Using Same HD running XP (corporate edition)on multiple machines

[Lee Wiley]

The first obvious answer to the following is "Microsoft
Activation",but I'm almost sure it is not an activation issue,partly
because of the error messages I receive (which aren't handy right
now),but mostly because I am using a Windows XP Professional CORPORATE
CD which doesn't require activation.In fact there is no mention of
activation anywhere in the documentation or start menu or anywhere.

What I like to do and have been doing for several years with '98SE is
carry a HD with Win '98SE as its OS from computer to computer.For
example,I have dial-up at home and a very fast broadband at an
institution where I have an old computer sitting in the corner with
the case's screws removed.I pop the HD in and do some downloads,and
take the HD home.

The first time I run the HD on a new machine,it finds all the new
hardware and installs it.It can take quite a while.It may ask for the
Win '98 CD a couple of times and for a network card's drivers etc.It's
just like adding a new piece of hardware to a machine that has the
same HD in it or maybe more like installing the OS for the first time
starting from the point of finding the hardware.After the initial run
of the HD in a new machine,it will boot on any machine in which it has
previously booted without any delay or error messages or re-finding
hardware,just like it is the only machine it has ever seen.

This does not seem to be the case with XP.After successfully
installing it on one machine,it balks at booting on another machine.It
gives an error message very early in the installation scenario and
says it is quitting.I don't remember the exact message.I can post it
if necessary,but I thought maybe this is a common problem and someone
would know the answer.Should you be able to carry a HD with XP from
machine to machine and be able to run the existing OS like you can
with '98, assuming activation is not the issue?








I bring the HD to work

 

[Guest]

IF the wpa.dbl file in the windows\system32 folder is installed on one machine and you then take the HDD to another machine it will fail multiple tests like BIOS and so on. The file contains encrypted information about hardware and it's various signatures and if these are to drastically different then the install will fail. Good luck.

 

[Guest]

There is a way to do it
you have to add the ide controller id to registry and copy some ide.sys from i386 foler to system32\drivers
since the xp and 2000 will read the mini port driver first in order to boot to windows, not like win98 or me

 

[Gary Tait]

The first obvious answer to the following is "Microsoft
Activation",but I'm almost sure it is not an activation issue,partly
because of the error messages I receive (which aren't handy right
now),but mostly because I am using a Windows XP Professional CORPORATE
CD which doesn't require activation.In fact there is no mention of
activation anywhere in the documentation or start menu or anywhere.

There is no such thing as a corporate edition. That term is really
used to describe pirated versions of the software.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Actually, there is no such thing as WinXP "Corporate Edition."
That is a term applied exclusively to pirated (iow, stolen) copies of
the Volume Licensed WinXP Pro by the "warez" aficionados.

WinXP, like Win2K before it, is not nearly as "promiscuous" as
Win9x when it comes to accepting any old hardware configuration you
throw at it. On installation it "tailors" itself to the specific
hardware found. This is one of the reasons WinXP, again, like WinNT
and Win2K before it, is so much more stable than Win9x.

Normally, and assuming either a retail license or a generic
(non-branded) OEM license, unless the new motherboard is virtually
identical to the old one (same chipset, same IDE controllers, same
BIOS version, etc.), you'll need to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place
upgrade) installation, at the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

Bruce Chambers

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