Swap HDD between 2 desktops

Question

I have 2 desktops at my home with different configs and OSes.

First PC:

• OS: Windows 10
• CPU: Intel Core i3 4130 3.4 GHz
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-S
• RAM: 4 GB
• HDD: WD Blue 1 TB 7200 RPM

Second PC:

• OS: Windows 8.1
• CPU: Intel Core i5 4440 3.1 GHz
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H
• RAM: 2 x 4 GB
• HDD: WD Green 1 TB 5400 RPM

I want to swap the HDDs between these two PCs without having to format both the drives and re-install the Operating Systems and programs.

I found this software (Acronis True Image 2016) that can make a backup image of a HDD which can be used to restore even on a different PC. Is this what I would need to do? Or is there any alternative?

Answer 1

Just swapping the drives should be enough. You might have to use system restore to fix booting, but other than that it should work out of the box.

Just keep in mind this will invalidate Windows' activation, so you'll have to activate it again.