Is there a way of transferring an installed USB adapter from one hard drive to another?

[Technique]

Some background:

 

I bought my laptop for vehicle diagnostics. If you've followed my thread in the hardware forum, I've switched out the HDD for a SSD.

 

I remember back when i started with the laptop there was a lot of trouble installing the diagnostics on Windows 7. I remember someone on a car forum (which no longer exists - so i can't go back and check what was done) helped me out as to what to do. I can't remember the specifics but I have a rough idea.

 

Basically you install the diagnostic software:

 

And in order to install this:

 

 

And have Windows recognise it, you need to use this piece of software:

 

 

as the drivers aren't signed which is what gives the errors.

 

I don't seem to be able to install it  so i'm clearly forgetting exactly what it was that I did.

 

While the old HDD hasn't totally died yet, is there any way of extracting the drivers for the USB piece of kit off that and putting them on the SSD? Is that possible and would it work? Or is there more to it than simply copying a file and pasting a file?

[CloudEngineer]

you could attempt to clone the old hard disk?

[devilotX]

Windows 7 or Windows 10? 

you need to disable driver signing, that's the rabbit hole you have to follow.  I know you can disable driver signing in windows 10 with the modified startup (Hold shift when powering on the PC) and select disable driver signing. 

Something like this will do it permenantly.
 

Open an elevated command prompt

Type/paste the following text:

bcdedit.exe /set nointegritychecks on

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

That's just an ODB II dongle, isn't it? 

 

You can find more modern versions of these devices starting for about $15 (£11) with Bluetooth interfaces that can connect to a smartphone or PC without having to go through convoluted steps of installing unsigned drivers, which is dangerous from a security perspective.  For about $35 and up, you can start getting ones with a handheld reader and monochrome LCD screen and some push buttons.  Fancy ones that run Android and have color touch screens cost more, of course.

 

Unless this particular ODB II reader does something special (e.g., used to make illegal modifications to a vehicle's emissions system, or something similar) it is probably going to be more convenient to replace it with a newer device that does not require compromises to your laptop's security in order to operate.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky