# Laptop computer gurus here? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** computer-hardware\ **Created:** [April 18, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184 "2025-04-18T19:37:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bodangus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bodangus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodangus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/21 "2025-04-18T20:47:22Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So go to the Windows button, type CMD and click Run as Administrator. > At the Command Prompt, type **slmgr /dlv** , hit enter. type CMD where? ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/22 "2025-04-18T20:49:00Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > What, in your view, is the difference between an OEM version of Windows and the much more expensive retail version? Virtually every large brand laptop comes with an OEM licence. The licence is embedded in the motherboard. Retail licences are not bound to the hardware and if I build a new whitebox computer I can reinstall it there, as long as I am only using one copy. Changing the disk does not invalidate the licence. Moving a hard drive into the new computer, assuming the edition is the same, should at most require running the Activation wizard. Putting that same disk into a generic PC without a licence would cause it to fail activation, but this is not the case here. ---
**Author:** ![bodangus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bodangus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodangus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/23 "2025-04-18T20:56:37Z")
windows(R) core edition OEM\_DM channel ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/24 "2025-04-18T20:57:49Z")
Not to belabor the point, but it’s still a fact that you cannot actually **transfer** an OEM license to some other arbitrary machine. You may be able to move an OS drive from one machine to another and (barring hardware differences) still have it work, but this is not a transfer, it’s **an activation under a new license key** for which the manufacturer of the target machine already paid the license fee. This is becoming unhelpful to the OP, so I’ll summarize by saying that the success of your proposed transfer depends on (a) the target machine being substantially the same as your old one, particularly with respect to the motherboard, and (b) whether it’s an authorized OEM machine for your exact version and edition of Windows. ---
**Author:** ![bodangus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bodangus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodangus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/25 "2025-04-18T21:02:19Z")
> [@bodangus](#): > > windows(R) core edition > OEM\_DM channel and to get there I had to right click on the windows icon in the lower left had corner of the screen, chose the ‘run’ option, type CMD then enter the 'slmgr /dlv command to get what quoted above. ---
**Author:** ![bodangus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bodangus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodangus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/26 "2025-04-18T21:20:48Z")
Somehow, I’m getting the feeling this isn’t gonna work. At least not by my hands alone anyway. I’ve been typing all this on the new HP win 11 laptop and running slmgr /dlv in administrator mode, at least it says I am, and it gets me an endless wall of shit. The old laptop got me a smallish pop up window with a lot of technical stuff, but least it was readable. One difference between win 10 and 11 I guess. ---
**Author:** ![bodangus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bodangus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodangus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/27 "2025-04-18T21:27:31Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Damn Lenovo hinges. Ultimately that’s what brought me to this situation that I’m in. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/28 "2025-04-18T21:30:03Z")
Is the top hinge cracked or the bottom hinge? You can also do a display transplant. ---
**Author:** ![bodangus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bodangus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodangus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/29 "2025-04-18T23:13:00Z")
top side behind the display. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/30 "2025-04-18T23:33:44Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > I think it has a good chance of working. I’m not so sure. I mean…maybe and maybe not. Apart from licensing issues different hardware will have different drivers. The OP said the two laptops are similar but not the same. The question is, how different? A different video system? Audio system? Etc. Hard to tell. It might work or mostly work (and then do a few needed changes) or it might not at all. I’d totally give it a go as a test but if it costs money I’d give it more thought. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/31 "2025-04-19T00:07:04Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The question is, how different? A different video system? Audio system? Etc. In most cases, driver issues are a thing of the past since most of them are Microsoft and not vendor supplied. There are notable exceptions for things like Intel RST drivers for storage where Windows won’t boot if they’re missing. Everything else should be recognized and installed after boot. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/32 "2025-04-19T00:28:21Z")
So, if I have a different motherboard with a different chipset from my last computer Windows will just figure it all out? It will know how to operate the NIC and get a web connection to access whatever drivers it needs? Seems a bit much but if it does that’s kinda great. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/33 "2025-04-19T01:09:44Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > So, if I have a different motherboard with a different chipset from my last computer Windows will just figure it all out? It will know how to operate the NIC and get a web connection to access whatever drivers it needs? Basically if it can read the boot disk, connect to the network, and show on the display it should be able to install missing drivers. Obviously we are talking about the same processor type, it’s not going to go from x64 to ARM. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184/34 "2025-04-19T12:50:55Z")
> [@bodangus](#): > > Dprk, I would get an external SSD drive hooked up and clone the entirety of the old laptop into that new SSD before I did anything else. That is, if I knew how to do it. You buy a new drive (this could also just be a huge HDD for backup dumps), hook it up via the external USB interface so that both the original and target drives are accessible, shut down the system cleanly then boot from a flash drive (does not have to be Windows or any paid product; you can use a bog-standard Ubuntu Live for this). Now you can save a backup image (unless there is some hardware encryption that would prevent you from reading it—in which case you need to note the Bitlocker recovery key or whatever applies in your case), clone the drive, or perform any other necessary maintenance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-computer-gurus-here/1017184.md?page=1)