Purhonen Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Would like to put the HDD from my 8 year old HP notebook into a slightly newer Lenovo laptop. The Lenovo has Win 7 Pro SP1, same as my HP. Only difference is that it is 64 bit while my HP Win 7 Pro SP1 is 32 bit. Is this possible? What are the pitfalls? (I'm sure there has to be some -- I only hope they are not deal breakers.) Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 NOT possible if you intend to try to use the existing Windows installation on the replacement drive. The address architecture (32 - 64 bit) is not compatible nor are all the drivers and software installed on the operating system. You CAN swap out the drives, probably, as long as they are similar type drives (SATA/PATA, etc), but you'll have to install a fresh version of Windows of the proper addressing architecture for it to work on the machine. Bad news, maybe? Sorry. Hope I was helpful in some way, anyway. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purhonen Posted March 26, 2016 Author Share Posted March 26, 2016 Thanks Eric, I suspected as much. Appreciate your efforts. Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewmur Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 (edited) Would like to put the HDD from my 8 year old HP notebook into a slightly newer Lenovo laptop. The Lenovo has Win 7 Pro SP1, same as my HP. Only difference is that it is 64 bit while my HP Win 7 Pro SP1 is 32 bit. Is this possible? What are the pitfalls? (I'm sure there has to be some -- I only hope they are not deal breakers.) Steve You can run 32bit Windows in a 64bit computer but NOT the other way around. But whether the drivers are a close enough match for the 32bit HDD to boot, is questionable. Only way to find out is to try it. However, I'd go for a fresh install of 64bit if you can still read the key on the Lenovo's COA. You can download a Win 7 Pro Sp1 iso from MS's site if you don't already have one. Or, you could use Clonezilla to make an image of your Lenovo's HDD and then restore it to the HP's HDD. Edited March 26, 2016 by lewmur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purhonen Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Okay, now that I've read Lewmur's input I have a question for both Lewmur & Eric. I'll try to keep it simple because I'm bumping up against the limits of my understanding here. I want to physically remove the HDD from the HP and plug it into the Lenovo. I have no concern for the fate of the Lenovo HDD. I do not want to reinstall Win 7 (clean or in-place). Assuming the HDD connection(s) are compatible, is the only hiccup I may encounter with the drivers? (I assume the drivers reside on the HP's HDD and not somewhere in the Lenovo's hardware. After connecting the HP's HDD to the Lenovo will the 32 bit driver's be able to talk with the Lenovo's hardware? If not what would I need to do? How would I update the drivers?) Hope this is clear. Thanks guys, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Lewmur was correct in stating that 32 bit apps, drivers, etc. would run on a 64 bit machine. However, you're trying to get drivers (32 bit) to run totally different hardware on the 64 bit system. It might work, but I doubt it'll be a trouble free transition. A driver is a piece of software written, usually by a hardware manufacturer, that "drives" a piece of hardware on a computer. By drive, I mean that it facilitates communication between the piece of hardware, say a video chip, and the central processing unit of the computer. Trying to get drivers for HP to run hardware on Lenovo is going to be problematic. However, Windows itself my provide generic drivers for whatever is needed on the Lenovo. As far as applications, like MS Office or audio players, etc., the 32 bit ones installed on the drive will probably run on the 64 bit Lenovo. What you're trying to do here is install a 1979 Volvo engine into a 2014 Chevrolet truck. See what I mean? It can be done, but it's not going to just fit right in and run. Like Lew says, try it. That's the best way to fine out if it'll work. You very first step in all this is to make sure that the actual physical hard drive from the HP can even be installed in the slot on the Lenovo. All else is moot, if this isn't so. If the older HP is a PATA type drive and the Lenovo uses a SATA drive, then you're done at that point. Here's what that difference will look like... I think there are PATA to SATA adapters out there for 2.5" drives, but they're usually isn't enough room in the drive bay on laptops to use one. They don't always work properly, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Hello, You will not have any problems running a 32-bit (x86) version of Windows 7 Pro SP1 on a 64-bit (x64) Intel/AMD CPU. Computers running 32-bit Windows XP were sold with 64-bit CPUs for several years before Windows Vista popularized 64-bit versions of Windows on the desktop. A 