Thinkpads Forum

I have 2 identical TP240x laptops. Their serial numbers are only 42 numbers apart. They both have the latest BIOS updates.

I want to swap HDDs between these TPs. One has WinXP Pro installed and the other Win98SE.

Can I do this without messing up WinXP and requiring a reinstall or a call to Microsoft?

I've done a lot of searching on the web about this but haven't found a good answer.

I have moved hard drives with XP Pro installed between identical units with no problem. For example, for a client of mine where I have a spare machine, I will swap a user's hard drive into the spare for the occasion when their box needs servicing. Works fine, and keeps the user in service with no down-time. ... JDHurst

Make sure the bios is the same version, and there's no other hardware involved -- pcmcia cards, usb devices, etc. Other than that, the OS probably won't notice at all.

This is great for troubleshooting, but don't swap the drives on a very regular basis. They're not designed to stand up to that, and you'll eventually damage something.

Thanks,

That't exactly what I wanted to to. There's a minor video glitch in the Win98SE TP. I wanted to determine wheter it's hardware or software.