term for 'not OEM'?) I plug both it, boot it up into the boot menu and boot it up on the new HDD (the one that is currently in Comp 2)? Then all my programs files should be located in a Drive which will not be labeled C, correct?

But that's essentially wasting a whole HDD just for an OS, is there anyway I can transfer the OS to the other HDD so I can basically remove the new HDD and use it maybe for some other purpose while then having all my files/programs from my old PC coupled with the new OS on one single (not to mention higher capacity) HDD?

Ad 1. A opposite version of OEM is Retail, but nobody cares that much unless they need to. On everyday basis its just a "W10" or "W7"

Ad 2. Letter assign is not enforced, I believe it may change if you connect another disk, but yeah you are right about the rest. However you may not be able to run W7 apps on W10 OS (it may work, or may not).

Ad 3. No, not really. You cannot just copy-paste Windows directory to another machine and expect it to work. You would need to create additional partition on that bigger disk. Since I suppose you have only 1 partition on that big disk then you would have to shrink existing one to make a "Free Space" for new one. This itself can be done with more or less sophisticated software that will warn you about the risk of loosing existing data. After shrinking the main parition and making a new one you would need to install Windows 10 there. After installation of W10 you may need to add W7 in bootloader (if W10 ignores it presence) with app like EasyBCD, and after all of that you could move files form backup.

 

At this stage I would highly consider just using 2 disks, the risk of loosing data compared to HDD value in 2020 is not really worth it.

[Dasa]

13 minutes ago, Protean said:

Ad 1. A opposite version of OEM is Retail, but nobody cares that much unless they need to. On everyday basis its just a "W10" or "W7"

Ad 2. Letter assign is not enforced, I believe it may change if you connect another disk, but yeah you are right about the rest. However you may not be able to run W7 apps on W10 OS (it may work, or may not).

Ad 3. No, not really. You cannot just copy-paste Windows directory to another machine and expect it to work. You would need to create additional partition on that bigger disk. Since I suppose you have only 1 partition on that big disk then you would have to shrink existing one to make a "Free Space" for new one. This itself can be done with more or less sophisticated software that will warn you about the risk of loosing existing data. After shrinking the main parition and making a new one you would need to install Windows 10 there. After installation of W10 you may need to add W7 in bootloader (if W10 ignores it presence) with app like EasyBCD, and after all of that you could move files form backup.

 

At this stage I would highly consider just using 2 disks, the risk of loosing data compared to HDD value in 2020 is not really worth it.

It's OEM... So I'm screwed?

[Protean]

2 minutes ago, Dasa said:

It's OEM... So I'm screwed?

Dunno, I ve never had an OEM.

You should ask somebody who had OEM OS, especially W7 since its extended support expired.

[Dasa]

1 minute ago, Protean said:

Dunno, I ve never had an OEM.

You should ask somebody who had OEM OS, especially W7 since its extended support expired.

Ok thx so much for all ur help, I'll wait here until another Linus legend fan comes to help. Last question tho, why would it make a diff tho? What essentially is diff between OEM and retail?

[Protean]

6 minutes ago, Dasa said:

Ok thx so much for all ur help, I'll wait here until another Linus legend fan comes to help. Last question tho, why would it make a diff tho? What essentially is diff between OEM and retail?

OEMs are cheapter because OEMs are mostly for offices. Let's say you have a company that runs 80 PC in its headquarters, and if one of these PC go broken they you either send it to its manufacturer (warranty) or leave it to rust in a corner (since these are like 100-200USD machines not worthy to fix)

 

Having 80 cheap PCs requires you to have 80 Windows licences, there comes an OEM where you can buy a W10 for ie. 50USD instead of 200USD, but you can run it only on one registered coniguration.

 

For me as an individual who is going to upgrade some RAM over time, change a notebook etc. I go for Retail for my own sake.

So Retail works on my PC1, PC2, PC3... I think the limit is up to like N-registrations of different hardware configs.

 

There is one detail in all of that - only 1 retail licence key can be used at a time. You cannot use a retail key on 100 PCs at one time.

