Swapping SSD from old laptop to new

[JLv3.0]

So my beloved Yoga 2 Pro has reached the end of its life after 5 years of faithful service. Annoyingly it's for physical rather than computery reasons - the hinges have worn to the point that the glass screen keeps on breaking as it's getting pressure when closing it (hard to explain so just trust me on this).

I've replaced the screen once and it did it again, and at 150 quid a pop it's not something I want to happen again.

And then a few days ago it got run over by a minibus trailer whilst in my rucksack

Now the whole chassis is bent, the screen is in pieces and it's basically dead. Despite still working fine! Kind of impressed really but won't be economically viable to repair as it would be Trigger's Broom by the end of it.

Anyway - when I get back to Dubai I'm getting a Lenovo 920 and was just wondering - as they both have 1TB mSATA SSDs, would it save a ton of time to just switch my existing SSD into the new laptop? Or is it not as easy as that because different hardware and setup and stuff?

I know it won't be possible but had to ask.

[Nathan]

It would probably sort of work after you uninstalled or reinstalled the correct chipset drivers etc but not really worth it.

Then at somepoint it will realise the UEFI Windows code doesn't match and you'll have to start using sketchy apps to sort out..

Can you run your old laptop off a tv / monitor to back up or buy a mSata USB cable to copy files over ?

[integrale_evo]

Stick it in and see what happens.

I mentioned in another thread that lightning fried my mums computer so I bought her an exact copy cheap off eBay and just stuck her hard drive in. Windows asked a couple of questions about changing hardware which I just clicked yes to and everything has been fine ever since. It's just like her old computer.

The hard drive that came in the 'new' one had a fresh oem windows 10 install.

I robbed that one and stuck it in my desktop so I could have a genuine copy for a change.

Again it asked a couple of questions about major hardware changes, but has been fine ever since and shows as a genuine copy, updates itself as it should.

[JLv3.0]

Can you run your old laptop off a tv / monitor to back up or buy a mSata USB cable to copy files over ?

The screen still works on the laptop! It's cracked to hell and bits of glass keep on falling off it but it still works.

I do have an mSATA housing from the time I swapped out the existing 256Gb drive to the 1TB, so that could be an option, but thinking about it maybe I just let the new laptop download all the files and emails over a few days and leave it unopened.

Yeah - that's what I'll do.

Move on, nothing to see here.

[unzippy]

Stick it in and see what happens.

I did this recently. Knowing that it's never really worked with previous versions of windows, I tried it with WIN10.
Swapped the SSD WIN10 laptop that I was using as a media box --> into a mini pc that I've just acquired for media box duties - as I was being lazy.

It just bloody worked!

So the official advice from an IT professional - suck it and see

[JLv3.0]

The same IT professional who posts on a car forum about his next PC upgrade Dave? - ah just pulling your wire.

I'll probably void the warranty if I split it open on Day One so will just let it download what it needs while remembering it's a bloody expensive, brand new device that doesn't need my ham-fisted mitts plunging about it

It really is weird having to buy a new laptop when the old one still runs like a rocket. Normally it's the slowdowns or hardware failures that necessitate it. I guess the lesson here is - don't let your laptop get run over. Who knew

[Richard]

Do you actually have useful info on the old drive?

I don’t save anything useful locally. I guess mostly because I don’t do any work stuff on my laptop. That said, even if I did, I think it’d be on google drive or whatever

[JLv3.0]

Do you actually have useful info on the old drive?

I don’t save anything useful locally. I guess mostly because I don’t do any work stuff on my laptop. That said, even if I did, I think it’d be on google drive or whatever

Ah it'd be purely to save the days of downloading from Dropbox, OneDrive and four different email accounts. My days of having anything useful on just one device are waaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind me.

[JLv3.0]

when I get back to Dubai I'm getting a Lenovo 920

And I did, and it's absolutely awesome Beautiful device, like Macbook Pro level of jewellery.