Ron said:
Hi I have a friend who wants to replace his old hard drive with a new one
but he is totally clueless so to save a lot of grief I said I would buy a
new hard drive for him and install Windows XP Pro on it on my computer, i.e.
I would remove my hard drive and put the new hard drive in my computer and
do a fresh install of Windows XP Pro.
Also because I have broadband and he does not I would also update all the
files etc and install his programs. I would then remove his old drive and
replace it with the new drive.
Can anyone see any problems with doing it this way. We both have XP Pro and
I will use his serial number.
If your friend's computer isn't identical (as regarding the hardware
components) to yours, you'll be wasting your time. You'll still need to
do a repair installation and then reinstall all hotfixes when you move
the hard drive to your friend's computer.
Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations are
BIOS-locked to a specific chipset and therefore 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.
As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.
This will also probably require re-activation, unless you have a
Volume Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. If it's been more than
120 days since you last activated that specific Product Key, you'll most
likely be able to activate via the Internet without problem. If it's
been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone call.
--
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
