Move XP Home to Another Computer?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

I have a little IBM Thinkpad running on a legal pre-loaded WinXP Home
updated to SP2, but no Recovery Disk. As I am the legal owner of this copy
of WinXP Home, I would like to move it (not copy) over to another computer,
better, faster, different manufacturer, etc, currently running WinME.

Is it possible to do so. If so, how?

I've tried physically swapping the hard drive over, but on the target
laptop, WinXP Home says it is loading, but drops back into a boot loop,
never makes it, not even in Safe Mode. I've tried all the F8 options, but
none help. The boot routine fails to get far enough to be useful, before
dropping back into the front end of the boot routine. Same result with
XXCLONE.

Not sure if this WinXP Home does not like this target computer, or the hard
drive itself does not like the target computer. Or am I just dead in the
water....... :-( Thoughts of others?

Regards,

Terry Smythe

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Terry Smythe wrote:
> I have a little IBM Thinkpad running on a legal pre-loaded WinXP Home
> updated to SP2, but no Recovery Disk. As I am the legal owner of
> this copy of WinXP Home, I would like to move it (not copy) over to
> another computer, better, faster, different manufacturer, etc,
> currently running WinME.
> Is it possible to do so. If so, how?
>
> I've tried physically swapping the hard drive over, but on the target
> laptop, WinXP Home says it is loading, but drops back into a boot
> loop, never makes it, not even in Safe Mode. I've tried all the F8
> options, but none help. The boot routine fails to get far enough
> to be useful, before dropping back into the front end of the boot
> routine. Same result with XXCLONE.
>
> Not sure if this WinXP Home does not like this target computer, or
> the hard drive itself does not like the target computer. Or am I
> just dead in the water....... :-( Thoughts of others?

In the strict EULA (End User License Agreement) of the original install, you
did not buy Windows XP Home, you bought the right to USE it on that original
system and that original system only (you said it came preloaded, that
sounds like OEM software to me, that means it is "stuck" with the first
machine it is installed on - no matter what happens to that machine - even
if it spontaneously bursts into flames..)

Also you cannot move an XP install to a different hardware configuration
without performing a repair installation. (Well, you can, but other methods
are unreliable and far more complicated.)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Terry Smythe wrote:
> I have a little IBM Thinkpad running on a legal pre-loaded WinXP Home
> updated to SP2, but no Recovery Disk. As I am the legal owner of this copy
> of WinXP Home, I would like to move it (not copy) over to another computer,
> better, faster, different manufacturer, etc, currently running WinME.


Actually, you're the legal owner of a _license_ to use that WinXP Home
installation on *ONLY* the specific IBM Thinkpad on which it's already
installed. Read your EULA again; more carefully, this time. You'll
find that it is permanently bound to the first computer on which it's
installed, and may not be legitimately transfered to any other computer,
under any circumstances. That's why it cost so little, compared to a
retail license.


>
> Is it possible to do so. If so, how?
>


No. it's not possible. To "move" the installed OS to new hardware,
you'd need to use the installation CD (which you don't have) to perform
a repair installation, at the very least.

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.



--

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.help_and_support (More info?)

"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:Orw1dfEWFHA.4040@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

> In the strict EULA (End User License Agreement) of the original install,
> you did not buy Windows XP Home, you bought the right to USE it on that
> original system and that original system only (you said it came preloaded,
> that sounds like OEM software to me, that means it is "stuck" with the
> first machine it is installed on - no matter what happens to that machine

Suspicians confirmed. But huge disappointment nevertheless. Makes me
grind my teeth in exasperation. It seems somewhat unfair that I bought
and
paid for it, and yet I can't USE it on a better computer..... :-(

Regards,

Terry

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

"Terry Smythe" <smythe@shaw.ca> wrote:

>
>"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@gmail.com> wrote in message
>news:Orw1dfEWFHA.4040@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>
>> In the strict EULA (End User License Agreement) of the original install,
>> you did not buy Windows XP Home, you bought the right to USE it on that
>> original system and that original system only (you said it came preloaded,
>> that sounds like OEM software to me, that means it is "stuck" with the
>> first machine it is installed on - no matter what happens to that machine
>
>Suspicians confirmed. But huge disappointment nevertheless. Makes me
>grind my teeth in exasperation. It seems somewhat unfair that I bought
>and
>paid for it, and yet I can't USE it on a better computer..... :-(
>
>Regards,
>
>Terry
>

When you buy a computer with an OEM version of Windows installed it is
considered as one package (computer plus license) and they cannot be
separated.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

"Bruce Chambers" <bchambers@h0tmail.c0m> wrote in message
news:eCX4D6IWFHA.628@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

> Actually, you're the legal owner of a _license_ to use that WinXP Home
> installation on *ONLY* the specific IBM Thinkpad on which it's already
> installed. You'll find that it is permanently bound to the first
> computer on which it's installed, and may not be legitimately transfered
> to any other computer, under any circumstances.

Many thanks for your explanation, appreciated. I've never really known
this, always thought that once I have a legal copy of WinXP in my hands,
that I could use it sequentially on any computer I may happen to own at a
moment of time, no differently than every other version of MS OS from DOS
3.2 all the way through to WinME. I acquired this little Thinkpad used,
with no Recovery Disk and no documentation. First time I've had WinXP
under my fingertips. When I called IBM to buy a Recovery Disk, turns out
they have no record of this computer. It is a real genuine IBM Thinkpad,
with a real legal copy of WinXP Home in it, but IBM has no record of either
its model or serial number. Because of that, they refused to sell me a
Recovery Disk. Wierd....

Regards,

Terry

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Terry Smythe wrote:

>
>
> Many thanks for your explanation, appreciated. I've never really known
> this, always thought that once I have a legal copy of WinXP in my hands,
> that I could use it sequentially on any computer I may happen to own at a
> moment of time, no differently than every other version of MS OS from DOS
> 3.2 all the way through to WinME.


The ability to legitimately (technical "do-ability" aside) transfer an
OS from one computer to another has always been a feature of a retail
license, but not of the OEM licenses. In this regard, WinXP licensing
is exactly like earlier versions of Windows.



> I acquired this little Thinkpad used,
> with no Recovery Disk and no documentation. First time I've had WinXP
> under my fingertips. When I called IBM to buy a Recovery Disk, turns out
> they have no record of this computer. It is a real genuine IBM Thinkpad,
> with a real legal copy of WinXP Home in it, but IBM has no record of either
> its model or serial number.


That is very strange. If I were you, I'd look into the legitimacy of
the person/business that sold you that computer. You don't want to have
it someday confiscated as evidence by the authorities.





--

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