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Need to know if HP Z-420 I7 will plug and play WIN 7 ultimate drive from legacy AMD Phenom II 4x system. My old machine no post. Fortunately have tested bootable back up drive with all software. I learned MBR v GPT the hard way as I have nice new Strix Ryzen 7 system that won't run legacy software. Is DDR3 the limiter? I would like to buy the newest CPU/motherboard set which runs Win 7 ultimate drive from previous Asus/AMD combo. The legacy drive has Adobe Master 6 and a host of software that is now SaaS costing hundreds per month which I cannot afford. Looking for youngest possible solution. Thanks

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  • superuser.com/a/1850373/653259
    – ChanganAuto
    Commented Jul 29 at 12:21
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    "Is DDR3 the limiter?" - The fact your system only supports DDR3 absolutely is not limiter. Windows 7 does not support the newest CPUs. Windows 7 does not boot on any system that support the current generation from both Intel and AMD. Windows 7 is unsafe to use in 2024.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jul 29 at 13:50
  • Security is not the issue. My question is whether legacy drive from Asus/AMD Phenom II 4 core plug & play HP 420Z I7 9700? If not what is the latest generation CPU/motherboard combo that will? I need to know which is the latest/newest generation that will plug & play bootable Win7 legacy drive. Thanks
    – Fish Venice
    Commented Jul 29 at 14:17
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    Are you asking us to recommend hardware? That is off topic. Or are you asking our help getting this old software to run on a specific HP computer model? That is probably on topic, but it is likely going to be difficult as it is HIGHLY unlikely the software will know how to talk to the hardware, and vice versa. Please focus your post on a single question, and provide more details.
    – music2myear
    Commented Jul 29 at 14:36

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Unfortunately, no Windows Operating System is portable. By that, I mean that you can't take a drive with a Windows installation on it, and just move it from one computer to another, unless the two computers have the exact same hardware. The reason being that the drivers Windows is using will expect a certain CPU, motherboard, GPU, and other components, it won't know how to operate different hardware.

What is even more unfortunate here, is that it's unlikely you will find that specific laptop, considering it came bundled with Windows 7. Maybe you can find the same one on a second hand shop online, but I am doubtful.

What I recommend is that you take the hard drive, and copy the data from it using a dock to another computer. I can only imagine that the hard drive is possibly close to failing at this point, and Windows 7 has been unsupported for a few years now. The machine you migrate to is entirely your choice; you can go to another Windows Operating System (10 has one year left of free support), any Linux distro, a Mac computer, or Unix even.

I wish you luck.

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  • The drive is from a off premise clone. Old but unused.
    – Fish Venice
    Commented Jul 29 at 14:26
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    What do you mean off-premise? Do you not own/possess the laptop and hard drive?
    – Caturday Saint
    Commented Jul 29 at 14:33
  • IF WIN7 install on I7 9700 will legacy MBR with boot track allow access to legacy software?
    – Fish Venice
    Commented Jul 29 at 14:41
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    @DavidAnderson IF you uninstall the drivers for the old hardware, swap it out for the new devices, then install the drivers for the new hardware, you can change it. The situation Fish is in wasn't the case; they cloned a drive from another computer that no longer functions/they don't have access to, and want to install it into wildly different hardware and expect it to boot. Plug and play is for simple devices and peripherals; USB drives, video game controllers, stuff like that, not CPUs or the like.
    – Caturday Saint
    Commented Jul 29 at 20:34
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    I want to thank folks for their input. I am sure this is a common problem. Legacy system drive has thousands of dollars of legacy software that I use because I am familiar with it and given new SaaS monthly recurring charges it would cost me several hundred dollars a month to recreate the environment with little benefit from the newest versions. I was able to buy new 12 year old parts so the simple solution is to recreate the 12 year old machine. I spent $70 for the board and $150 for HAF full tower with new PS hoping CPU RAM etc still usable. Adobe is run by scammers screwing taxpayers.
    – Fish Venice
    Commented Jul 31 at 19:48

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