Laptop and Desktop ... Integration?

[jhillyer]

HAI guys

New to the forums and thought I would bring in an idea. I want to buy an SSD, probably 120GB or something (money limits). Question is, if it sits in a removable bay in my desktop, what problems would be encountered if I were to eSata it to my laptop?

For reference, it would be a OCZ Vertex 2.

Im thinking maybe Win7 would get confused with drivers for hardware??


Note: I tried bringing an ascii cake, but it didn't turn out very nice... so I ate it

 

[Zap]

Hello jhillyer, and welcome to Anandtech forums.

Are you saying that you want to use one SSD for both notebook and desktop as the boot drive? I suppose it could work if the chipset is similar enough, but otherwise Windows may not boot unless it was Sysprepped or repaire-installed. See this thread.

 

[corkyg]

AS Zap says - and the liklihood that a laptop and desktop chipset would be similar enough is very low. A laptop ir primarily for mobility. What would you do when on the road?al

In addition, the legality of using one OS on two machines would be called into question.

If, however, you only with to access the SSD via eSATA for purposes of synchronization of data, that would be no problem.

 

[heymrdj]

Your best bet, if you don't need the extra gusto of a desktop, is to get a docking station with a laptop. That way by plugging in just one cable, you now have the ability to run off a huge monitor, external keyboard/speaker/mouse and even some external HD(s) for larger storage. I did this awhile with my dv9000 desktop replacement laptop.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

AS Zap says - and the liklihood that a laptop and desktop chipset would be similar enough is very low. A laptop ir primarily for mobility. What would you do when on the road?al

In addition, the legality of using one OS on two machines would be called into question.

If, however, you only with to access the SSD via eSATA for purposes of synchronization of data, that would be no problem.

I would be shocked if there is anything in the EULA for windows that says you can't transfer the license to another system...which is effectively what you are doing by moving the boot device from one system to another. I could see a violation if you were to use them both at the same time, but that's not what is suggested.

but...back to the original question it will likely not work. windows will want to use a bunch of drivers and setup ini files that are just not correct.

I'm going to say, "no" it won't work properly.

 

[Blain]

I would be shocked if there is anything in the EULA for windows that says you can't transfer the license to another system...which is effectively what you are doing by moving the boot device from one system to another.

Retail versions aren't locked to any specific hardware, but OEM versions are locked to the first system they are installed on (basically).
Even with the retail version it isn't kosher to run on more than one PC at a time.

Caveat: I'm not saying it's impossible or even that people haven't done it. I'm saying that the official MS line is retail (free to install on one PC at a time) vs OEM (locked to hardware).

 

[corkyg]

I would be shocked if there is anything in the EULA for windows that says you can't transfer the license to another system...which is effectively what you are doing by moving the boot device from one system to another. I could see a violation if you were to use them both at the same time, but that's not what is suggested.

We read the proposal differently. In simple terms, I read it that OP wants to boot the laptop via eSATA from another system. He says nothing about transferring the OS from one system to another.

If that is all hewants to do, the question is moot.

 

[jhillyer]

Yeah from what I can see it wont be worth installing Win7 on the HDD, or if I do, only the desktop's win7. I am interested in putting all my games on it, or at least most of them, because laptop HDD = 1/12 an SSD

Thanks for all the info on the chipset and all, I knew nothing about this (I kinda did, but that was back from years ago and I forgot). I was also looking into a 3.5" docking bay for the SSD, cause having that in your floppy bay on a case would look sweet as !!!