hard drive question

[Aimessan]

i have a hard drive with Win7 on it but my computer died. I just want to know if i build a brand new computer where every thing is different can i use that hard drive for windows. the hard drive does work.

[Dave :)]

If you change your motherboard, you will need to reinstall windows. Do you still have the disk for install?

[Aimessan]

no i don't have the disk anymore

[Dave :)]

Can you identify what caused your PC to break in the first place? All you need to do is to get into windows, find your key, then download the windows files from their website and load onto a USB stick. It's pretty simple, we just need to get you into Windows.

[Aimessan]

when ever i turned it off then back on i would not get a video signal every thing would turn on but no signal. i would have to unplug the power cord and wait for the green light on my power supply to go out then plug it back in and i would get it to boot, but now it wont boot at all. I think that it is a motherboard or graphics card issue. it was a dell insperion that i got in '09

[ScuderiaNerd]

Try watching this video, where Linus talks about no post diagnosis:

PS: Don't forget to like the video... lol

[Aimessan]

i have and it didn't help i just think it is dead

[ScuderiaNerd]

Well, as Dave said, unless it's the same motherboard, it's not very likely that the system would boot. Even if it booted with the old windows, it would not be stable, and you'd start seeing blue screens very often.

[Aimessan]

now i curious if i can get the windows files for a diffrent computer same brand its just a laptop. and how would i go about getting them

[christoi]

As said, the first issue would really be to find the fault before going out and getting a new unit - you may be able to just replace a single component if you're lucky. First of all however, is the system POSTing?

Getting back your data from the hard drive shouldn't be too much of an issue though, while you may not be able to boot into a new system with the existing installation of windows, you can plug the drive into any desktop and you should be able to access all the files. As for license keys, just call up microsoft and explain the issue.

[Aimessan]

well im already getting a new computer i just dont want to spend 100+ dollars on a new OS its not in my budget

[Puppet]

If you have the key you can just download Win7 from digital river. It should be on a sticker on your Dell, if not there will be a hardware number and Dell should be able to supply you you're license key...

Win7 download:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/w/microsoft_os/3316.2-1-microsoft-windows-7-official-iso-download-links-digital-river.aspx

[Puppet]

If you have the key you can just download Win7 from digital river. It should be on a sticker on your Dell, if not there will be a hardware number and Dell should be able to supply you you're license key...

Win7 download:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/w/microsoft_os/3316.2-1-microsoft-windows-7-official-iso-download-links-digital-river.aspx

By the way the iso's are universal whether its a Dell or not, recommend creating a bootable USB or SD, much faster installing!

[Night]

Ive got a similar question. My mates laptop has carked it and he wants to get his iTunes music off the hard drive. I havnt seen the problem so im not too sure how far he gets when turning it on.

So.. Could I put his laptop HDD into my 650D's hotswap bay and retrieve the data?

[Puppet]

Ive got a similar question. My mates laptop has carked it and he wants to get his iTunes music off the hard drive. I havnt seen the problem so im not too sure how far he gets when turning it on.

So.. Could I put his laptop HDD into my 650D's hotswap bay and retrieve the data?

Yep should come with an adapter for 2.5" drives

[Night]

Ive got a similar question. My mates laptop has carked it and he wants to get his iTunes music off the hard drive. I havnt seen the problem so im not too sure how far he gets when turning it on.

So.. Could I put his laptop HDD into my 650D's hotswap bay and retrieve the data?

After reading this thread im worried ill run into issues where windows doesnt detect the HDD because of different motherboards. Im pretty sure the bios in a dell will be different to my motherboards bios... if that even affects it.

[Art Vandelay]

If you change your motherboard, you will need to reinstall windows. Do you still have the disk for install?

You won't necessarily need to reinstall Windows. The activation system will bug you, but you can get around that in several ways.

[Guest]

Ive got a similar question. My mates laptop has carked it and he wants to get his iTunes music off the hard drive. I havnt seen the problem so im not too sure how far he gets when turning it on.

So.. Could I put his laptop HDD into my 650D's hotswap bay and retrieve the data?

Worked fine for me with both a HP laptop to Dell laptop and Asus board desktop to Dell laptop :) You'll be okay

[Oisin Maguire]

Ive got a similar question. My mates laptop has carked it and he wants to get his iTunes music off the hard drive. I havnt seen the problem so im not too sure how far he gets when turning it on.

So.. Could I put his laptop HDD into my 650D's hotswap bay and retrieve the data?

that wont happen as your not booting off your friends hdd your simple reading off of it.

[cxz]

Ive got a similar question. My mates laptop has carked it and he wants to get his iTunes music off the hard drive. I havnt seen the problem so im not too sure how far he gets when turning it on.

So.. Could I put his laptop HDD into my 650D's hotswap bay and retrieve the data?

As long as the HDD still works you can plug it right in and windows will start normally. Then pull everything off. The thing about the motherboard though is that OEM version's keys do not work unless it is loaded with the original motherboard. So basically you can use windows for about 30 days before...well whatever happens at that point. Did I answer your question?

[Oisin Maguire]

Aimessan sounds like a psu problem to me, thats were id start check if the 12 volt rail is at 12 volts like wise for the 5 and the 3.3 volt rails

if its not a faulty power supply do the "usual" leave one stick of ram in and replace it after each time you have a good boot and check it on memtest86 or the likes, if your not using integrated graphics try removing the card and just using integrated graphics, you could also try another hdd as sometimes the pcb can short and force a shutdown during boot.

[cxz]

well im already getting a new computer i just dont want to spend 100+ dollars on a new OS its not in my budget

Well I personally have never had a pc die on me, but from what I have heard Microsoft might be able to supply you a new key or something to make your windows work. Wait you just bought a new pc, so windows will already come with it? If all else fails you can convert to Linux...only reason I keep windows around is that some games run better, because they are not native to linux.

[Night]

Ive got a similar question. My mates laptop has carked it and he wants to get his iTunes music off the hard drive. I havnt seen the problem so im not too sure how far he gets when turning it on.

So.. Could I put his laptop HDD into my 650D's hotswap bay and retrieve the data?

Thanks guys. :D

[Oisin Maguire]

Ive got a similar question. My mates laptop has carked it and he wants to get his iTunes music off the hard drive. I havnt seen the problem so im not too sure how far he gets when turning it on.

So.. Could I put his laptop HDD into my 650D's hotswap bay and retrieve the data?

after 30 days the things that change is

a) windows asks you to put in a key (and that you might have an illegal copy)

b) your desktop is now black with a build error in the bottom right hand corner

As far as what I know that's all it does

[Dave :)]

If you change your motherboard, you will need to reinstall windows. Do you still have the disk for install?

You won't necessarily need to reinstall Windows. The activation system will bug you' date=' but you can get around that in several ways.[/quote']

True, however it does vary. I've swapped boards between Gigabyte and Gigabyte and not had any issues, but then swapped between Gigabyte and Asus and i had to reinstall, windows just wouldn't boot. So i don't really want to say it would work, because then, if it doesn't, i would feel bad.