Transferring XP to different computer

[Dries van Tonder]

My current motherboard was destroyed by lightning. I am running XPPro with
SP3. I transferred the hard drive as slave drive to another computer and
found that the disc was not damaged.

Subsequently I bought a new motherboard and now want to use my old hard
drive again without having to reinstall XP again, as we have an extremely
slow and expensive internet connection. (want to avoid downloading SP3 again)

Is there a way to do this?

 

[Malke]

My current motherboard was destroyed by lightning. I am running XPPro with
SP3. I transferred the hard drive as slave drive to another computer and
found that the disc was not damaged.

Subsequently I bought a new motherboard and now want to use my old hard
drive again without having to reinstall XP again, as we have an extremely
slow and expensive internet connection. (want to avoid downloading SP3
again)

Is there a way to do this?

You will definitely have to do a Repair Install. If it doesn't work because
the hardware is too different, you'll need to do a Clean Install. Of
course, you will have already backed up all your data off that drive, yes?
If not, make sure you copy the data to your other computer first because
Stuff Happens. I'm assuming your old XP install was done from a retail disk
and not an OEM. If the old drive came out of a Dell for instance, this
isn't going to work on a non-Dell motherboard.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm - Repair Install
How-To
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What
you will need on-hand

Malke

 

[JS]

Using your original Windows Setup CD (Not OEM),
boot from the CD and follow all the instructions until you get to the point
where Setup finds your current Windows installation.

Just follow the instructions posted at one of the web sites below,
read each of the steps carefully so you understand what you will be doing a
step by step before you actually start the repair process.
Windows will keep your previous settings, including applications and
device drivers.

Word of warning: Always backup any important data files just incase
things don't go as expected. Read all three articles mention below
"carefully" and see if a Repair Install meets your needs

See: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
and: Windows XP Repair Install - How extreme can you go
http://www.pagestart.com/repairinstall.html

If the PC boots and you are able to logon, then check 'Device Manager' and
look for any Yellow ?
You may need to re-install the device drivers or if you are moving to a new
computer then
have your drive disk ready as you will need to install the Chipset drivers,
LAN, Sound any possibly
others.

Finally go to Windows Update site and install all the updates as they will
need to be reinstalled.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

On Mon, 4 May 2009 15:33:01 -0700, Dries van Tonder <Dries van

My current motherboard was destroyed by lightning. I am running XPPro with
SP3. I transferred the hard drive as slave drive to another computer and
found that the disc was not damaged.

Subsequently I bought a new motherboard and now want to use my old hard
drive again without having to reinstall XP again, as we have an extremely
slow and expensive internet connection. (want to avoid downloading SP3 again)

Is there a way to do this?

Probably.

After you replace the motherboard, do a repair installation. That
*usually* works, but be aware that if the motherboard is different
enough, it may not work, and you will have to start from scratch by
doing a clean reinstallation.

So make sure that you have a backup of all your important data before
beginning.

 

[Johnw]

Dries van Tonder pretended :

My current motherboard was destroyed by lightning. I am running XPPro with
SP3. I transferred the hard drive as slave drive to another computer and
found that the disc was not damaged.
Subsequently I bought a new motherboard and now want to use my old hard
drive again without having to reinstall XP again, as we have an extremely
slow and expensive internet connection. (want to avoid downloading SP3 again)
Is there a way to do this?

More info.
Upgrading A Motherboard Without Reinstalling
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1755&page=5
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=77909774&m=1400925745
Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with XP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html
Repair Install to SET XP to New Motherboard
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html#3

 

[Patrick Keenan]

My current motherboard was destroyed by lightning. I am running XPPro with
SP3. I transferred the hard drive as slave drive to another computer and
found that the disc was not damaged.

Subsequently I bought a new motherboard and now want to use my old hard
drive again without having to reinstall XP again, as we have an extremely
slow and expensive internet connection. (want to avoid downloading SP3
again)

Is there a way to do this?

Find a PC with a fast network connection and download the full SP3 version
to CD. Google "XP SP3 IT" and you will get the full file. Also, download
nLite.

With those two, you should be able to slipstream your XP CD to SP3. Do
*not* get SP3 via Windows Update.

You will still have to get some updates. Again, if you can get the PC over
to a highspeed location, such as a cafe or office, make the arragement.

Unless the motherboard is completely identical,. your swap will cause you
grief as drivers will not match and the system may or may not boot at all.
The key issue is whether the drive controller is the same. You would
normally address this with a repair install, and if you do that with the XP
SP3 CD you made, you are way ahead.

Again, make an arragement to get access to a highspeed connection for two or
three hours, and get all the updates. For big things, download them to
hard disk then copy them to CD for later use.

HTH
-pk

 

[Anna]

Find a PC with a fast network connection and download the full SP3 version
to CD. Google "XP SP3 IT" and you will get the full file. Also,
download nLite.

With those two, you should be able to slipstream your XP CD to SP3. Do
*not* get SP3 via Windows Update.

You will still have to get some updates. Again, if you can get the PC
over to a highspeed location, such as a cafe or office, make the
arragement.

Unless the motherboard is completely identical,. your swap will cause you
grief as drivers will not match and the system may or may not boot at all.
The key issue is whether the drive controller is the same. You would
normally address this with a repair install, and if you do that with the
XP SP3 CD you made, you are way ahead.

Again, make an arragement to get access to a highspeed connection for two
or three hours, and get all the updates. For big things, download them
to hard disk then copy them to CD for later use.

HTH
-pk

Dries:
As you have heard from a number of responders to your query, the likelihood
is that you will need to run a Repair install of the OS following
installation of your new motherboard and your former HDD, possibly even a
fresh install of the OS in a worst-case scenario. But this is *not* an
absolute by any means.

There's more than a fair chance that you will *not* have to undertake a
Repair install of the OS - that your former HDD will boot straightaway
without any problems.

We have encountered many instances where a change of motherboards - even
including AMD to Intel or Intel to AMD - did not necessitate a Repair
install of the OS. There's really no way of telling (at least I've never
been able to determine in advance) whether this happy event will occur. You
simply just have to try it.

Naturally (as I'm sure you're aware), should you be fortunate enough to get
this initial boot you would then install the necessary drivers from the
motherboard's installation CD/DVD.
Anna