Swap in HDD from old computer or reload OS?

Perhaps a longshot, but can I just take my HDD out of my old rig and put it in the brand new? I guessing it will say new chipset found, new hardware found, ect,ect. But this will save hours over reinstalling everything and then tweaking individual software, exct.

Other wise I guess I will have to re-formate the HDD and start from scratch (8+ hours).

short answer, no! especially if this is windows. if it boots at all, it will probably blue screen before loading. you would be wiser to reinstall, despite the chore it is.

Lateforgym said: Perhaps a longshot, but can I just take my HDD out of my old rig and put it in the brand new? I guessing it will say new chipset found, new hardware found, ect,ect. But this will save hours over reinstalling everything and then tweaking individual software, exct.

Other wise I guess I will have to re-formate the HDD and start from scratch (8+ hours).

It depends if you are switching the chipset for the hard drive. If it is the same general SATA or IDE chipset then it should boot just fine and you'll need to install the newer drivers. Same goes for processor type - if it is similar enough then it will work.

However, a clean installed is the preferred way to go.

-Richard

8+ hours! It really should only take a few hours at most. I hope you have better luck this time!

You cannot swap a hard drive containing Windows from one machine and install it on another machine. Older versions of windows did not have this limitation...MSFT changed this to prevent "cloning".

When Windows first gets installed, it "registers" all the components into a "snapshot" of sorts some say a specific number range...specific to that computer.

When the motherboard is different, the components are different from the original computer the swapped hard drive with Windows won't work in the other machine due to the security "features" of Windows. This prevents piracy.

So a new install is the only option, if you have the "Retail" version, you can legally transfer a Windows OS from one computer to another.

You must call up Microsoft and explain what you are doing and see if they will let you do it. This means wiping Windows off the older computer. If the OS is a OEM, I doubt you can do this.

Or if you have separate "license" stickers on both computers, you can legally reinstall Windows using the key on those stickers. One for each computer.

Your other options are, buy a new legit XP disc, Install Linux and use Wine.

Unlike Windows, ... hard drives containing Linux can be easily and legally swapped out between computers.

I-75 said: You cannot swap a hard drive containing Windows from one machine and install it on another machine. Older versions of windows did not have this limitation...MSFT changed this to prevent "cloning".

When Windows first gets installed, it "registers" all the components into a "snapshot" of sorts some say a specific number range...specific to that computer.

When the motherboard is different, the components are different from the original computer the swapped hard drive with Windows won't work in the other machine due to the security "features" of Windows. This prevents piracy.

So a new install is the only option, if you have the "Retail" version, you can legally transfer a Windows OS from one computer to another.

You must call up Microsoft and explain what you are doing and see if they will let you do it. This means wiping Windows off the older computer. If the OS is a OEM, I doubt you can do this.

Or if you have separate "license" stickers on both computers, you can legally reinstall Windows using the key on those stickers. One for each computer.

Your other options are, buy a new legit XP disc, Install Linux and use Wine.

Unlike Windows, ... hard drives containing Linux can be easily and legally swapped out between computers.

Half right. In most cases when you move a hard drive to a new computer with different components it will come up and explain that the hardware changed so you must reactivate. At this point if activation fails you can spend ten minutes on the phone with Microsoft typing in strings of numbers to reactivate. They might ask for confirmation that you removed Windows from the old computer. There is nothing illicit about swapping Windows to a new computer so long as everything remains within your agreement - the agreement is one install on one computer.

Thanks, Richard