What would happen if you took the drive with the windows install from one PC, and plugged it into another different PC...

What would happen if you took the drive with the windows install from one PC, and plugged it into another different PC, and tried to boot it up?

Unless the hardware is identical, you'd be in for a bad time.

It would enter system recovery and need to reinstall drivers to function unless the second computer was the same as the first

If you're using exactly the same components, it might boot up just fine.

If you're using different components, you may get lucky, but it will probably fuck up since it's expecting something else.

Windows will detect that the motherboard changed and you'll have to reenter the license key. Or just run KMSpico or what ever you used to crack windows with again

windows will crash because it is a piece of shit that will not run because of driver issues

if you installed linux on that hard drive then swapped computers, it would just work

Widows will automatically instal required drivers. You'll be fine.

you will be stucked at the windows logo

and then it'll ask you to reactivate windows

Well I hope you didn't throw the product key into the trash after installation

there is no product key anymore. Since you are using a different motherboard it will break everything

>there is no product key anymore
If you bought retail, there certainly is.

if you remembered to sysprep /generalize the install beforehand, it would go through specialization on its own then display the desktop or oobe/audit mode if you chose to do that as well

if you did not generalize the system, it might not work at all, changing hardware without generalizing is not supported by microsoft

Okay, and what if I change everything except for motherboard?

Nothing, did that few times, windows start in 640x400 or something but get better once you install new drivers.

I did this when I built my second computer. Went from AMD>NVidia, different motherboard, etc. Worked absolutely fine once I got the graphics card drivers

It's [current year] and windows can't be swapped to another computer easily

Linux doesn't have this problem.

...

This. I've done it a few times. It'll generally manage to sort itself new drivers as long as it can get on a network. You might have to reinstall a lot of drivers once it's booted though. Think like sound and graphics. Depends on how different the hardware is.

I'm pretty sure you can view the product key from either your current installation or the bios

>Windows XP
Would crash and burn unless you have the same drivers
>Windows 7
Would work but not great. Its better to reinstall
>Windows10
Would work like nothing has changed

windows shits itself
no idea why though, probably just because it's badly written

i've done it much, literally this happens. windows will find different devices and proceeds to install new generic drivers for it.

WINDOWS 7 MASTER RACE MOTHERFUCKER

>Product key is MB locked
>"Work like nothing has change"
NIGGA YOU ALRIGHT? You sound like those Apple dudes at unviel events

I've done exactly that a lot of times and not much should happen. Windows will just install new drivers and werk. Same for Linux.

>windows
get off my board normalfag

>XP
>NEW HARDWAER FOUND LOLOLOL (after couple seconds just werks)
>7
Won't boot up
>10
>Preparing automatic repair... (For over 9000 years)

Can I install the same windows on the same system but on a new drive?

>XP
>NEW HARDWAER FOUND LOLOLOL (after couple seconds just werks)
>7
>NEW HARDWAER FOUND LOLOLOL (after couple seconds just werks)
>10
>NEW HARDWAER FOUND LOLOLOL (after couple seconds just werks)

I think there may be a difference with OEM and privet installs. The prior locking it down to the mobo.