Can I transfer an SSD from laptop to desktop PC ?

MouldyOldDough

I have a dead laptop with a 1Tb SSD - can I transfer it directly to a desktop ?

Will it boot up to allow me to make use of Office 2019 etc ?

Plus it contains a lifetime of data files.

km1500

yes it will be the same SATA connector as you have in your laptop so just take it out and plug it in 

as for booting will it probably will do (windows) but it won't be activated as it is a different machine but it will at least allow you to access your data files 

if it doesn't boot then add it as a second drive and boot from your normal driving in the desktop and then you can see it out for example a d drive and access your files that way

all this assumes of course it wasn't a hard drive failure that causes your laptop to malfunction

PRAISETHESUN

Possibly there might be an issue with encryption - my Mum's laptop died and she didn't have access to the Bitlocker key so she couldn't boot from it or recover anything from the drive. Other then that you should either be able to plug it in like any other drive, assuming your have a suitable spare connector on your desktop (usually SATA, might be M.2 if it's a newer drive). If not, you could always put it in a drive caddy and try use it like you would a USB portable hard drive.

DullGreyGuy

Would boot the desktop from its normal drive and add this one as a secondary drive either internally or externally. If you can access data will depend on if you had encryption turned on and still have the key if you did

km1500

yes good point from the posters above - unfortunately Microsoft seem to turn on  encryption willy nilly at the moment so hopefully you will have the decryption key if this is the case 

another point - if that truly is the only drive which contains a 'lifetime of data' then maybe you should ask a few questions here about backups.......

Mr.Generous

I'd say no way would it boot, and as a slave drive it won't allow access without the encryption key.

MouldyOldDough

PRAISETHESUN said:

Possibly there might be an issue with encryption - my Mum's laptop died and she didn't have access to the Bitlocker key so she couldn't boot from it or recover anything from the drive. Other then that you should either be able to plug it in like any other drive, assuming your have a suitable spare connector on your desktop (usually SATA, might be M.2 if it's a newer drive). If not, you could always put it in a drive caddy and try use it like you would a USB portable hard drive.

Thanks - it is NOT encrypted - NO bitlocker

MouldyOldDough

km1500 said:

yes good point from the posters above - unfortunately Microsoft seem to turn on  encryption willy nilly at the moment so hopefully you will have the decryption key if this is the case 

another point - if that truly is the only drive which contains a 'lifetime of data' then maybe you should ask a few questions here about backups.......

I have many different back ups - taken over the past 30 +years, from floppy disks, zip disks, CD's, Compact Flash cards, DVD's, online (onedrive), USB sticks, SSD's - you name it = I've got them - but this SSD is the only complete back up in one place !

km1500

oh ok well done!

Blackjack_Davy

MouldyOldDough said:

Thanks - it is NOT encrypted - NO bitlocker

Then you can access it as a secondary drive its unlikely to boot

km1500

why would it be unlikely to boot?

Windows is pretty good at finding the right drivers etc if for example it has been swapped to a different machine

it won't activate of course but that is a different question