Hard drive swap question

[whiteoral]

I'm pretty sure my brother's hdd went bad, and I want to try mine in his pc to see if it's the only problem. My concern is if there's any possibility of my hdd being damaged or broken or anything in his pc.

We both have dell computers, both PATA.

 

[Rydawg5143]

no, but you'll have to reload windows on your hd im sure. as its not plug n play

 

[whiteoral]

no, but you'll have to reload windows on your hd im sure. as its not plug n play

I'll have to reinstall windows? I've never heard of this

 

[Outamyhead]

If it's not exactly the same system as yours, then you may have problems, if it starts loading windows (assuming that's where your brothers drive doesn't even get to) then shut the system down.

The easier option is to find out what make of HDD he has, and download the appropriate diagnostic software from the manufacturer, and then run it on his system to see if the diagnostic can find the problem, if it's within warranty still you could get a replacement.

 

[Rydawg5143]

yeah, far as i know, u cant take a HD to another computer and just plug it in and expect it to run windows.

 

[limxdul]

if the hdd failure was caused by the PSU or something, then the same thing might happen to your hdd, becareful.

 

[Dangman]

yeah, far as i know, u cant take a HD to another computer and just plug it in and expect it to run windows.

I'll have to reinstall windows? I've never heard of this

When a Windows install from a different PC is used in a another PC, the end result is:
- Unstable as hell. Constant BSODs and slow system performance.
- Require reactivation but be freakishly sluggish
- Work right

In my experience, I have had the first happen quite often. The last two are rare.

if the hdd failure was caused by the PSU or something, then the same thing might happen to your hdd, becareful.

Another thing to watch out for. So I concur with Outamyhead: download the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic software, burn it to a CD, and boot/run from it.

 

[Cmustang87]

Or you can download Drive Fitness Test from hitachi's website, very user friendly and effective hard drive testing software.

You can find it here. Just click the "CD Image" link.

Either one will work perfect, up to you. I would avoid plugging your drive into his system, testing the drive is a better choice, IMO.

 

[MrBojangels]

When Windows detects a new motherboard it pretty much flips shit iirc.

 

[vertigomhs]

well coming from a dell e310, my BIOS had the option to run a diagnostics test on the hard drive so im guessing that his BIOS does as well, i think its when you press f2 at the post screen that it gives you that option, just run it.