Re: One Hard drive for 2 computers

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com
Date: 08/05/04 

Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2004 12:34:25 -0700

>> Reply

Thank you kindly for your suggestions. They all sound
good. Now I just have to figure out how and what it
means.

My reason for doing what I'm doing is, my boss will not
allow his sensitive business information to remain, as
it has happend in the past, such information is used
by others. His reqirements is that anything performed
on that computer stays on that HDD, and is never left
for prying eyes. No exceptions.

The only thing I could figure out, was to purchase a
Windows XP, install it on a HDD and take the HDD with me.
Being a senior citizen on a limited budget, does not
allow me to continue purchasing items in order to keep
my job, especially at minimum wage. I have already spent
over a hundred dollars for Windows XP and the Goodwill
computer I have at home will work fine with this HDD I
take with me, but I can't afford, as one suggested, a
laptop, which would seem the easiest. And lugging the
whole computer on the bus, won't work.

My solution was to just pack around a small HDD that will
fit in my pocket. They are easy to plug in, so it seemed
a simple solution.

In review of the Windows site, it appears their idea is,
one WinXP per computer, and on the surface, it sounds
like what I want to accomplish, would require another
WinXP, and another hundred dollar purchase, of which I
just can't afford. Furthermore it does appear that my
intentions conflict with Windows licensing policy and
could be illegal according to their licensing agreement.

I hate to loose my job, I'm lucky to have at my age, and
was hoping to go a simple and inexpensive route. Appears
this may not be possible, and I certainally appreciate
all that have helped in this matter.

Thank you very much for all input.

>-----Original Message-----
>Again, calling for the activation can get you activated
again; however, you
>WILL run into the problem your currently having. With
an external hard
>drive, you just hook it up to your PC and do your work
on it, then you
>don't need to worry about getting rid of stored data.
>
>It is true that there are the temporary files that some
programs create
>while working, but if this is that big of a issue that
every bit is kept
>secret, then you can use NTFS on your work computer and
set it up to encrypt
>the whole hard drive. Doing this and having a strong
password will keep
>everyone out of your data.
>
>Another thing you could do is keep a clean image of your
work computer on a
>seperate partition, at the end of the day reimage and
all of the temporary
>files will be gone. You will have to recreate your
image everytime you want
>to change your setup do to installing new programs but
this will also keep
>your work machine clean, and if someone does break in,
there won't be
>anything to find.
>
>One final solution you could do is keep a hard drive
with Windows installed
>on it in your home computer, then just hook your work
hard drive up to it to
>access the files. This should work fine depending on
your you setup
>permissions if your using NTFS. An external HD carrying
your data is still
>your best bet though.
>
>
><anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>news:0d8e01c47b19$9446c000$a401280a@phx.gbl...
>>
>> >>Reply
>>
>> MVP's suggestion of using an external, still requires
>> clearing off all data stored, for that day, that is, if
>> I can even find it all.
>>
>> Your suggestion of calling for new activation sounds
>> possible and I will try that.
>>
>> As far as hauling a large computer back and forth,
>> disconnecting, setting up, etc, etc, etc, seems
extreme,
>> and buying a laptop ... sounds good if my name was
>> Bill Gates and trowing around thousands of dollars
>> (pocket change) was not an issue. But, thanks for
>> the ideas !
>>
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >The problem that your having is that XP's activiation
>> check performs a check
>> >of the hardware inside your computer. If too much of
it
>> has changed it will
>> >require you to reactive Windows. This is to prevent
you
>> from installing
>> >Windows onto one computer, and then copying the hard
>> drive onto another one
>> >and running it there.
>> >
>> >The only way you'll be able to activate Windows will
be
>> to phone Microsoft
>> >support and get a new activation code. Note, if you
>> continue what your
>> >doing you will be locked out of XP again in the near
>> future even after
>> >activating. Support won't be happy with you if you
keep
>> calling.
>> >
>> >What the MVP was suggesting is that you get an
external
>> hard drive where you
>> >keep the documents you want to move between the two
>> computers. Both
>> >computers should have their own hard drives with their
>> own Windows
>> >installations on them. Then just take this external
>> hard drive back and
>> >forth to work and home and you'll have the documents
you
>> need without
>> >running into activation problems.
>> >
>> >If the above solution is not suitable you can do one
of
>> the following.
>> >
>> >Downgrade to Windows 2000 or 98, these don't have
>> activation so you won't
>> >run into this problem.
>> >
>> >If you can't or won't downgrade then just use a single
>> computer and
>> >transport it to / from work.
>> >
>> >If that's not really reasonable, then change computers
>> and start using a
>> >laptop.
>> >
>> ><anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >news:0d8301c47b14$2ebac150$a601280a@phx.gbl...
>> >> Have one hard drive that I want to swap from home
>> >> use to office use, back and forth.
>> >> When installed in home computer, Windows XP will not
>> >> activate.
>> >>
>> >> Have posted this question prior, and MVP suggested
>> >> an external hard drive. This is not accurate, as
>> >> a hard drive is a hard drive, be it internal or
>> >> external.
>> >>
>> >> Question again:
>> >> How to activate WinXP on second home computer using
>> >> my same hard drive?
>> >> Anyone with knowledge in this department?
>> >>
>> >> Thank you in advance for directions.
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >.
>> >
>
>
>.
>

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