win 10 back to win 7

[lmnebr]

my dell 830 running win 7 has bad display. I got a new dell 6430 with win 10. can I take the hard drive out of the 830 and put it in the 6430 ?? I know I may have to change things in the bios.

 

[t1]

No, the windows 7 license key is locked to the machine its currently with. When you put it in the other computer, it will know its in a different computer due to all of the new and different hardware it doesn't recognize. (id and serial numbers won't match up) It will disable itself and force you to contact Microsoft to get approval, or a new license key. You may also void any warranty you may have on the new machine once you open it up.

If you just want to save your saved files on the old machine, you can get a USB adapter enclosure for the old drive and plug it in on your new computer, and copy things to the new one. But you can't swap the drives and expect your new computer to boot up and work as if it was the old one. Microsoft has set things up to prevent piracy of there operating systems. The Windows 7 license you have only allows it to be used in that 1 machine, and no other. Even if you were to upgrade internal parts, which some of us do. There is a limit to how many parts, and what parts can be upgraded before it triggers the, this might be a new machine flag.

 

[Janicholson]

Good answer. aAnother option might be to attach a second monitor to the video jack and use it to see what you are doing, then transfer the drive contents through USB connection. Jim

 

[MarkB_MI]

Security updates for Windows 7 ended almost three years ago. It's a really bad idea to run an operating system that been un-patched for that long.

 

[kcm.MN]

This post was edited by kcm.MN on 10/09/2022 at 10:54 am.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

The heck with windows, I love my chromebook.
It does everything I need to do..

 

[WilBury]

Sure you can. Just install it in a spare drive bay but do not attempt to boot to it, you could corrupt your whole system. After it's accesible, copy what you need to your new drive & reformat the old one. Stick with Win10.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> The heck with windows, I love my chromebook.
> It does everything I need to do..

I haven't run Windows on my personal computers since the early nineties. Switched to OS/2, then to Linux. I like things that work.

I'm not a big fan of Chromebooks, but they're a great value. And of course they run a Linux-based operating system.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

(quoted from post at 07:33:09 10/09/22) my dell 830 running win 7 has bad display. I got a new dell 6430 with win 10. can I take the hard drive out of the 830 and put it in the 6430 ?? I know I may have to change things in the bios.

I know everyone is hand-wringing about the licensing issues, but that's the least of your worries.

The hardware on your new laptop is completely different from the old. It is unlikely that there are drivers installed, or even available for your new computer on Windows 7.

In short your new laptop probably won't even boot on the old hard drive.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I love using a touch screen instead of a mouse..
Chromebooks are easy to use.
Everything I do on the spreadsheet is instantly backed up.
It does everything I need to do.
Best part, no windows.. no doors either.lol

 

[Stephen Newell]

Might be a good idea. There is an issue with the windows 10 and 11 software which the startup is corrupted. I refused to get windows 10 and bought one with 11 and within a month the computer quit. My son managed to fix it but my daughter says she fixed her computer but it only lasts about three months.

 

[gravy99]

was running 3 dell lap tops about a month ago one them went south real slow, 2 still working fine still get some updates. I think I used XP 4 or 5 years after they discontinued it.