moving HDisk from one PC to another

[JM7]

I believe there is a particular way to move a functioning WIN 2000 hard disk
from one PC hardware box to another.

Repair/Upgrade ? from CD or from within win 2000 itself after the move?

I have heard of many scenarios but which is the one that really works with
minimal grief?

 

[gerryR]

are the PCs the same spec ? (nic, vid card modem etc ?) If so then it
should be fine to just swap them over.

 

[Neil Shaw]

are the PCs the same spec ? (nic, vid card modem etc ?) If so then it
should be fine to just swap them over.

Milage seems to vary. I did one HDD transplant that worked fine and
needed no tinkering. Last one I did Win2K BSODed at startup due to a HDD
controller not being found, or something along those lines. No amount of
repairing from CD solved it, so just had to reformat and reinstall. Both
were complete hardware changes.

 

[Kenneth Engelhardt]

Hi Neil,

We have a few options here.

The best option is to do a clean installation of Windows.
In your case this may not be an option.

Besides a Clean install we can do a few of the following with the
understanding that issues can still occur.
In this order

Option 1
-------------
You can use Sysprep to basically strip out hardware information and set
Windows 2000 to basic settings before moving the drive.
This will allow Windows 2000 to rebuild hardware information based on the
computer that the drive is placed in.
Keep in mind when you do this the drive will need to be in the old computer.

Once you have Sysprep.exe on the computer you will need to login as the
local administrator.
Run the command. After is has completed.

Take the drive out of the computer and put it in the new PC.
Boot and windows 2000 should redetect Hardware and Return control to the
Desktop.

Please make sure to read information provided in the links bellow before
attempting this.

Sysprep download and information.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0c4bfb06-2824-4d2b-
abc1-0e2223133afb&DisplayLang=en

Additional information about sysprep and deployment process if you are
curious
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000pro/deploy/depopt/sy
sprep.mspx

Option 2
-------------
Move the drive to the new computer and perform a In Place Upgrade per
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article KB292175
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;292175

Option 3
-------------
Perform a repair installation using the Windows 2000 Cd.

I hope this was Helpful,

Kenneth C. Engelhardt
Microsoft Online Support Engineer
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
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