Fresh install or ghost migration?

[Brossyg]

I currently have a 3 year old P4 running WinXP sp2 with all updates. I am
building a new high end computer to replace this one and I want to continue
to
run XP. I would like to know if it is better to do a fresh install of the OS
and all apps (big pain), or it is just as good to ghost the drives using a
program like Norton Ghost of Save & Restore? Why?

Thanks,

 

[DL]

Generally I find a clean install is best
For an image restore you will then have to do a repair installation to
install chipset & other device drivers for the new hw

 

[Holz]

I currently have a 3 year old P4 running WinXP sp2 with all updates. I
am building a new high end computer to replace this one and I want to
continue to
run XP. I would like to know if it is better to do a fresh install of
the OS and all apps (big pain), or it is just as good to ghost the
drives using a program like Norton Ghost of Save & Restore? Why?

Thanks,

www.acronis.com
Acronis universal restore.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I currently have a 3 year old P4 running WinXP sp2 with all
updates. I am building a new high end computer to replace this one
and I want to continue to
run XP. I would like to know if it is better to do a fresh install
of the OS and all apps (big pain), or it is just as good to ghost
the drives using a program like Norton Ghost of Save & Restore? Why?

Personal preference. All someone could do is give you their opinion and
that would be based of their skills - not yours. Technically - you could do
it either way and probably make it work. It might take hours/days either
way. Really depends on you and your skills. I have had machines that I
moved Windows XP from a 6+ year old PC to a 2008 PC and it took 2 days for
me to get the right drivers and integrate them into the CD in order to do a
proper repair installation.

However - I have done it before where no repair was necessary and where it
only took an hour or so.

I can also start one of my processes to do a complete unattended
installation and without any input from me after the first 10 minutes - in a
couple of hours the machine is installed with all the standard applications
and updates and I can export the profile and import it onto the new machine
and be done.

So - whatever your skill set may be - use it.

 

[Big Al]

Personal preference. All someone could do is give you their opinion and
that would be based of their skills - not yours. Technically - you could do
it either way and probably make it work. It might take hours/days either
way. Really depends on you and your skills. I have had machines that I
moved Windows XP from a 6+ year old PC to a 2008 PC and it took 2 days for
me to get the right drivers and integrate them into the CD in order to do a
proper repair installation.

However - I have done it before where no repair was necessary and where it
only took an hour or so.

I can also start one of my processes to do a complete unattended
installation and without any input from me after the first 10 minutes - in a
couple of hours the machine is installed with all the standard applications
and updates and I can export the profile and import it onto the new machine
and be done.

So - whatever your skill set may be - use it.

And one more thought. I've moved a drive (not clone but physically
install in a new pc) and when XP booted it saw new hardware obviously
since it was a new MB. It just hit me up with a few "found new
hardware" prompts and with the MB cd installed all went well.

As Shenan sid, its a gamble. I too have had it go from one extent to
other. Your best idea if you get an new drive with the new PC is to do
whatever, but leave your old drive as a backup, till you get the new pc
working. I love migrating to new hardware. In place migration
bothers me that I got good backups and did I get enough etc.

 

[PD43]

I currently have a 3 year old P4 running WinXP sp2 with all updates. I am
building a new high end computer to replace this one and I want to continue
to
run XP. I would like to know if it is better to do a fresh install of the OS
and all apps (big pain), or it is just as good to ghost the drives using a
program like Norton Ghost of Save & Restore? Why?

I did exactly what you are doing about 18 months ago, but the machine
I was replacing was TWICE as old as your "old reliable".

When I did it, I cloned the hard drive from MY "old reliable" to the
drive that was to be the system drive in the new machine.

Then I ran a repair install of XP on the new machine when I fired it
up for the first time.

Luckily, it worked and all those little hard to find programs that I'd
grown to be dependent upon were there waiting for me to use them
again.

What I recommend is that you do what I did first. If that doesn't
work, then you will have to run a fresh install.

Good luck!!

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I currently have a 3 year old P4 running WinXP sp2 with all updates. I am
building a new high end computer to replace this one and I want to continue
to
run XP. I would like to know if it is better to do a fresh install of the OS
and all apps (big pain), or it is just as good to ghost the drives using a
program like Norton Ghost of Save & Restore? Why?

Thanks,

It'd be much better, I think, to perform a clean installation.

If you do decide to transfer your current installation to the new
hardware, you'll need, at the very least, to perform a repair installation.

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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