Question How forgiving is Windows 11?

[IBMJunkman]

Take a SSD with Windows 11 Pro from an ASRock Z790 Sonic mobo with i9-13900K and plunk it onto a MSI MPG Z790 Carbon mobo with an i9-14900K. Assuming it boots and after Windows collects its wits can one just install the MSI drivers and feel confident using the system?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Windows doesn't forgive one of sins. Microsoft makes you pay penance by buying only officially-licensed XBox peripherals...

 

[TheELF]

For a home system, yeah sure. Activation might not work though, it has to be retail and then you have to go through the automated phone thing. Connect your windows account to an email and hope for the best.

For a professional setting I would just do a clean install, it's super fast nowadays.

 

[CropDuster]

I've swapped drives into several different Dell Latitude laptop models. As long as the existing NIC drivers are compatible Windows Update has grabbed everything else on its own with no flags in device manager.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Yes, it will work.

Over the years - and sometimes unwillingly! - I tried to boot various computers using SSDs with pre-existing operating systems from other builds.
Before Windows 7, this used to be a recipe for disaster.
From Windows 7 onwards, it's become surprisingly smooth sailing.
And with Windows 10, I even swapped the same OS SSD from Intel to AMD builds - from LGA1200 to AM4 of various flavours! - with zero problems.
Since you're staying on the same platfom and architecture - activation aside! - I am 100% confident your machine won't even have a hiccup.

 

[mikeymikec]

Windows may reject the licence you were using, if so, reactivate with a new licence.

If I wanted to maximise the chance of the Windows installation booting first time, I would uninstall all the board-related drivers I could before connecting the drive to the new setup.

 

[IBMJunkman]

JayzTwoCents covered this today.

 

[Brainonska511]

Yes, it will work.

Over the years - and sometimes unwillingly! - I tried to boot various computers using SSDs with pre-existing operating systems from other builds.
Before Windows 7, this used to be a recipe for disaster.
From Windows 7 onwards, it's become surprisingly smooth sailing.
And with Windows 10, I even swapped the same OS SSD from Intel to AMD builds - from LGA1200 to AM4 of various flavours! - with zero problems.
Since you're staying on the same platfom and architecture - activation aside! - I am 100% confident your machine won't even have a hiccup.

I moved an SSD with a W11 install from a R5 5600X AM4 system to an Alder Lake system and it booted without issues. Didn't stick around long to really see if there were any issues, but it seemed to be fine. Still ended up doing a full format though to make sure I wouldn't come across later gremlins.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I moved an SSD with a W11 install from a R5 5600X AM4 system to an Alder Lake system and it booted without issues.

Did it activate properly?

 

[Brainonska511]

Did it activate properly?

Before reformatting? Can't really say because I didn't check. After I reformatted, it activated fine but it was also a retail copy.