is this possible?

[Phil]

i'm about to buy a new , more powerful pc and it won't have an os on it.
The pc I use at the moment has xp pre-installed on the hd and i don't have
an original disc
would i be able to take the hd out of this pc, and put it into the new one,
making the drive the master and using the drive in the new one as a slave
or will i have to buy a copy of xp and install it on the new pc?

Phil

 

[T. Waters]

i'm about to buy a new , more powerful pc and it won't have an os on
it. The pc I use at the moment has xp pre-installed on the hd and i
don't have an original disc
would i be able to take the hd out of this pc, and put it into the
new one, making the drive the master and using the drive in the new
one as a slave or will i have to buy a copy of xp and install it on
the new pc?

Phil

When you buy a "preloaded" OS, you are getting a crippled OS.
The OS is configured to only work with the motherboard of the machine it is
sold on.
Basically, it dies with the computer's motherboard.
You are wise to buy a computer without an OS on it.
In the future, the OS you buy can work on any other PC you might wish to put
it on (except for an antique).

 

[Curmudgeon]

would i be able to take the hd out of this pc, and put it
into the new one, making the drive the master and using
the drive in the new one as a slave

Nope. Two reasons: 1) too much hardware has changed, and the only way
to take care of that situation is to have the installation CD handy and
2) you don't have that CD.

or will i have to buy a copy of xp and install it on the
new pc?

Yup

 

[Stephen]

You could try and report back.

Just go online and get an OEM - it's not that much money e.g.:

http://www.directdeals.com/Item_OEM-WINXPHDSP2.aspx

 

[Guest]

about the preloaded OS not working... in many cases it will, if it does not
you may need to run the recovery consol (on the new comp to make it work).
Use any windows xp cd to do this

THE REPAIR CONSOLE

This method will reinstall Windows XP, and delete all drivers and windows
updates, BUT IT WILL NOT DELETE YOUR PROGRAMS OR FILES!

To use it you need to insert your Windows XP CD, and then restart your
computer. Then when the boot screen comes up, click ‘boot from cd’ and once
the XP cd has loaded, select the repair console.

Here are some websites that describe the process
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/EN-US/ Please not this is very detailed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm this is quite a good
step by step guide which I recommend printing off and looking at while doing
your first repair

Do not worry. Repairs are very easy, but afterwards you will need to
reinstall drivers, and run Windows Update.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Quintin

 

[Peter Foldes]

Quintin

Are you answering to the another thread? Or did you misread the OP,s
question

 

[Phil]

thanks.

Phil

Quintin

Are you answering to the another thread? Or did you misread the OP,s
question

 

[Guest]

Hi Stephen,

About your question, I would suggest you to perform a mirror installation
process of Windows XP from your old HDD to your new raw HDD. If you go ahead
and perform this process you will not have to buy a new copy of Windows XP.
if you need any further information about this mirror installation process.
You can send me an email at (e-mail address removed).

Thanks and Regards,

Siddharth Desai (MCP, MCSE, MCSA, MCP in Exchange Server 2000)

 

[Bruce Chambers]

i'm about to buy a new , more powerful pc and it won't have an os on it.
The pc I use at the moment has xp pre-installed on the hd and i don't have
an original disc
would i be able to take the hd out of this pc, and put it into the new one,
making the drive the master and using the drive in the new one as a slave
or will i have to buy a copy of xp and install it on the new pc?

Phil

You'll need to purchase a license of WinXP for the new computer.

First of all, you have an OEM license for WinXP. An OEM
version must be sold with a piece of hardware (normally a motherboard or
hard rive, if not an entire PC) and is _permanently_ bound to the first
PC on which it's installed. An OEM license, once installed, is not
legally transferable to another computer under _any_ circumstances. Of
course, this is an obstacle only to those people with personal integrity.

And then there's the purely technical obstacle: You *must* have a full
installation CD in order to do what you wish.

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations
and licenses 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

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.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi Stephen,

About your question, I would suggest you to perform a mirror installation
process of Windows XP from your old HDD to your new raw HDD. If you go ahead
and perform this process you will not have to buy a new copy of Windows XP.
if you need any further information about this mirror installation process.
You can send me an email at (e-mail address removed).

But what would be the point? The mirrored hard drive still won't work
in the new PC until the OP performs a repair installation, using a CD he
doesn't have.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Stephen]

And isn't there a small licencing issue straight out copying when the
original copy was an OEM copy? If he's getting a new machine he might buy a
new OEM copy online:

http://www.directdeals.com/Item_OEM-WINXPHDSP2.aspx

 

[Steve N.]

Quintin

Are you answering to the another thread? Or did you misread the OP,s
question

He does this all the time. He thinks Device Manager, Recovery Console or
MSConfig will fix anything. And it's "Recovery Console" Q-brain, there's
no such thing as "Repair console."

Steve

 

[Bruce Chambers]

And isn't there a small licencing issue straight out copying when the
original copy was an OEM copy?

Certainly, as my reply to the OP said.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH