WinXP ATA drive to WinXP SATA migration: options and ideas needed

[Guest]

Current laptop (Dell D600): 1.5GB 2.4Ghz 160GB ATA drive with WinXP Pro SP2
(all updates); CD/DVD RW
Wanted laptop (Dell D630): 2GB duo-core 160GB SATA drive; DVD-DL RW

1) Can I EASILY go from the 160GB ATA drive to a 160GB (or higher) SATA
drive with a 'copy/clone' of WinXP Pro SP2?
2) What's the easiest way to go from WinXP SP2 to WinVista Business WITHOUT
reinstalling gobs of software.....?
TIA,

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Current laptop (Dell D600): 1.5GB 2.4Ghz 160GB ATA drive with WinXP
Pro SP2 (all updates); CD/DVD RW
Wanted laptop (Dell D630): 2GB duo-core 160GB SATA drive; DVD-DL RW

1) Can I EASILY go from the 160GB ATA drive to a 160GB (or higher)
SATA drive with a 'copy/clone' of WinXP Pro SP2?
2) What's the easiest way to go from WinXP SP2 to WinVista Business
WITHOUT reinstalling gobs of software.....?
TIA,

I have had trouble going from the D610/20 to the D630 series - a repair
install was required most of the time even if I imaged/applied a clean
install from a 610/620 to a 630. The 410/420 --> 430 update was not that
way. So you can image your D610 and apply it to the D630 and likely be able
to make it work with a repair install.

As far as the larger hard disk drive question - any good imaging software
will take care of that for you and just expand what you have to fill the
rest of the new larger drive.

The easiest way to go to Vista and not reinstall - upgrade. Just like you
would think. However - you should make sure the hardware in question and
the software installed will run in Vista (or if they need updates to do so,
etc.)

 

[Guest]

So, what I could do is (or maybe what you're suggesting...)
1) Image the 160GB ATA with WinXP Pro for a backup
a) I could move most of my docs type files over to another drive to save
space and maybe time before the imaging and/or migration.
2) Upgrade the 160GB ATA with WinXP Pro to WinVista Business
3) Image the 160GB ATA which now has WinVista Business to the 160GB SATA
4) Boot to the WinVista Business DVD at first startup and run a Windows
Repair on the 160GB SATA drive.
5) I could then restore my 160GB ATA drive with the backup from Step 1 above
and run my old laptop for a while thereby gradually removing docs and
directories until I'm comfortable with the migration. What's the impact of
the registry etc. on the migration?
6) Is 2GB sufficient for WinVista Business? The D630 goes to 4GB and I also
have VMWare which is part of the reason I need lots of disk space and options
for WinOSes.
TIA!!

I am not familiar with WinVista Busines. How do I get into the WIndows
Repair mode on the DVD for the first startup after the imaging?