moving old XP drive to new Vista computer

[Sheila Hoffman]

Could you please tell me what I need to consider to see if this will work on
my system? I know I have adequate space in the new box, but how do I figure
out if the new motherboard will support the older drive? And assuming I
could make the physical shift would I then be able to dual boot? And/OR...
would I be able to have both running, one on each hard drive in the same
computer and switch between them? How would that work? What's the best
scenario here or is giving up the idea best? The goal is to be able to
continue to run my legacy scanner that Epson will not be supporting in
Vista. It's scsii so I think I'd have to move the card as well unless
there's a scsii to usb adapter that'd do it?

Thanks,
Sheila

 

[Andy]

GDay All,

Sheila, you need to give us a little more info.

EG:
Is the HD SCSI or IDE or SATA??
What are the Motherboard Brands/Model Numbers?

Generally speaking though, you can check your current XP system for
compatibility by using Microsoft's Upgrade Advisor tool. That should give
you some idea about the compatibility of your scanner, software etc. Don't
hold your breath though.

Depending on the type of drive you have, you may well be able to dual boot,
but you will have to reinstall XP on the drive in any case. This is because
the drivers/setup will be totally different for the new motherboard. You'll
also need to do a Boot repair in Vista so that it will recognize the XP
installation.

While it is possible to simply install the new drivers on your existing XP
install, it is time consuming and fraught with dangers. Best to do a clean
install along with any software you use.


Regards
Andy M

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

It would be easier to purchase a new, modern scanner that is
compatible with Windows Vista.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

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"Sheila Hoffman" wrote:

Could you please tell me what I need to consider to see if this will work on
my system? I know I have adequate space in the new box, but how do I figure
out if the new motherboard will support the older drive? And assuming I
could make the physical shift would I then be able to dual boot? And/OR...
would I be able to have both running, one on each hard drive in the same
computer and switch between them? How would that work? What's the best
scenario here or is giving up the idea best? The goal is to be able to
continue to run my legacy scanner that Epson will not be supporting in
Vista. It's scsii so I think I'd have to move the card as well unless
there's a scsii to usb adapter that'd do it?

Thanks,
Sheila

 

[Rock]

Could you please tell me what I need to consider to see if this will work
on my system? I know I have adequate space in the new box, but how do I
figure out if the new motherboard will support the older drive? And
assuming I could make the physical shift would I then be able to dual
boot? And/OR... would I be able to have both running, one on each hard
drive in the same computer and switch between them? How would that work?
What's the best scenario here or is giving up the idea best? The goal is
to be able to continue to run my legacy scanner that Epson will not be
supporting in Vista. It's scsii so I think I'd have to move the card as
well unless there's a scsii to usb adapter that'd do it?

There are a variety of issues here. First, is the copy of XP OEM or Retail?
If OEM, by the license it cant' be moved to a new computer. It's tied to
the first computer on which it's installed. Retail can be moved.

Assuming it's a retail copy, have you researched to see if the new computer
will support XP? Some manufacturer's are producing new models for which
they are not providing XP drivers. So check on the web site for your
computer manufacturer and model to see if XP drivers are available. If so
download them and burn to CD.

Third, if it's a retail copy and there are XP drivers, moving a hard drive
to a different computer will entail at the least a repair install, and at
the worst a clean install. See this link:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

You will need to install XP drivers for all the hardware.

After that you need to deal with the issues of setting up the dual boot, and
the issue of Vista restore points being deleted when you boot into XP. Here
are some links to get you started:

http://bertk.mvps.org/html/dualboot.html

http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_xp_on_machine_running_vista.htm

http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/about88231.html

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Sheila

You could, as suggested, buy a new scanner which would give you the benefit
of higher resolution, faster speed and a newer set of scanner utilities..

OR, you could place the drive in your new computer and use BIOS to boot from
whichever drive (much depends on drive type, so would require some knowledge
of how hardware integrates)

OR, you could buy a KVM switch and run both Vista and XP machines on a
single keyboard, mouse and screen.. bear in mind that cheaper KVM switches
tend not to support keyboard 'onscreen' displays..

Could you please tell me what I need to consider to see if this will work
on my system? I know I have adequate space in the new box, but how do I
figure out if the new motherboard will support the older drive? And
assuming I could make the physical shift would I then be able to dual
boot? And/OR... would I be able to have both running, one on each hard
drive in the same computer and switch between them? How would that work?
What's the best scenario here or is giving up the idea best? The goal is
to be able to continue to run my legacy scanner that Epson will not be
supporting in Vista. It's scsii so I think I'd have to move the card as
well unless there's a scsii to usb adapter that'd do it?

Thanks,
Sheila

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/