New Mobo, can I revert to old windows?

[Olliebucknollie]

Hey guys and girls, long time reader first time poster on this great forum.

I recently got the majority of my components for a new pc and finally put it all together today. I decided to save some cash (and bother) and use my old hard drive which has a load of stuff on it I need to keep. However after installing the new motherboard and booting the system up I get the Blue screen of death. After reading another thread on the forums and how to solve it, I was fine. However, after booting from the Windows XP (DELL) CD I am now asked to register/activate my copy of windows and I cannot find the serial key anywhere. It says I have 30 days remaining to activate until (I presume) I wont be able to use it anymore. So my question is this;

After installing Windows in a separate folder on the same hard drive, can I revert to the version of windows I was previously using which also has all my saved settings and junk on?

Thanks,


Ollie.

 

[lazyperson17]

If you are using a DELL CD, it requires the CD key from the side of the computer the CD came with. Additionally, being from Dell, it might not have all of the drivers necessary for you to properly run your computer. My up front suggestion would be to purchase a none bound XP CD from the store. If you have a lot of files on the primary hard drive that you do not want to lose, you can get a cheap $20 80gb hard drive from newegg.com, amazon.com fry's electronics. They are really cheap now. Install the XP CD onto the new drive after having formatted it. (Additionally, if you replaced the motherboard, it usually requires you to reinstall windows regardless).

 

[linuxhero27]

There is a way to change your hardware (such as your motherboard) to be used on the original Windows install on your HDD. However, it means that you would have to have your old hardware for it to work.

As far as the CD Key goes, you'll have to fight with Microsoft to get a new key. I had to do that on an HP business computer not too long ago.

 

[Olliebucknollie]

Thanks for the advice guys, fortunately lazyperson directed me to the serial key for my XP copy. Only problem now is that I have to reinstall everything even though I can still see it in the program files. Think I will be buying a new hard drive after all.

Ollie.

 

[Guest]

Instead of installing a new copy of XP, you could have done a Repair Installation of your original install.

 

[lazyperson17]

Thanks for the advice guys, fortunately lazyperson directed me to the serial key for my XP copy. Only problem now is that I have to reinstall everything even though I can still see it in the program files. Think I will be buying a new hard drive after all.

Ollie.

Its better to install on a fresh hard drive, that way although you have to reinstall all of the programs, all of your files that you saved from the programs will still be there.