One HDD, Laptop and Netbook

A

Abroad

New Member
My wife uses a large screen laptop for maintaining our website, touching up photos, email etc. This is a very heavy laptop to take on holiday.

I'm considering buying a netbook, and moving the disk between laptop and netbook, so all data/email/data/applications etc. are available; without having to lug the large laptop around; then at the end of the holiday just move the disk back.

An alternative approach would be to copy (ghost) the disk; but this worries me as it will take time, and the danger is that email will get lost as we pick up email from the wrong PC without copying the disk.

Is this a mad idea? Any problems I might encounter? Anyone done this?
Thanks
 
You can't move Windows to another computer without reinstalling it. When Windows installs, it configures itself for the chipset/motherboard of the computer it's installed on.

If you put it in another computer with a different chipset, it's like the equivalent of getting in your car and discovering that you're sitting on the steering wheel, the pedals are by your face, and the seat is where the windshield should be. It has no way of knowing how to control everything.

I think that a good carrying case might be the best solution here.
 
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Not only that, but you'll likely get a BSOD and may deactivate the current installation, thus leaving you deactivated when you put the drive back into the correct computer.
 
Deactivated as in Micro$oft will want you to activate their product again and may even try to make you buy it again. I'm with Drenlin on the case. Also, if you're e-mail and such is web-based, you can get to it from any computer connected to the internet. And you can lug a flash drive around to keep the photos on, maybe get that netbook, and do that. But that's a lot more money and effort than buying a good case.
 
Thanks all :(
I forgot all about that nightmare activation stuff.
I have moved disks between laptops before, but XP or earlier, and always Dell/Intel.

We have a good case, but having lugged it around Lanzarote, Alps, California, Florida, France, Spain, just spent 2 weeks on a narrow boat, etc. etc. I'm ending up with one arm longer than the other :eek:

We currently use www.logmein.com a lot to work across sites (remote desktop), I guess we can use that from a netbook back to her laptop.

Might even give an ipad a try.

Cheers,
Abroad
 
What if her laptop crashes or the power goes out and the battery dies? Not the best idea. As I said, if your e-mail is web based, i.e. Gmail, yahoo, etc. you can get to it from any computer with an internet connection. Which includes that netbook. Also, you can get online storage for stuff you want, like docs and such.
 
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