Can I switch out the hard drive from one Windows 7 machine

[exboyfil]

to the exact same model in another machine? I think the cooling fan is shot which is causing a power down on my daughter's old computer. Right now the exact same model is available on Ebay for not much more than a new cooling fan. The fan replacement looks like a chore, and it might not even fix the problem.

Ideally I would just like to swap hard drives since the offerred machine doesn't have a licensed Windows 7 operating system. Worst case I could use it with the open source operating system if the switch doesn't work.

[ItsjustMe]

1. If it's the exact same model

It should work just fine, I've done it myself.

[qazplm135]

2. as long as compatible with motherboard

you can switch out hard drives between completely different machines.

[mikeysnot]

3. Replace the cooling fan.

About ten bucks…

[CentralMass]

5. +1

[CentralMass]

4. It should work if it exactly the same.

[lpbk2713]

6. Have you opened it up?

It might just be that it could use a good dusting. That would cause it to overheat.

[quixotic1]

7. Careful...it's actually harder than you think

Seems like that would depend, in part, on the fan that's failing. If it's the power supply fan, then yeah...that's a bit of a chore, even if you're using a standard case. (Also, could depend on the manufacturer.)

However, the reason it might not be quite so easy to swap a hard drive is because Microsoft collects information about the system running a specific Windows license. (This comes, in part, from attempts to reduce the sharing of activation codes/keys.) A fingerprint is calculated and, if it varies too much from the original activation fingerprint, the license validity may be questioned.

Even if the machine is the same model, there's no guarantee that the internal hardware is the same. (I've seen components vary between machines delivered in the same batch.)

Depending on the original manufacturer, the fan might actually turn out to be far less work than you think. In general, it should be attached using a couple of screws (pretty easy) and connected to the motherboard using a standard clip that slides onto the pins. (There might be a power supply connected as well.) The "trick" is making sure that you connect the new fan to the same pins used for the old fan.

[exboyfil]

8. Reporting back

Complete success on this project. The reason for not replacing the fan on the original machine is that my arthritic fingers can't manage to pull the keyboard (the design sucks). I have my daughter's machine back with all her software and set up for video editing. I also have a machine which might shut down at high core temperatures but is running Ubuntu and is perfectly capable for general web browsing (not bad for $45). I am also looking forward to playing with Ubuntu in a sandbox since I have never used it before.