 

Also watch this:

 

[Dasa]

4 minutes ago, Protean said:

OEMs are cheapter because OEMs are mostly for offices. Let's say you have a company that runs 80 PC in its headquarters, and if one of these PC go broken they you either send it to its manufacturer (warranty) or leave it to rust in a corner (since these are like 100-200USD machines not worthy to fix)

 

Having 80 cheap PCs requires you to have 80 Windows licences, there comes an OEM where you can buy a W10 for ie. 50USD instead of 200USD, but you can run it only on one registered coniguration.

 

For me as an individual who is going to upgrade some RAM over time, change a notebook etc. I go for Retail for my own sake.

Aha so OEM basically says "pay less for the cost of not being able to switch over to a new PC", like what I want to do right now. But anyways you're saying it might still work but you don't know, or afayk it wont work to just transfer the HDD.

 

But I still don't really get it, bc I just want the programs and files, not the OS (Win 7), for the OS I'm gonna use the new HDD...

 

Ya I watched that, you probably mean the parts where Linus talks about changing hardware and the OS not booting afterwards... But again, I don't need the OS to boot, I just need the files and programs to be accesible on the new comp, which btw isnt running OEM version of Win 10 (asaik)

[Protean]

1 minute ago, Dasa said:

Aha so OEM basically says "pay less for the cost of not being able to switch over to a new PC", like what I want to do right now. But anyways you're saying it might still work but you don't know, or afayk it wont work to just transfer the HDD.

 

But I still don't really get it, bc I just want the programs and files, not the OS (Win 7), for the OS I'm gonna use the new HDD...

Your apps originally were installed with some installer (the fancy window app where you click "Next" "Next" "Agree" "Finish" etc.)

These installers usually put some stuff into windows registry that may be important for seamless work and this is what you cannot copy-paste between disk like files.

 

You may try to copypaste the files, but more likely something will crash during app launch or during work.

 

Right now I think its best for you to try to copypaste these files between drives. Eventually it will just work

[Dasa]

10 minutes ago, Protean said:

Your apps originally were installed with some installer (the fancy window app where you click "Next" "Next" "Agree" "Finish" etc.)

These installers usually put some stuff into windows registry that may be important for seamless work and this is what you cannot copy-paste between disk like files.

 

You may try to copypaste the files, but more likely something will crash during app launch or during work.

 

Right now I think its best for you to try to copypaste these files between drives. Eventually it will just work

But isn't thr a risk tht transfering this drive tht it will deactivate the Win 7? Like what if it all backfires and the programs don't work, is there a chance I'll plug the drive back into the old comp to be greeted by a comp tht wont boot Win 7? Or am I getting confused and there's no such thing

 

in case u ddnt see my edit from b4:

"Ya I watched that, you probably mean the parts where Linus talks about changing hardware and the OS not booting afterwards... But again, I don't need the OS to boot, I just need the files and programs to be accesible on the new comp, which btw isnt running OEM version of Win 10 (asaik), the new comp is a retail version of Win 10"

[Protean]

7 minutes ago, Dasa said:

But isn't thr a risk tht transfering this drive tht it will deactivate the Win 7? Like what if it all backfires and the programs don't work, is there a chance I'll plug the drive back into the old comp to be greeted by a comp tht wont boot Win 7? Or am I getting confused and there's no such thing

 

in case u ddnt see my edit from b4:

"Ya I watched that, you probably mean the parts where Linus talks about changing hardware and the OS not booting afterwards... But again, I don't need the OS to boot, I just need the files and programs to be accesible on the new comp, which btw isnt running OEM version of Win 10 (asaik), the new comp is a retail version of Win 10"

Copy these files by using some pendrive, cloud storage or sth if you don't want to unplug HDD

[Dasa]

1 minute ago, Protean said:

Copy these files by using some pendrive, cloud storage or sth if you don't want to unplug HDD

I should copy paste the whole drive to another - let's say - external HD and just paste it to my new comp and hope for the best. I assume I'd need the entire drive copied and pasted cuz of all the files it writes in the directory which u were talking about. Simply copying over the specific files I think are needed won't do the trick. right?

[Dasa]

#bumpity bump bump