XP hard drive to another computer

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chuck
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Chuck

I bought Windows XP Home edition. Reformatted my hard
drive and did a complete "new" install. With all the
security MS has built into the software, am I not going
to be able to transport this hard drive back and forth
between two desk top computers? (I travel between two
homes). Am I condemned to having to buy two identical
desktop systems since I much prefer desktops over laptops?
 
Chuck said:
I bought Windows XP Home edition. Reformatted my hard
drive and did a complete "new" install. With all the
security MS has built into the software, am I not going
to be able to transport this hard drive back and forth
between two desk top computers? (I travel between two
homes). Am I condemned to having to buy two identical
desktop systems since I much prefer desktops over laptops?
Click to expand...

First off, legally according to the End-User License Agreement (EULA) you
agreed to (accepted) during the install:

"You may install, use, access, display and run one copy of the Product on a
single computer, such as a workstation, terminal or other device
("Workstation Computer"). The Product may not be used by more than two (2)
processors at any one time on any single Workstation Computer."

So, legally, you cannot do what you are suggesting.

Secondly, the built in activation requirement in Windows XP (Home or
Professional) will keep you from easily doing what you are suggesting.
Essentially when Windows XP installs, it uses the hardware in your computer
to come up with a specific "code" for that computer and you activate that
copy based off that code. If you change more than a few items on the
computer in a short enough period of time, you will have to re-activate.
Also, Windows XP does not "transfer" from one set of computer hardware to
another very well and in most cases requires at least a "repair
installation" if you do something like "remove the hard drive and put it in
a new computer" or "change out the motherboard".

My guess is that you used to use something like Windows 98 - which could
care less what you legally agreed to, had no way of enforcing it and
actually could change hardware fairly easily. Perhaps unknown to you, you
agreed to essentially the same EULA as what you agreed to with Windows XP,
but the enforcement mechanism did not exist. A lot of people don't like it.

Even if you had "identical desktop systems", there is a chance they are not
identical enough to satisfy Windows XP enough to just bring your hard drive
and place it in one or the other. In fact, I have to admit, I have never
seen a reason to do such a thing. Do you do some work that requires you to
have your entire desktop/program set installed exactly the same way on the
two computers? Would it not be easier to buy a large external hard drive,
synchronize your data by using it between the two computers with that and
just have two seperate setups in the different locations? Not only that -
but provide much better data retention, considering you would have a copy of
your work on a device seperate from both computers as well as on both
computers?
 
Greetings --

Normally, and assuming either a retail license or a generic
(non-branded) OEM license, unless the motherboards in the two
computers are virtually identical (same chipset, same IDE controllers,
same BIOS version, etc.) to one another, you'll need to perform a
repair (a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation each time your switch
computers, 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

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will probably also require re-activation. 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
 
Greetings --

I don't see this as an issue, in this particular case. After all,
the OS will be "installed" on only one PC at a time. Remember, a
retail license, which is implied in the original post, is
transferable.

The OP will most likely need to perform a repair installation each
time he swaps PCs, though.

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
 
You missed my point completely. I have no problem
whatsoever with buying 2 copies and having two operating
system. I would just like to have all of my data which is
right now on one hard drive, easily accesible on another
machine, and then easily accesible on the original
machine. I travel frequently between two residences, and
if I'm going to have to spend 30 or 60 minutes
synchronizing data between the two, I'd just assume do
without or take the whole CPU with me.
 
Thanks. So, if I were to order two identical computers
from the same manufacturer on the same day at the same
time, you think the hard drive change would be seemless
as long as the hardware on each machine was also
identical? If so, that might be worth a try with as cheap
as they are these days.
 
Have you considered getting an external drive to store your data on and
moving it from machine to machine?

Just a thought, JAX
 
Okay, so even if I were to buy two identical computers
with identical hardware with Windows XP on them, I
couldn't do it legally. But if they were that identical,
would the codes not be identical as well? Or does it read
serial numbers or something on the hardware as well?

Yes, I used to use Win98SE, but even so, I never
attempted this. I've just now come into a situation where
I am going to need travel between two places much more
often, and I'd like to be able to throw my hard drive
(okay, place it gingerly) in a padded case, and throw
that in my luggage and go.

No, I don't have to have my entire desktop/programs
installed exactly.

I like your suggestion about an external hard drive, but
if I install software on it, during the install, usually
some files are stored in the Windows directory, and we
never know what those files are. So how could I get
copies of those files on the other machine? And sometimes
they change too, so wouldn't they have to be synched as
well? This sounds like a great idea, but I'm not sure it
will be simple to keep everything in sych. I have to
admit, however, that although I'm an advanced user,
Breifcase is one thing I've never used. There was a time
when I was tried to find instructions on it but I
couldn't. Because I've not known how to use it, I've been
afraid to use it because I've been araid of losing data.
Perhaps I should make some test files to see how it works.

Thanks for the reply. Any other input would be greatly
appreciated.

Chuck
 
Greetings --

I don't _know_ that it would be completely "seamless," but the
odds would certainly be in your favor. However, if the PCs come with
any form of BIOS-locked OEM license, it probably wouldn't work; I'm
pretty sure you'd need a retail license.


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
 
Bruce said:
Greetings --

I don't _know_ that it would be completely "seamless," but the
odds would certainly be in your favor. However, if the PCs come with
any form of BIOS-locked OEM license, it probably wouldn't work; I'm
pretty sure you'd need a retail license.


Bruce Chambers
Click to expand...

Usually a bios locked version will work on any system by the same
manufacturer and specific model and if it doesn't, the only thing that
happens is it has to be activated manually.
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
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