Thinkpads Forum

Okay... I admit I'm being lazy --

I have recently prepared an X61s as a gift for a teen at my church -- prepared, as in adding the HDD, updating to W7 Home Premium and adding an ultrabase -- that's about it -- I have not had the opportunity to 'gift' the machine yet, but did have an opportunity to purchase an X60s/W7 Business at a very good price here on the forum -- I also had to purchase a retail W7 Business in order to be able to activate the install on the X60s --

So my 'lazy' question is this -- I'm thinking about keeping the X61s for myself and gifting the X60s -- Is it possible to just switch the two HDD's between the two machines -- will W7 look for correct drivers when the HDDs are switched, or will the machine refuse to boot the switched HDD? Might I damage either machine or HDD by trying to make the switch?

Yes, but you will have to reactivate it and install new drivers

Thanks very much for the info -- Reactivating and installing drivers sounds like something I can accomplish

Drivers won't even be a problem, as Windows 7 has everything that's needed for those machines anyway.

I've done the swap between X60T and X61T before - didn't have to do anything at all.

Yes, it's all automatic, i just wanted to point out what will happen (in background). Also reactivating is important info for some users.

I recently installed Win7 on my X61s and found to my surprise that it did NOT have a driver for the Intel 3965ABG wireless card. I had to plug it into the router to get it on the net. After that, it downloaded everything it needed just fine.

EDIT: I should clarify.... I actually did something like you describe.... I transferred an image of an installation from my desktop to the X61s. It is possible that had I installed from scratch using the DVD, it would have found the driver on the DVD. As it was, it did not have the driver and I didn't think of directing it to look at the DVD. I just plugged it directly into the router and off it went.

So if you transfer an existing installation to a PC with a different wireless card, it may not work until you plug the PC into your router and let if find the drivers it needs.

Paul

Thanks very much for all the replies/info -- I won't get the chance to 'trade' the drives until my X60 arrives, hopefully mid-week