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A laptop containing some keyfob software at my work died. They were quoted $1,200 to send a technician to install it on a new machine. It has an SK Hynix M.2 2230 Nvme PCIe SSD (HFM512GDGTNI-82A0A). BitLocker is also enabled. I have both the BitLocker recovery key and key ID as they were stored in Entra ID.

I'm thinking of picking up an M.2 > USB adapter to try to recover the software. Is it feasible to retrieve the software, configurations and all, and place it back on a different machine? I will likely need to work with the vendor on what exactly I'll need from the old drive, but I'm not certain if this plan would work. Fortunately, this software is the only thing we'd need from the old device.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

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  • You might be able to image the drive as a backup, then create a VM of the drive, using VMWare Converter Standalone Tool, and see if the keyfob can be passed through into a VM. You should be able to get the data off the drive with an M2. NVMe to USB adapter, but it's not clear what you want off the drive if it's not for the data.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Aug 9 at 0:21
  • What is dead about the old laptop?
    – music2myear
    Commented Aug 9 at 0:29
  • I am still in my noob stage of IT, so forgive me if I ask some dumb questions haha. I haven't spun up a VM before. VMWare Workstation Pro 17 and VMWare Fusion Pro 13 appear to be free for personal use. Would I run into any trouble using it for this purpose, considering that it's related to my work? Just want to avoid a situation where a year down the line they come in with audits and lawyers to collect fees. I'm assuming I'd need some version of Workstation/Fusion in order to use the VMWare Converter Standalone Tool.
    – Serene
    Commented Aug 9 at 0:34
  • Motherboard is dead. May be due to a power surge, they had a fairly intense thunderstorm roll through around when it died. The drive being dead seems like a distinct possibility as well..
    – Serene
    Commented Aug 9 at 0:36
  • You would have to do your own research on the licensing of VMWare Workstation. The tool would just create an image of the disk. I personally would clone the disk then create an image of the clone. VirtualBox can boot virtual HDDs created by the standalone tool. Besides you would be creating the image, booting the VM, and retrieving what you needed in order to replace everything yourself with physical hardware. It shouldn’t cost $1,200 to clone the disk and boot the drive in a new machine.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Aug 9 at 1:28

1 Answer 1

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No, this plan will not work.

At best you'll be getting files, not an installer. Getting the registry values, DLLs, and other stuff this application will require isn't a simple thing, and then getting them in the right places on the new computer via a method other than an installer is also going to be difficult.

The other option would be to move the drive over to a new computer, but that doesn't often work well unless you have the exact same computer model to move it over to.

You should instead consider repairing the laptop, or getting an installer from the company you bought the product from. Either of these options are a better choice.

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  • Thanks for the input. We have a graveyard of old Dell Latitude 7410's (same as this device). I might try making a Franken-itude 7410 with the misc parts and the drive in question.
    – Serene
    Commented Aug 9 at 2:30
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    @Serene - You really should clone that drive before you do anything. They make m.2 NVMe cloners with source and destination ports and a push button.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Aug 9 at 3:17
  • @Ramhound I'll see if I can find one near me. Unfortunately we don't have many computer shops in the area, and the ones that we do have don't usually offer much in the way of variety. So I'll likely have to order online. I would kill for a Microcenter. Or even a Best Buy, lol..
    – Serene
    Commented Aug 9 at 4:12
  • "doesn't often work well unless you have the exact same computer" - So far I have never had issues moving installations between computers. Make a clone for safety, then boot it up in another computer. Also, what are music2myear even talking about needing installers??? Copy over the files, and done. The default drivers work for basic tasks. May need to install additional drivers if you want to keep using the old install in the new computer.
    – hatalmasalma
    Commented Aug 9 at 11:11
  • @hatalmasalma very few software products are capable of running "portable", and those that are are only capable of this because they are designed to be entirely self contained. A product that has to communicate with specialized hardware such as a key fob product is going to very likely be a complex piece of software, likely even being far more complex than other sorts of software, from my own experience.
    – music2myear
    Commented Aug 10 at 16:05

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