This page describes a process that might work(It's basically an in-place
upgrade)
http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-do-a-repair-install-to-fix-windows-7/
I've done this successfully with XP's repair option, but I've never
tried it with Win7.
You have quite some time to activate Win7, so you might avoid license
issues by not activating until you get the new box.



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [PCBUILD] Swapping Boot Drives
From: Michael Wosnick <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, December 11, 2009 8:14 pm
To: [log in to unmask]

This may be a dumb question, but here goes. I ordered a new computer
from

Dell and they shipped the wrong box to me. I am awaiting a replacement
but
it may take a while given the season. I was told I could use the wrong
box
(a Precision T7500 Workstation with a Xeon Processor) while I wait for
the
right one to be built and re-delivered (an XPS 9000 with an i7-920
processor).

If I install a legal version of Win7 and install all my programs on a
brand
new drive that I put temporarily into the T7500, then when the XPS
finally
arrives, would I be able to simply remove the T7500's new boot drive and
pop
it into the XPS instead and be functional booting form the swapped
drive? I
don't want to spend days setting up all of my programs on the box that
has
to be sent back unless I have an easy migration to the right box when it
arrives, i.e. a migration that does not have me re-install either the OS
or
more importantly all my programs. Both computers will be running on Win7
but
the hardware is different enough that I am wondering about a) license
issues
or more likely b) incompatibility issues that might force me to go the
re-install route.

Anyone shed light on what I might expect, or better still, is there a
better
way to accomplish what I want?

Many thanks,

Michael

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