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Involved Computer Question ? ? ?

Replicator

Replicator

New Member
Can I load a windows operating system on a hard-drive and then expect that that hard-drive could be installed into a tower and function properly ?

Or does the operating system have to be installed on a hard-drive that resides in a tower so the the operating system can identify peripherals

and the motherboard and such during installation ?
 
J

jessew1987

New Member
From my experience, you should be able to do option 1... I've taken hard drives out, plugged it into another computer and booted from that drive and ran it just like it was in the other computer.
 
chrisphilipps

chrisphilipps

Merchant Member
The biggest problem in doing this is with the drivers like you mentioned. If it would work you would probably have to boot into safe mode and reinstall the correct drivers for the new hardware. I would try to avoid this setup; it would probably make for a very unstable system.
 
Replicator

Replicator

New Member
I ask because a friend from NY is asking if he can send me just his hard-drive and have me install windows on it so he can avoid the expense of shipping the entire computer.
 
Replicator

Replicator

New Member
Wondering if there would be a way to make the main drive letter of the drive "C" without F'ing up my computer . . . Probably no chance huh'?
 
weaselboogie

weaselboogie

New Member
I don't think you can swap OS drives. Maybe an older version of windows, but I think anything as of lately has to be installed for registry and security in the tower.
 
D

Drip Dry

New Member
It was my experience that up until Windows ME, you could swap drives with no issues.
But, when XP showed up, you couldn't just swap it because the operating system is looking for particular peripherals such as the video card.
When you swap it you get an error message ( can't remember but it said something about can't find the OS) I understood you could call Microsoft and get it changed to accept the new hardware but I never tried that.

Guess it has something to do with 1 computer... 1 operating system
 
choucove

choucove

New Member
In general, when you install an OS onto a hard drive, it is basing many aspects of that OS installation on the drivers for the chipset and other things of that actual physical computer. Say you were to install Windows onto my desktop computer, which is an AMD 780FX chipset based system. Then you take that hard drive and install it into an Intel X48 chipset based system. Most likely, you will get a BSOD on booting up Windows because the drivers that interact with the computer are no longer valid.

Now, that is just in general. If the two computer systems are close enough in configuration and chipset, it MAY allow you to boot into the OS installed but still require you to install the new drivers for that system, such as video drivers or NIC drivers. I had this happen with a couple Dell towers that were quite similar and only about a year apart in make. But it is not to be expected in general.
 
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joeshaul

New Member
If it's an NT based OS (NT4, Windows 2000, XP, Vista), I give it a 80% chance it BSoD's on boot, 20% chance it doesn't.

All kind of behind the scene drivers are installed and configured during the installation process, when that hard drive is taken out and installed in another computer, those drivers may not be applicable anymore, as the hardware has changed.
 
Replicator

Replicator

New Member
Hypothetically and I ask because I'm running a pre-release and I never had to install a driver of any kind . . . Everything just worked !

Do you think Windows 7 would have issues installing onto a drive without knowing the motherboard, chipset or drivers ?

I'm thinking it might work out OK . . . Again my biggest concern at the moment would be the naming of the drive to "C".
 
J

joeshaul

New Member
Sounds like a mess. I wouldn't install an OS that isn't available for retail purchase on someone else's computer. I believe Windows 7 still uses an NT kernel, so expect the same results.

If your drives are SATA, I'd probably just pull the power cable to em before installing to ensure they don't get chosen earlier in the chain. If they're IDE, you'll most likely have to adjust some jumpers for slave/master/standalone, then make sure to jumper it back before you mail it out.
 
J

joeshaul

New Member
Why I made my comment about the retail use thing, taken from Microsoft's site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/download.aspx

Remember expiration dates: Please plan ahead for when the RC expires. You'll get two weeks' notice, and then beginning on March 1, 2010, your PC will start shutting down every two hours. The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. To avoid interruption, you'll need to rebuild your test PC to replace the OS with a valid version of Windows, and reinstall all your programs and data before the software expires
 
Replicator

Replicator

New Member
I had no intention of loading "7", I was just curious about anyone thought it would result in the same problems . . . Thanks for the replies !
 
D

DonnyD

New Member
I would get him to ship you the computer tower. If you install it on his HDD the OS will still be configured to your computer and could cause instability. Drivers and settings become an issue at some point. I'm not saying it can't be done or that it work. I'm just saying its a bad idea.
 
Sabre

Sabre

New Member
Yeah, it would have to be some pretty extreme circumstances for me to recommend that to anyone. Unless he's able to do the preinstall on a very similar system, I wouldn't risk it. Even that could get a little chancy.

Good luck :)
 
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