Does anyone know if this is viable? I have a new system, but i don’t want to have to reload and reinstall everything. Can I simply install the old C: drive as the master drive in another system (updating drivers where necessary) and carry on, or will XP decide that I need a new license and lock me out?
There are probably ways around the Windows verification, but in most case it will probably say no.
The verification tool can handle small hardware changes, but too many at once and it will refuse.
I have heard it especially doesn’t like motherboard changes.
I always go for a fresh hard drive and OEM OS for a new PC build and use my old hard drive as a backup.
Mukade
I swapped the motherboard and Windows recognised it a s a new system which needed a renewal of my XP validation. I was not locked out, and could do the validation online, which was fast and hasslefree.
PS: I did make a fresh clean install of XP.
Hi s1m0n
Did the system come installed with XP?, if so the the license is tied to the machine and dies with it, if it was a copy you bought, then you can transfer the license to a new m/c. (XP checks things like the processor/motherboard/video card etc to see if it is the same machine it was originally installed on. You will likely need to contact Microsoft Support though.)
Why not just go with Vista and save yourself the hassle and use the hard drive as a second one in your new system.
David
Darn. That’s what I feared.
s1m0n
There is a possible way round the problem, if you don’t mind upgrading to Vista.
If you have enough space on your hard disk to create a partition large enough to take Vista
When the system is built, put the upgrade disk into the machine and start it up.
Select custom installation and set up a dual boot system.
The data in your old system will then be available to Vista.
Personally I would go with mukade’s suggestion.
David
My experience does not bear this out.
My original XP came with the system, i had no CD, the license key was on a MS sticker on the box. I made a CD from the i386 folder found in the root (not the one in the Windows folder). I was able to keep being licensed even with substantial rebuilding:
New motherboard, new videocard, new harddisk, new CD writer, new monitor. There is little left in the box which was there originally, in fact the box is swapped as well! So i would not be so sure what “tied to the machine” means or that XP cannot be used in a substantially modified system.
I have an XP install disk that doesn’t need to be verified on line, and it’s possible to slipstream the SP2 and SP3 updates, but doing so is a bit of a drag, and if it was easily avoided, I’d prefer to avoid it. Oh well. Let’s hope the new system is finally fast enough to install XP without taking all day.
Early review of the next version of Windows have been pretty good. At work, where we have a buzzallion computers, we haven’t moved to Vista. Decided to skip over it and wait for Win 7.
The some IT departments at the University of MN seem to be avoiding Vista as well. Vista seems like it is going to be like NT and Win2000.
I’m a determined ‘late adopter’, too. I don’t upgrade until programs I use stop working, or a new program I want can’t do without it. Why bother getting a fast computer just to load it up with an OS that runs slow?
Vista’s a virus, not an upgrade.
Hi. I manage over a hundred desktops at a small factory here in Dayton. Allow me to weigh in on this topic.
The answer is: probably.
You can take an HD with XP on it from one computer to the next, as long as the chipsets are similar enough for the disk access. For example, I commonly take a hard drive with XP Pro from an old Compaq Deskpro into a Dell Optiplex GX270, even a GX150. The Genuine Windows thing has not shut down a single copy of XP, yet. It also hasn’t stopped me from downloading and installing updates from Microsoft.
My advice, though, is to clone the old disk to a new disk, then try to boot with that one. Just in case something messes up. Have a CD ready with the drivers for the new computer. The first time XP boots up on the new PC, it will start detecting things. It goes faster if you have a CD with the drivers on it for it to search.
Addendum: My company is skipping Vista and Windows 7. We have ZERO business reason to switch. We are still running Office 2000. Why? Because it still works. We do not suffer from upgraditis. That way leads to the dark side.
Eh…a better comparison would be that Vista is like Windows ME. Windows NT and 2000 were nice, stable OSes and my previous company made great use of them both.
Regarding the licensing previously mentioned…
Many OEMs included an OEM-Licensed XP for the machine. This level of license was cheap, and it meant that the license was “tied” to that one machine, as was supposed to die with it. It is strictly a paper difference, the OS doesn’t know the difference.
The next level license was a general license. You bought a copy of XP and could install it on any PC you wished, or to a new PC if that old once died.
From there it was site licenses and such.
Yes. Windows ME would be a better comparison.
I ran NT servers years ago and it was a very stable platform.
I held back from Vista for a while, but I built a new PC and gave it a go.
It is not as bad as its reputation.
Mukade
NT and 2000 didn’t last as long as XP. Not that Vista was a bad system, just one that I do not think will ever be a standard that will have long term support. I still use equipment that is tethered to NT. Some of the basic limitations of the NT OS have caused problems that have needed some workarounds that really inhibit work. I see Vista as the same kind of short lived OS.
Vista was not a bad OS (I used it for a year) but it was crippled in many ways and didn’t have many benefits over XP. To add to that it is going to be replaced soon, I could never recommend it.
Add the new drive, boot the system up with Knoppix Live CD and set up the drive with the old one unplugged so that you don’t accidentally delete old drive contents.
Then reboot again with both drives added under Knoppix Live CD and copy the contents of the old drive to the next one. When finished, remove the old drive and move the new to the position of the old one.
Here are some examples:
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23161
http://www.softpanorama.org/Freenix/knoppix.shtml
I have a hard drive that’s essentially followed me through several computer builds. It all started with a Gateway essential from many years back that came pre-installed with Windows ME. I’ve upgraded the hard drive more than once by simply transferring the contents from one hard drive to a newer higher capacity one. I’ve been running Windows XP for years as an upgrade version to the original Windows ME that I ran a decade ago.
Honestly, with the low cost of high capacity hard drives, why not just use this as an opportunity to purchase a much bigger one and just do a transfer of info from your old hard drive?
One of these days, I am going to have to start with a fresh hard drive and a fresh install of Windows as I imagine there’s a lot of useless crud on my hard drive.
Thanks for everyone’s help. What I’ve done is dig out my old KMM switch, which lets me run two systems long enough to do a fresh install to the new system and gradually add the stuff it needs without losing the use of an internet capable system in the meantime.
But yes, over the years since my last system I’ve upgraded the HDs several times. It was new in the era in which 80 gigs was a lot, and I’ve got a three or four replacements between 250 and 500 gigs each, which I’ll be shifting to the new