Putting old HD in new computer

[Mark Corbelli]

I purchased a new computer that has an OEM copy of Vista for it's OS. My old
computer uses XP and is set up exactly how I want it. Is there a way to swap
boot drives? I know the drivers would be different (audio, LAN etc.) and I'm
wondering if the copy of XP is somehow tied to the old hardware
configuration and would no longer be considered legal in a new machine. Any
thoughts?

 

[GT]

I purchased a new computer that has an OEM copy of Vista for it's OS. My
old computer uses XP and is set up exactly how I want it. Is there a way to
swap boot drives? I know the drivers would be different (audio, LAN etc.)
and I'm wondering if the copy of XP is somehow tied to the old hardware
configuration and would no longer be considered legal in a new machine. Any
thoughts?

Legally speaking, if you upgrade your PC, then your license of XP is still
valid, however you are talking about a new PC, so your XP license would not
be valid. However, if you change your question slightly, then you might be
OK - you are simply upgrading all the parts of your PC, except the hard
disk. It would never stand up in court, but nobody in the world would
actually care!

The install you have on your existing hard drive will probably not work
immediately, for the driver reasons you stated, but a repair or just a
little time and effort should be able to get it running. However there is a
simpler option - if you don't want Vista, then format the new PCs hard drive
and install XP as a fresh installation. You will then have a new, clean,
quicker installation of XP, on a newer, quicker hard drive. You can still
install your old hard disk in the new system for extra space.

 

[Mark Corbelli]

Actually I wanted to remove the new hard drive and use it in my external
enclosure. The new drive is 250 GB and the old drive which is used in my
business is 100 GB and only half full after 5 years!. So I hate to only use
50 GB of a 250 GB hard drive when I can use it for something else. I guess I
can just swap out the hard drives, boot up, go to the BIOS and get the HD
recognized, then install the LAN drivers from the new computer's web site,
then over time keep fixing things as they crop up.

 

[GT]

Actually I wanted to remove the new hard drive and use it in my external
enclosure. The new drive is 250 GB and the old drive which is used in my
business is 100 GB and only half full after 5 years!. So I hate to only
use 50 GB of a 250 GB hard drive when I can use it for something else. I
guess I can just swap out the hard drives, boot up, go to the BIOS and get
the HD recognized, then install the LAN drivers from the new computer's
web site, then over time keep fixing things as they crop up.

How are you going to get to a website without LAN drivers?!? You will hit
several problems before you get to LAN drivers! You will have to get the
chipset and CPU recognised before you can get to install the graphics and
sound drivers, then you can start to consider USB, LAN and peripheral
devices. There are more drivers than I suspect you are aware of. There are
drivers for more than just the things you have added to /installed on the
computer!

 

[Mike Walsh]

If this computer is your only means to access the internet and you use a NIC you will have to download drivers for your new NIC before you swap the hard drive. Your graphics adapter can be run in VGA mode until you get the proper drivers. Sound drivers etc. can be installed later.

 

[Mark Corbelli]

I will have other computers running that have internet access. So getting
all the drivers won't be a problem as long as the CD drive is recognized.
Maybe I should just forget it and try out Vista...

 

[DaveW]

XP is tied to your old hardware, yes. More IMPORTANTLY, whenever you change
the motherboard used with a harddrive containing Windows as the OS, then you
HAVE tao reformat the harddrive and do a fresh install of the OS. Otherwise
you can look forward to ongoing Registry errors and data corruption.

 

[kony]

I will have other computers running that have internet access. So getting
all the drivers won't be a problem as long as the CD drive is recognized.
Maybe I should just forget it and try out Vista...

It's not necessarily a big deal, all you have to do is get
it to finish booting XP on the new system then install the
lan driver. "IF" you were using an OEM version of XP,
technically you need to buy another OEM license and use the
new license and activation for this new system. Google can
find details on each step in the procress.