Switching SSD to another PC

[EKWorks]

Hi,

 

Later this week I'll be finishing my desktop PC build yet one thing is bothering me: on my laptop right now I have an SSD installed with Windows 10 on it. Am I able to simply install it onto the desktop PC and sort out the drivers or would I actually need to factory reset the OS?

[Helpful Tech Witch]

you would need to reinstall.

there would be conflicting drivers which would be a mess to fix. you could copy ofer all of the important files to a usb if you needed them. 

[bmx6454]

it would likely be fine, windows would likely install the needed drivers. but it would be better to fresh install.

[Touch My Hamm]

In theory it should work. But defining work is difficult. Windows should be able to pick up some basic drivers for the new hardware depending on the version of windows and the hardware but it might have issues with conflicting drivers. There is also the issue of licensing since most Win10 licenses are stored on the mainboard. I would recommend doing a full reinstall on the drive in the new machine. 

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Windows

***

 

Is it fresh install or with laptops OEM install? That can make a big difference since laptops use very specific hardware. Same goes with activation.

[EKWorks]

On 3/16/2021 at 11:48 AM, LogicalDrm said:

-> Moved to Windows

***

 

Is it fresh install or with laptops OEM install? That can make a big difference since laptops use very specific hardware. Same goes with activation.

It's with laptops OEM install

[freeagent]

It could work or it could crash

 

I took my moms 1TB spinner out of her Dell laptop and plugged it into a Z77 board and it was fine, it just loaded new drivers. Slow af of course..

 

I have done it myself on my personal machines with different chipsets.. most of the time it works..

[Tan3l6]

GPT installations tend to be more difficult to migrate than MBR, latter runs just fine on a new system if some steps are made... or even just as is.

[LogicalDrm]

16 minutes ago, EKWorks said:

It's with laptops OEM install

Yeah, that may or may not work. OEM installs are different, so are keys. You can try and see how it goes, but I would prepare USB installer if it doesn't work.