Swapping builds.

[evilmeister13]

Lets say ive got an hdd here that is quite full of installed games and my OS and such, and i put it in a different computer, and i dont want to have to reinstall all of them cause im on wifi. Would it work? Or is there a software trick i need to use?

[Altecice]

No you will have to do a full reinstall of windows + games + programs etc. There is no software "trick" for this issue its just how windows interacts with the hardware layer that means its locked to that hardware setup.

[ForsakenLive]

it will 'work'. The OS will boot, the games will launch. however you will have to go through a lot of driver cleaning, installing, and random bugs and warnings will pop out every now and then.

During the OS install, many things get installed for that particular PC. Drivers and games configure themselves for that hardware too, so changing the main storage to another system is just not worth all the hassle.

[evilmeister13]

No you will have to do a full reinstall of windows + games + programs etc. There is no software "trick" for this issue its just how windows interacts with the hardware layer that means its locked to that hardware setup.

Lets say i have two different computers with windows 8.1 pro, one of which is  a clean, fresh install. Is there a way to transfer all of my stuff from one computer and install it on the other?

[Cryptonite]

You're asking for a major guide which is something I'm not good at. I'm able to do a lot of stuff but explaining them usually end up in misunderstandings and people messing up. 

[Madgemade]

This:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html

it works and I have done it for the same reason as you

Make sure you back everything up as this method is not perfect

[LogicalDrm]

For just Steam games its fine. You may need to verify cache for games and setup folders in settings but nothing more than that.

[evilmeister13]

Ok so i moved my HDD to my other computer, it sat there for a while, then it popped up with the windows 8 loading screen and said "getting devices ready" and after a while it booted up, and it works perfectly. Its just not activated, which isnt an issue for me.