Can I simply switch HDs from a non-working PC to..

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dkryan

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a desktop that works?

My friend has an E-machine that has "quit," i.e., it will not power up. A new power supply was installed, but it still does not power up.

Most guesses involve a bad motherboard.

I'm willing to loan her my HP a230n desktop by simply pulling my old HD and installing the HD from her E-machine.

Are there factors that would prevent this from working (assuming a correct installation of the HD into the HP)?
 
Yes, there are factors that would prevent it from working. Device drivers will all be different. Even if you updated all the drivers, the machine may not run right. It might limp along as a temporary solution, but I wouldn't have hopes of it as a long term solution.
 
There are lots of things involved here, but the primary one is Microsoft. If it's XP, Vista, or 7, the software registration is bound to cpu, nic, and a few other variables to keep folks from doing exactly what you describe: moving the software from one PC to another. You can move the drive and reload, or there are certain, shall I say, sources to bypass this inconvenience.
 
Yeah, someone speculated the HD from the e-machine is "tied" to the motherboard in some manner. Thus, if you simply purchased and installed a new motherboard, you'd have to re-load a lot of the OEM software.
 
If you moved harddrives, you would have to format and reinstall windows. The windows installation is what is "Tied" to the hardware of the old computer, and 99% likely will not boot with the new hardware.
 
The oem software/windows is tied to the motherboard. Just replacing the oem motherboard with a non oem one will prevent you from using any of the software that came with the pc.
 
If you are talking about ADDING her drive as a data drive, you will probably be able to get her files.

Her files are the valuable part. The software can be replaced, but pictures, documents, saved e-mail, etc cannot be replaced.

If you are talking about booting from her drive, as others have said, it probably won't work.

If you leave your drive in there, and add hers, you should be able to read it, get the files, etc. There may be some permissions issues. (I don't normally do "Windows") but one should be able to work around that.

But removing your drive, installing hers is probably not a workable solution.
 
Most likely you can use her drive to boot into your drive if you use safe mode (which does not rely on protect mode driver but rather real mode driver). However this is probably only good for copying off files and isolating problem locations.

If you want to you can probably spend the effort in safe mode to remove all the old machine's and install new drivers for the new machine. This is probably not a good use of time if it is for a temporary boot.

If she is getting another computer anyways, I'd wait till the new machine is there so that she can copy the files to the new machine directly.
 
that happened to me, chicken and egg situation. PS take Mobo or vice versa?

New different brand (HP?) mobo from ebay, old CPU.

Emachines rescue disc didn't respect the odd BIOS it saw, wouldn't let it reload.

Angry me, I find "i386" folder within windows on another machine. Temporarily load an older windows, I think 2000, then use it to run "WINNT32" within that i386 folder.

Registration time, I used the license key on the back of the chassis, worked slick.
thumbsup2.gif
 
I had an eMachines that had a failed motherboard. I later found out that it was because of an epidemic of cheap chinese capacitors on the motherboard. If you are good at soldering, you can replace the capacitors cheaply.

I just replaced the motherboard for $59 IIRC and everything booted up and worked perfectly. This might be your best solution if you don't want to tackle the almost free capacitor replacement soldering.
 
Guys, a lot of incorrect information here.

OP:

If you want to install her HD as the primary HD in your old HP, provided that hardware-wise everything lines up (if the drive is SATA, your machine has SATA support for example) all you need is an OEM CD.

Put the drive in the system.

Boot from the CD.

For XP, do NOT hit R on the Recovery Console screen. Hit ENTER to install Windows. It will ask you to accept the license agreement. Do so. Now, it will search for existing Windows installations and should find hers. It will ask you if you want to repair it, hit R to repair it.

It will delete all the hardware information from her previous install and re-create it through Windows setup. She will have to re-activate her copy of Windows, which will be fine. It was never activated to begin with, as it would have been a bulk-license install by the OEM. She should use the key on the side of her old case.

This will get her up and running. She/you will need to visit HP's site for system drivers for it. Install them and you'll be good to go.

Side-note: Make sure you are using an OEM disk for the version installed on HER computer, not yours. If hers was XP Home and yours was PRO for example, you need a HOME CD.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Guys, a lot of incorrect information here.

OP:

If you want to install her HD as the primary HD in your old HP, provided that hardware-wise everything lines up (if the drive is SATA, your machine has SATA support for example) all you need is an OEM CD.


It's my understanding that most newer ( 5years old and newer) OEM's do NOT have an OEM CD with them, that they rely on the windows recovery partition instead. What is one to do when they get one of those? My now-6 year old Emachines never came with an OEM recovery disc.
 
Originally Posted By: Tim H.
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Guys, a lot of incorrect information here.

OP:

If you want to install her HD as the primary HD in your old HP, provided that hardware-wise everything lines up (if the drive is SATA, your machine has SATA support for example) all you need is an OEM CD.


It's my understanding that most newer ( 5years old and newer) OEM's do NOT have an OEM CD with them, that they rely on the windows recovery partition instead. What is one to do when they get one of those? My now-6 year old Emachines never came with an OEM recovery disc.


Microsoft will mail you one for $10.00. Or you can download them on-line. They are free to distribute, it is the license that you pay for.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Guys, a lot of incorrect information here.

OP:

If you want to install her HD as the primary HD in your old HP, provided that hardware-wise everything lines up (if the drive is SATA, your machine has SATA support for example) all you need is an OEM CD.

Put the drive in the system.

Boot from the CD.

For XP, do NOT hit R on the Recovery Console screen. Hit ENTER to install Windows. It will ask you to accept the license agreement. Do so. Now, it will search for existing Windows installations and should find hers. It will ask you if you want to repair it, hit R to repair it.

It will delete all the hardware information from her previous install and re-create it through Windows setup. She will have to re-activate her copy of Windows, which will be fine. It was never activated to begin with, as it would have been a bulk-license install by the OEM. She should use the key on the side of her old case.

This will get her up and running. She/you will need to visit HP's site for system drivers for it. Install them and you'll be good to go.

Side-note: Make sure you are using an OEM disk for the version installed on HER computer, not yours. If hers was XP Home and yours was PRO for example, you need a HOME CD.



+1.
 
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