Can You Put a Hard Drive In Another PC and Have It Work OK?

L

leegold

Guest
Hi,

Hypothetically, if I take out the hard drive of a PC and put it in another PC/Computer will it work OK? I have Ubuntu Server 12.04 in a pretty generic box with an Asus motherboard, standard SATA hard drive. Let's say I put that hard drive in another box with different although supported hardware. Would Linux boot, be connected to it's network (it'll be the same network) and work OK?

Thanks
 


Well, probably yes it would be okay. Since the Ubuntu kernel is very generic, it can run on lots of different types of systems. As long as the harddrive setup is the same../etc/fstab to take a look... then it should be alright. The biggest issue would be the graphics or sound drivers, hypothetically anyway. ;)
 
At startup, Linux probes and inventories your hardware and chooses appropriate drivers on the fly. That enables us to change hardware, sometimes effortlessly.

But, yes, anything that's been customized, like /etc/fstab, may cause problems.

Give it a try. The risk of dropping it or spilling coffee on the electronics is a greater risk than of Linux doing anything bad.
 
leegold said:
Hi,

Hypothetically, if I take out the hard drive of a PC and put it in another PC/Computer will it work OK? I have Ubuntu Server 12.04 in a pretty generic box with an Asus motherboard, standard SATA hard drive. Let's say I put that hard drive in another box with different although supported hardware. Would Linux boot, be connected to it's network (it'll be the same network) and work OK?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Yes this should work even years ago one could get away with doing this.

Certainly much easier than windows because as has mentioned Linux queries for hardware and any changes. Video drivers can sometimes trip things up - as I said Linux definetly does a better job
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 1,016 (members: 2, guests: 1,014)

Latest posts

Top