Moving XP to a New Computer

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

A hard drive with a working installation of Windows XP was Ghosted
(using BootItNG) to a safety hard drive. The partition was made active.
I'm getting ready to resuse the hard drive for a Windows 98
installation, but before doing so, I wanted to see if the hard drive
would boot in a different computer. (The original computer is a Gateway
P4, the test computer is a Gateway PIII.)

Having seen
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125 for
Windows 2000, I thought I would see what would happen if I had to move
the XP installation to another computer. I could not find a way to
repair the XP installation on the drive as to permit the computer to
boot. After it goes through POST, all I get is a black screen. I assume
that the IDE driver being loaded is the wrong one. If I had to get this
installation working on this computer, what would the next step be?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

mcp6453 wrote:
> A hard drive with a working installation of Windows XP was Ghosted
> (using BootItNG) to a safety hard drive. The partition was made active.
> I'm getting ready to resuse the hard drive for a Windows 98
> installation, but before doing so, I wanted to see if the hard drive
> would boot in a different computer. (The original computer is a Gateway
> P4, the test computer is a Gateway PIII.)
>
> Having seen
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125 for
> Windows 2000, I thought I would see what would happen if I had to move
> the XP installation to another computer. I could not find a way to
> repair the XP installation on the drive as to permit the computer to
> boot. After it goes through POST, all I get is a black screen. I assume
> that the IDE driver being loaded is the wrong one. If I had to get this
> installation working on this computer, what would the next step be?


Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations and
licenses, especially those of the branded, BIOS-locked variety, are 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:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

"mcp6453" <mcp6453@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:e7unQpp%23EHA.2192@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>A hard drive with a working installation of Windows XP was Ghosted (using
>BootItNG) to a safety hard drive. The partition was made active. I'm
>getting ready to resuse the hard drive for a Windows 98 installation, but
>before doing so, I wanted to see if the hard drive would boot in a
>different computer. (The original computer is a Gateway P4, the test
>computer is a Gateway PIII.)
>
> Having seen http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125
> for Windows 2000, I thought I would see what would happen if I had to move
> the XP installation to another computer. I could not find a way to repair
> the XP installation on the drive as to permit the computer to boot. After
> it goes through POST, all I get is a black screen. I assume that the IDE
> driver being loaded is the wrong one. If I had to get this installation
> working on this computer, what would the next step be?

 

[Rock]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

mcp6453 wrote:

> A hard drive with a working installation of Windows XP was Ghosted
> (using BootItNG) to a safety hard drive. The partition was made active.
> I'm getting ready to resuse the hard drive for a Windows 98
> installation, but before doing so, I wanted to see if the hard drive
> would boot in a different computer. (The original computer is a Gateway
> P4, the test computer is a Gateway PIII.)
>
> Having seen
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125 for
> Windows 2000, I thought I would see what would happen if I had to move
> the XP installation to another computer. I could not find a way to
> repair the XP installation on the drive as to permit the computer to
> boot. After it goes through POST, all I get is a black screen. I assume
> that the IDE driver being loaded is the wrong one. If I had to get this
> installation working on this computer, what would the next step be?

What type of license is the XP on the original hard drive? If OEM it's
not transferrable to a different system. If it's a retail license and
not installed anywhere else, then this will work but will require a
repair install. http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm