Chris:
The simple answer is...sometimes yes, sometimes no.
In most, but certainly not all, cases involving the transfer of a HDD from
one system to another system the result will be a failed initial boot.
But in a significant number of cases the initial boot will be successful.
It's always worth a try.
In working with hundreds of different systems (in an XP environment) we
have
found no common denominator that will tell us beforehand whether the
initial
boot under these circumstances will be successful or unsuccessful. And
that's regardless of whether we're dealing with Intel-based or AMD-based
systems or the HDD transfer occurs between an Intel-AMD system or
AMD-Intel
system.
The fact that the two systems involved have "totally different hardware"
will not negate the possibility of a successful initial boot.
Obviously when the initial boot does fail the general "fix" is to run a
Repair install of the XP operating system. In most, but again not all,
cases
the result will be a bootable system. Naturally, as I'm sure you're aware,
the necessary motherboard (and possibly other auxiliary) drivers will need
to be installed following a successful Repair installation.
Anna- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
Very good information indeed Anna, When I was a system tech, we
always did things in order, meaning if we wanted an installtion of
Windows on a machine, we would start with a fresh install or image;
hardly ever did a repair or any hard drive swapping. There are just
way too many variables when dealing with different hardware types, I
never wanted to take a chance.
I'm trying to explain this to a young technician that thinks
everything is possible with a little time and effort. My thing is,
with a fresh install, I know what I'm getting....Playing the swap game
has always looked as a quick fix that will be more unpredictable than
what I care an OS install to be.
Thanks for the input
Chris:
I fully understand your position that as a general proposition it's best to
fresh install the OS following a transfer of one HDD to another HDD,
regardless of whether the recipient system will boot straightaway or a
Repair install of the OS may be necessary to accomplish a bootable,
functional system. I know that there are many technicians who agree with
your point of view. I ought to know having worked with a good number of
them!
But I must say (again, as a *general* proposition) that I do not hold to
that view.
By & large I see no reason why the transferred HDD, or more precisely the
system/data on that HDD, should not properly function in the recipient
system. Again, whether it booted with or without the necessity of a Repair
install of the OS. And, of course, all this is in reference to the XP OS.
I quickly add that I'm assuming the transferable HDD is unquestionably
non-defective and there's no reason to believe a corrupt OS is present on
the drive, i.e., the system from whence the HDD originates has not been
experiencing any problems that could be traced to a problem HDD. So that as
far as we know we're dealing with a sound HDD that has experienced no
problems.
On the other hand...
Should the user feel more comfortable (for whatever reason) with a fresh
install of the OS together with the installation of his/her
program-application files and user-created data, updates, etc., I have no
problem with this.
Anna
