My computer died - question about transfer of hard drive.

[pewe]

As the title says, my Acer laptop died on me.
I have ordered a new laptop which is an HP.

If I transfer my existing hard drive with win 8.1 and all my programmes installed from the Acer to the HP, what problems will I encounter, and are they surmountable.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[TechnoMage]

If your new PC was also an Acer with the same type of CPU, you might get away with a HD swap, But since the new one is an HP with probably a totally different CPU, you're stuck with using the new PC with the HD that came with it.

There are several different ways, that your old HD can be connected to your new PC, via a USB cable, so that you can access and copy all the files from the old HD to the new one. Programs themselves cannot be copied, but you have to be installed from the original media.

Almost any decent Computer Shop can hook up your old HD to their own computer, access all your data files and burn them to a DVD for you.
I do that quite often for my own customers. As long as they give me the old PC, I don't even charge for the data recovery service.

Good Luck!
TechnoMage

 

[DeaconFrost]

If the old drive died, there's also a chance it corrupted some files in the process. Your best bet is to start new with the HP, and just worry about salvaging your user data from the old drive, like photos, documents, etc.

 

[Mark Phelps]

If you're willing to experiment, I recommend using LapLink PCMover software. It may not transfer ALL your apps, but even if it does only some of them, that's less work for you to reinstall.

 

[pewe]

Thanks guys.
It was the laptop (drive controller I think) that died - the hard drives (had 2 in it) are OK.

(Oh for the days of Win 3.1).

Another question.
If I use the Win 8.1 installation on the new Laptop I assume it will be an OEM license - will I be able to just change the license to a retail version, or will that involve a re-install ?

 

[RolandJS]

...If I use the Win 8.1 installation on the new Laptop I assume it will be an OEM license - will I be able to just change the license to a retail version, or will that involve a re-install ?

Yes, I did exactly that. From a local computer big-store, I purchased a Windows 7 Pro upgrade [which came from MS] for my OEM Windows 7 Home Edition [or whatever the name was].

 

[pewe]

Thanks Roland.:thumb:

I will try my Win8pro key when the laptop arrives.

 

[pewe]

It seems this may not be possible.
When I enter the retails windows 8 key I get a message saying that this key cannot be used on this computer.

Anyone any ideas?

 

[Clintlgm]

It seems this may not be possible.
When I enter the retails windows 8 key I get a message saying that this key cannot be used on this computer.

Anyone any ideas?

Unless its a Pro key why bother there is no difference between OEM and Retail except for tech support which your getting here anyway
If you do have a pro key use add Features to install it.