Windows 10: Switching harddrives and Getting Devices Ready message

Hello All


I have a Thinkpad W530, which I love. I decided recently to get another used one just in case anything happens hardware-wise to the first one. Because I use this for freelance work, I want to be able to switch drives into the new one and keep working and figure out the hardware issue later.


Both machines are virtually identical, running Windows 10 Pro, 16 gig memory, 256 GB Samsung SDS drives, same processor, screen, etc. The main difference is the new-used one has an XRite color meter and a spill-proof keyboard (both are backlit).


When I got the new-used machine, I decided to test this NOT by placing my existing drive in the new-used machine (I was afraid of losing data if this doesn't work), but by placing the drive from new-used machine into my existing Thinkpad. When I tried it and Windows was starting up, I received a message saying "Setting up devices," which hung for quite awhile. I decided to shut down the machine and, as I did, saw a message that said 66 percent completed. When I restarted, everything looked fine. I saw the new drive contents (which were minimal) on my existing machine.


So it seems as though Windows knows the drive is in a different machine and, as a result, scans the hardware and makes changes to something, which I assume is in the drivers or something in the drive itself???? (When I put the drive back in the new-used computer, it did the same thing. So I assume the drive contents got changed earlier when I put it in my existing machine)


Before I try it the other way around, I want to make sure there is no risk from putting my existing drive into the new-used machine (of course I back up my user files religiously. But I don't want to lose anything else, like the operating system.)


Are there any issues I should know about before I do this. I may not actually do this unless I need to if I run into a problem with the hardware on my existing machine. (I know I could, as an alternative, set up the new-used machine and its drive just like my existing one and work off a backup my docs if anything happens. But I have so many program and other settings (favorites, clipboard stackers, folder access tools) that are always changing. So keeping these two machine in sync across everything beyond the doc files would be really tedious.)


So am I okay to go, or might I run into irreversible problems by moving my existing drive into the new-used laptop, even though it's very identical hardware wise?


Many thanks!


Anthony Giorgianni

:)

 

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