XP from single core to dual core

[Occidental]

I have XP SP3 installed on an old single core compaq. My plan is to
transfer the master drive to a barebones dual core Dell Vostro, to
avoid a week of reinstalling umpteen apps. Am I hoping for too much?
(I know about installing new drivers)

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Tuesday, February 24, 2009 10:42:33 AM, and on a
whim, Occidental pounded out on the keyboard:

I have XP SP3 installed on an old single core compaq. My plan is to
transfer the master drive to a barebones dual core Dell Vostro, to
avoid a week of reinstalling umpteen apps. Am I hoping for too much?
(I know about installing new drivers)

A repair install will work most of the time, but sometimes it doesn't.
That is complete different from "installing new drivers".
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

I would highly suggest you make a full backup before proceeding just in
case.


Terry R.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf (MVP)]

I have XP SP3 installed on an old single core compaq. My plan is to

transfer the master drive to a barebones dual core Dell Vostro, to
avoid a week of reinstalling umpteen apps. Am I hoping for too much?
(I know about installing new drivers)

I guarantee you a 100% failure if you do this. You would have to use a
slipstream SP3 XP CD and perform a repair install but I would advise
against it as it'll likely muck up everything and confuse the old
hardware and related settings with what it wants to do on the new
hardware.

- Thee Chicago Wolf (MVP)

 

[Occidental]

I guarantee you a 100% failure if you do this. You would have to use a
slipstream SP3 XP CD and perform a repair install but I would advise
against it as it'll likely muck up everything and confuse the old
hardware and related settings with what it wants to do on the new
hardware.

- Thee Chicago Wolf (MVP)

Thanks for your depressing but presumably correct reply.
Is there any other way I can get round re-installing all my apps? My
one and only need is for a faster machine. Low cost is not paramount.
I prefer XP to Vista. I presume that XP would balk if I replaced the
motherboard on my slow machine, even if it were manufactured by the
OEM.

Thanks again.

 

[R. McCarty]

One way to migrate without a repair install is just before making the
physical change replace the Mass Storage driver to a "Generic" one.
However, XP will re-enumerate every sub-system driver on the new
hardware platform. You'll have to take steps to reveal Plug-&-Play
phantom entries in Device Manager and remove them. This process
is outside the normal way of doing things and as suggested a repair
or in-place upgrade is the preferred method.
*Whatever you decide to do, make an image of the PC before trying
any migration.

Another ( expensive ) choice is Acronis True Image Echo Server.
This software is specifically designed to migrate a Windows setup from
one hardware platform to a different one.

I guarantee you a 100% failure if you do this. You would have to use a
slipstream SP3 XP CD and perform a repair install but I would advise
against it as it'll likely muck up everything and confuse the old
hardware and related settings with what it wants to do on the new
hardware.

- Thee Chicago Wolf (MVP)

Thanks for your depressing but presumably correct reply.
Is there any other way I can get round re-installing all my apps? My
one and only need is for a faster machine. Low cost is not paramount.
I prefer XP to Vista. I presume that XP would balk if I replaced the
motherboard on my slow machine, even if it were manufactured by the
OEM.

Thanks again.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf (MVP)]

Thanks for your depressing but presumably correct reply.

Is there any other way I can get round re-installing all my apps? My
one and only need is for a faster machine. Low cost is not paramount.
I prefer XP to Vista. I presume that XP would balk if I replaced the
motherboard on my slow machine, even if it were manufactured by the
OEM.

Not likely balk but I would surmise that it would fall over. The
analogy is akin to putting a Fiat engine into a Ferrari. It might
work, not well, but it might work. In the end, it wouldn't be worth
it. If there wasn't much of a hardware generational gap between the
old and new system, it would probably work. My guess is that the old
setup is more than 18 months old, yes?

- Thee Chicago Wolf (MVP)

 

[Ian D]

Not likely balk but I would surmise that it would fall over. The
analogy is akin to putting a Fiat engine into a Ferrari. It might
work, not well, but it might work. In the end, it wouldn't be worth
it. If there wasn't much of a hardware generational gap between the
old and new system, it would probably work. My guess is that the old
setup is more than 18 months old, yes?

- Thee Chicago Wolf (MVP)

This is an aside, but I found this can work if you stay in the
same CPU/Chipset family. I transferred two HDs, one with
XP Pro, and the other with 64 bit Vista Ultimate, in a dual boot
configuration to a new system. The old system had a Core 2
Duo E6600 CPU on an Asus P5B Dlx MB with Intel P965 chipset,
and the new has an Asus P6T Dlx MB with Core i7 920 CPU
and Intel X58 chipset.

Both OS's booted and ran without hiccups on the new board,
although there were a few yellow flags in Device Manager for
both OS's, and the LAN didn't work. Also, there were a few "new
hardware found" nags in XP which I ignored. Vista 64 had none
of these nags. I installed the Intel X58 inf, and the LAN drivers,
and everything was 100%. I did have to reactivate XP and Vista.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

This is an aside, but I found this can work if you stay in the

same CPU/Chipset family. I transferred two HDs, one with
XP Pro, and the other with 64 bit Vista Ultimate, in a dual boot
configuration to a new system. The old system had a Core 2
Duo E6600 CPU on an Asus P5B Dlx MB with Intel P965 chipset,
and the new has an Asus P6T Dlx MB with Core i7 920 CPU
and Intel X58 chipset.

Both OS's booted and ran without hiccups on the new board,
although there were a few yellow flags in Device Manager for
both OS's, and the LAN didn't work. Also, there were a few "new
hardware found" nags in XP which I ignored. Vista 64 had none
of these nags. I installed the Intel X58 inf, and the LAN drivers,
and everything was 100%. I did have to reactivate XP and Vista.

Right, if the family or generation is fairly close, it will work fine.
I've dealt with Dells and system migration to new hardware for 10
years and as long as the generation is close, it will work with only a
few yellow bangs in the DevMGR.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have XP SP3 installed on an old single core compaq. My plan is to
transfer the master drive to a barebones dual core Dell Vostro, to
avoid a week of reinstalling umpteen apps. Am I hoping for too much?
(I know about installing new drivers)

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many factory-installed OEM
installations are BIOS-locked to a specific motherboard chipset and
therefore are *not* transferable to a new motherboard - check yours
before starting), unless the new motherboard is virtually identical
(same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.) to the one
on which the WinXP installation was originally performed, 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

Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with WinXP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

The "why" is quite simple, really, and has nothing to do with
licensing issues, per se; it's a purely technical matter, at this point.
You've pulled the proverbial hardware rug out from under the OS. (If
you don't like -- or get -- the rug analogy, think of it as picking up a
Cape Cod style home and then setting it down onto a Ranch style
foundation. It just isn't going to fit.) 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 that the entire WinNT/2K/XP OS family is so much more stable
than the Win9x group.

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

This will also probably require re-activation, unless you have a
Volume Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. If it's been more than
120 days since you last activated that specific Product Key, you'll most
likely be able to activate via the Internet without problem. If it's
been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone call.


--

Bruce Chambers

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