Need help on HDD upgrade

[RNAjay]

Hi, heres my situation.

I am getting a nice Dell from work that is about two years old. The
hard drive needs replacing though and it DOES NOT have any system
disks. I do have the Dell operating system disk and the serial number
on the side of my home machine. Here are my questions:

1. Can I use my operating system disk I have on my home on the other
computer? ( I will be making the two machines one by adding the other
hard drive into that machine too but I want the new larger hard drive
to be primary and boot from there)

2. Since I'm using (possibly) the operating system only disk, do I
need to do anything else? Such as will the new hard drive comunicate
with the rest of the machine fine and will things like the CDRW drive
work or internet/networking connection be totally fine. Yeah,right?

Thanks

 

[Holz]

Yeah,right?

Thanks

Why not get Linux Ubuntu and not worry about licensing and crap?

 

[GHalleck]

Replied in-line:

Hi, heres my situation.

I am getting a nice Dell from work that is about two years old. The
hard drive needs replacing though and it DOES NOT have any system
disks. I do have the Dell operating system disk and the serial number
on the side of my home machine. Here are my questions:

Where are the system disks? It would be extremely helpful if it came
with its system disks, a corresponding legal Product Key and any utility
discs.

1. Can I use my operating system disk I have on my home on the other
computer? ( I will be making the two machines one by adding the other
hard drive into that machine too but I want the new larger hard drive
to be primary and boot from there)

No. The Product Key that is attached to the side of this computer lives
and dies with this computer. IOW, the Product Key is not transferable.

2. Since I'm using (possibly) the operating system only disk, do I
need to do anything else? Such as will the new hard drive comunicate
with the rest of the machine fine and will things like the CDRW drive
work or internet/networking connection be totally fine. Yeah,right?

A valid Product Key is needed. The only way to get one is to buy either
a retail or a "generic" version of the Windows XP that is being planned
for installation in this computer. As for compatibility, Dell computers
these days are pretty much generic. Any additional specific driver files,
bios update, etc., will need to be downloaded from the Dell support site.
At the same time, also download any applicable manuals, guides, etc.,
for this particular computer.

Have fun!

 

[Rock]

Hi, heres my situation.

I am getting a nice Dell from work that is about two years old. The
hard drive needs replacing though and it DOES NOT have any system
disks. I do have the Dell operating system disk and the serial number
on the side of my home machine. Here are my questions:

For there have been a valid transfer of the XP license that is installed on
that computer, it needs to come with the COA, the XP installation CD or
recovery CD, or the hidden partition on the hard drive that has an image of
the drive as received from the factory. Without that it is not a valid
transfer of the XP License. You haven't said if there is a sticker with a
product key on the case for that computer.

1. Can I use my operating system disk I have on my home on the other
computer? ( I will be making the two machines one by adding the other
hard drive into that machine too but I want the new larger hard drive
to be primary and boot from there)

What do you have, a Dell recovery CD or an installation CD? Normally The
Dell CD is BIOS locked to the the motherboard. It will install without
needing a product key on the system it came with or one that is similar.
Whether it will work on the new computer, I don't know. The product key on
the computer case for your home machine will work with a Generic OEM XP
installation CD, however it's tied to that home computer and can't be used
on a different system.

2. Since I'm using (possibly) the operating system only disk, do I
need to do anything else? Such as will the new hard drive comunicate
with the rest of the machine fine and will things like the CDRW drive
work or internet/networking connection be totally fine. Yeah,right?

Yes of course, in addition to installing the OS, you need to have the XP
compatible drivers for all the hardware and install those. Those you can
get from the Dell web site.

Sounds like you'll need to purchase a copy of XP and install it clean.

 

[Plato]

I am getting a nice Dell from work that is about two years old. The
hard drive needs replacing though and it DOES NOT have any system
disks. I do have the Dell operating system disk and the serial number
on the side of my home machine. Here are my questions:

If you dont have the original "restore" disk set then you maybe can
install a regular copy of XP and then hope that Dell has the correct
drivers you need to get all the "cards" working properly.