X200 - using HDD and caddy from T420 - will it work without reinstalling OS

[g8tzl2004]

I have an X200 which came with no HDD and caddy.

I have a T420 in my "collection" which has a power management fault so I thought about using the HDD and caddy from that laptop.

I believe that I will be able to just pull the HDD/caddy from the T420 and install it in the X200 as the caddies are identical between the X200 and T420?

I guess I will need to reinstall the Win OS to match the X200...but what happens if I just power up the X200 using the existing T420 OS installed on the HDD...will it boot or give an error?

[rkawakami]

My opinion is that with the hardware differences between the two systems, an attempt to install a hard drive with an OS previously on a T420 into an X200 will result in a Blue Screen of Death when the X200 is booted.

That said, if you are prepared to lose the usability of the hard drive on ANY system, then go ahead and give it a try. Best case is that with some probable re-configuration of the system drivers you'll be able to use the X200. Worst case is that the OS will be altered enough that it won't boot in the T420 it came from.

If you're trying to get the X200 operable again, your best option may to be track down a restore disk set for the X200 and get another (blank) HD to put it on.

[g8tzl2004]

Yes, I'll probably just reinstall from a Win disk.

Presumably I can't damage the HDD by booting a T420 HDD in an X200 to see what happens?

[rkawakami]

No, you can't do any physical damage to the HD. You might scramble the software on the drive so it won't boot in any system but that should be the extent of the "damage".

[g8tzl2004]

I eventually used an old HDD from a T400....the X200 booted into Windows XP without replacing the T400 OS...but there was a Windows XP password...so I used a Linux USB OS to have a look around...but did not bother to remove the password.

After a few attempts, I was pleased to be able to officially installed a copy of Windows 10 Pro on the X200 using the Windows Media Creation Tool, an official KMS Client Setup key and the Windows 7 Pro product key on the label on the base of the X200 I had initially tried to install Windows 7 using an official DVD and product key as a first step in installing Win10 but I was unable to update/register Win 7...I guess Microsoft has stopped allowing Win 7 to be updated to the date that support ended.