Windows XP migration to new hardware

[ed_fair]

Hi,

I am planning on migrating my Windows XP Home computer to new hardware.
I'm trying to preserve all settings and avoid paying for another copy
of XP. I've read some techniques on how to do this but I'm not clear
on a few things. My old (and still in service) computer is a Dell
Precision 320, with Dual 800MHz P3's, and two 72GB 10K RPM SCSI hard
drives in a non-RAID configuration. The SCSI is built into the
motherboard on this computer. The two drives appear as C: and D:, and
I have software installed into both C:\Program Files and D:\Program
Files.

My new computer is an ECS AMD 64 x2, with single CPU and two 300GB SATA
hard drives. I want to run the SATA drives in a RAID 0 configuration.
The SATA and RAID is built into the motherboard on this computer.

I've had XP running on the old computer for some time with no changes
within the previous 120 days. I have a small wired home network, a
server with plenty of hard drive space, and a DVD burner at my
disposal.

Question 1: What utility or technique should I use to back up the old
computer to the server? Thius is "just in case", I don't plan to
restore from this backup unless things go very badly. Does XP include
the old Backup utility from Windows 2000?

Question 2: Is there anything I have to actually *do* on the old
computer to enable the transfer of my XP license from the old to the
new computer? Is it adequate to simply reformat the old hard drives
once I'm satified that the migration was successful?

Question 3: Is there a grace period when both computers can be actively
running XP? If yes, how long is that grace period? In other words, if
the migration goes well on day 1, but on day 5 I realize something bad
is wrong, will I be able to simply boot up the old computer and
restart the migration?

Question 4: Can you comment on using Norton Ghost to transfer the old
drive images to the new raid containers? My thinking is that if this
works, I can then use common instructions (e.g.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html) after the transfer?

Thanks for any suggestions or advice you might have.

ed

 

[DL]

Acronis True Image, both to Clone and backup.
You would then need to run a repair install to install the mobo chipset and
other hw drivers.
However if Win is a Dell OEM copy, which I suspect it is, then its tied to
the Dell and dies with it.
The backup utility is no good for backing up an installation.

 

[Guest]

Before ghosting, change the IDE driver to "Standard PCI IDE Controller" -
this often will overcome the need for repair install. Once copied, the
system should detect the new IDE driver if you run "add new hardware"

The one sitation this won't work acceptably is if one mobo is ACPI and the
other not, for example a desktop to a laptop.

 

[DL]

you'll still need to run a repair installation

 

[ed_fair]

DL,

Thanks for the reply, sorry for my delay. I had to paint my basement.

My Windows XP is not a Dell OEM version, I actually purchased it at
Comp-u-Dump, along with Norton Ghost 2003. Ghost had no problem
burning 4.7GB DVD-R's, I didn't have to do anything besides create the
Ghost boot disk.

My mobo (ECS Nforce4M-A V3.0) has RAID1 mirror support, but I can't get
Ghost to recognise the mirror. Do you think Acronis will recognise it?

ed

 

[DL]

You need to read the mobo manual regarding the usage of sata/raid, as it
varies by manu/mobo.
It may need a bios entry or mobo jumper, and or the installation of
raid/sata drivers from floppy, via the F6 option during the repair of the
win installation.

I dont use Ghost so I'm unsure if there is an option to install third party
drivers (sata/raid) prior to the install operation.

 

[ed_fair]

DL,

I've taken this way beyond the scope of the newsgroup now, sorry, but I
do have a question about Acronis. (I do know that Windows XP setup
gives the option to load extra drivers before proceeding, and the mobo
did come with a CD, which presumably has those drivers; I'll try this
sometime later this week.)

Norton Ghost uses a "boot disk" (you actually have to create this
disk). When booted, it loads PC-DOS (think 1985 here) into memory, the
idea being that your hard drive(s) are not being accessed during an
image transfer. The boot disk must contain, and PC-DOS must load,
appropriate drivers for any hard drives or optical drives accessed
during the image transfer. Drivers for IDE hard drives are loaded by
default. I believe that the RAID controller on my mobo requires a
PC-DOS driver, and neither the mobo or RAID chip vendor seem to offer
drivers for such an old platform (that I can find, at least).

My question is this: Does Acronis use the same approach -- a boot disk
and some independent OS that loads from the boot disk -- or does it
somehow run under my existing Windows XP?

ed

 

[DL]

If the F6 option is used the drivers have to be loaded from Floppy.
The cd supplied with the mobo will usually have a 'make floppy' app to
create the drivers floppy.

I've used True Image Home version to clone but never to a sata drive.
From my checking Acronis help I'm unclear as to whether default drivers are
included with True Image or whether the external drivers option is only
available to server versions of True Image
The Acronis CD is bootable, as are any cd's created