Re: Upgrading to a new computer

"Big_Al" <BigAl@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uNRDTBIQJHA.3932@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bruce Chambers wrote:
Big_Al wrote:
I've been reading other posts, and I have to re-ask. Over the years,
I've built most all of my PCs. And on some of them, I've just put the
old drive in the cabinet and turned it on. After mucho "new hardware
found" popups and a lot of cd / floppy disks, the system came up running
just fine. A little rebuilding of printers and heck, I was up and
running.

But I hear that is not so any more. Maybe I got away with it and wasn't
using XP? Who knows. I bought my current XP machine in 2004 so it
could be I bought XP after that.

Is there a simple way around this? I've got XP retail and all
application CDs. I'd probably be going from an AMD chip to Intel.
Obviously a bunch of other mobo stuff.


Normally, and assuming a retail license (many factory-installed OEM
installations are BIOS-locked to a specific motherboard chipset and
therefore 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

Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with WinXP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

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.



Yes, it is a retail license thank goodness, not OEM.

Not being negative, but I get the impression I should just take this as
the time to do a full re-install. (heck its my wifes PC anyway, its her
tweaks she has to remake, not mine...LOL) I have image backups, and thumb
drive backups etc., so nothing is a problem. I just asked as I remember
doing it once, and probably after reading your post, it was win9x. I've
had almost every OS from DOS 3 (if not before) skipping ME. And I'm dang
good at moving and reloading the OS and apps. So I got my plan of
attack. I just gotta get the mobo now.

Thanks to all the suggestions and observations. Everyone!!

Rebuilding a win95/98 boot hard drive is child's play as the hardware driver
environment is much more elastic and tolerant. At worst you'll have to boot
to delete all current hardware entries ending with the ide controller, do
the same thing in safe mode for remnants, shutdown, then move the hard drive
to the new motherboard. Another method is removal of a block of the
registry regarding hardware. That won't work in XP or any other NT based
OS. Outside of that, you also have activation, 120 day period, and
someitmes a phone call hassles in XP.
--
Dave

If it looks like fish, smells like fish, its not
a cantaloupe.


.

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