2008-era laptop should have have a SATA II (3Gbs) interface for its hard drive, and probably the internal optical drive as well. The difference between the two computers will be that because they have different hardware, their device drivers, the little computer programs that allow the computer's hardware to talk to the operating systems are going to be different. A few things which are basic (or very generic) will work, but some things won't work at all, or will work incorrectly and cause problems. The best thing to do would be to put the best mixture of hardware into one of the two computers (I'm guessing the Lenovo is going to be better since it is slightly newer?), wipe the hard disk drive, perform a clean installation of the 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows 7 Pro SP1 (assuming it's not a netbook of some kind with only a 32-bit CPU), get the operating system and drivers updated, install all your applications and update/tweak/customize those to your liking, then copy your data over to the freshly installed operating system from its backups. This is, short-term, more labor intensive since it moves all the technical work up front, but it will actually work out as the cleanest long term solution, since you won't have to deal with troubleshooting all the problems caused by swapping the operating system from a computer with different hardware. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewmur Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Lewmur was correct in stating that 32 bit apps, drivers, etc. would run on a 64 bit machine. However, you're trying to get drivers (32 bit) to run totally different hardware on the 64 bit system. It might work, but I doubt it'll be a trouble free transition. I think there are PATA to SATA adapters out there for 2.5" drives, but they're usually isn't enough room in the drive bay on laptops to use one. They don't always work properly, anyway. I the HP has Win 7 installed, it is VERY unlikely that the HDD will be IDE. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purhonen Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Eric & Goretsky, Thanks a bunch. I now have a much clearer picture of what is best to do. Goretsky's plan is plainly the more reasonable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 A clean install of any operating system is always the best way to go. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 (edited) Obviously that 8 year old HP didn't come with Win 7, though. Win 7 was initially released by MS on July 22, 2009, according to wickerpeter. EDIT: On second thought, if it's a 2008-9 model lappy, then it might have come with 7. Edited March 27, 2016 by V.T. Eric Layton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewmur Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Obviously that 8 year old HP didn't come with Win 7, though. Win 7 was initially released by MS on July 22, 2009, according to wickerpeter. EDIT: On second thought, if it's a 2008-9 model lappy, then it might have come with 7. Yeah, but if were an IDE drive, no matter what the age, what would the odds be of it having a higher capacity than the SATA drive from a 64bit Win 7 Lenovo? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 It's easy enough to fine out. If Steve would post the model numbers of the two laptops, we could probably easily find out what their hardware specs are without him ever having to turn a screw. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purhonen Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 The HP notebook came with Vista w/free upgrade to Win 7 Pro which I did soon after getting it. I will retrieve the model numbers and report back. Thanks for your continuing assistance. Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purhonen Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Identifying specs on the HP Notebook: Notebook Model #: G60t-200 S/N: 2CE9260YMW Product HP G60 Identifying specs on the Lenovo laptop: Lenovo T60p w/Windows 7 Home Premium Type 8742--CTO S/N L3-A4183 07/03 Product ID: 8742W3V Stever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 The HP --> http://www.cnet.com/products/hp-g60-230us-16-p-t4200-vista-home-premium-3-gb-ram-320-gb-hdd-series/specs/ The Lenovo --> http://www.cnet.com/products/lenovo-thinkpad-t60/specs/ Looks like they are both Serial ATA 150 (SATA) drives. YAY! That makes the proposed experiment feasible. I'd say go for it. Swap 'em out and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Hello, The Lenovo ThinkPad T60 is the more powerful of the two machines, so that would be the system to "max out." However, one thing you should be aware of is that due to an architectural limitation, the T60 only supports 3GB of RAM. So, if you do install 4GB (2×2GB memory modules) of RAM, only 3GB will be available. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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