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Okay, heres my dilemma.
My computer which I’ve had since May 2005 is, hardware-wise, crap.
It’s an HP Pavilion a1010n with a Celeron D Processor.
Motherboard has 3 PCI slots and NO AGP slots whatsoever. It’s only saving grace is 1.5 gigs of RAM (originally 512 gigs until I upgraded it) and a built-in DVD player/CD writer/burner.
I have a GeForce 4000 graphics card which is sadly limited. I could get a better PCI card I suppose, but they say it’s not worth wasting the money on it and I’ll go with that advice due to PCI’s limitations.
Now, I want to get new hardware and a whole new comp, I am planning to do it this weekend.
The thing is, I want to know if it’s feasible to get a whole new tower with a decent motherboard and processor and just move my current hardrive over to that and run the current operating system I’m using now on it and not encounter any critical problems.
I know for a fact it at least would have to be another HP system, for one, and I know I will at least run into some problems with hardware drivers. The thing is I have this set up just the way I want it and starting over with a whole new operating system and re-installing all my software is such a hassle I want to know if it is possible to avoid all that. Another thing is I do not wish to move on to Vista. Software-wise I’m quite comfortable it’s just the hardware I have a problem with.
My operating system is Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2.
So can anyone give me advice if this is feasibly possible without critical errors? I can handle installing new hardware drivers and all.
Kacen, I see no problem with moving your HDD straight to the new system. If the HDD has Parallel ATA pins (instead of Serial ATA pins), you need to be careful about how you setup the IDE cable (Master/Slave) settings. Other than that, the BIOS in your new system should automatically add the installed HDD to the boot sequence, and the boot loader that runs on your current machine will work exactly the same way. I would even be fairly confident that XP will automatically detect most of the drivers you’ll need.
That being said, I have only built one computer, so I would get at least one more opinion before you go ahead with this 😎
Good luck!
If you simply install your present hard disk into a new system, there is a high possibility that you’ll get a BSOD when the OS boots up (I’ve tried it before). You can do this successfully only if the new system has exactly the same motherboard as your old one.
For the scenario you described, I’d suggest a complete reinstall of XP and your programs; yes, I know it’s a pain, but consider it a major spring cleanup (moreover XP SP3 is just around the corner). And I’m sure you’re going to get a better motherboard and processor than your old system, so go for a fresh start, you won’t regret it.
Well if Philip’s right, and I trust a staff member, then I’ll just go for getting a whole new OS with it and just installing my old hard drive as secondary and not booting from there, then re-install everything…
*sigh* Oh well.
Very interesting, and I’m sorry I misled you, Kacen. Philip, what part of the boot process is MOBO-dependent? I’ve never heard of this.
VvWolverinevV;227127 wrote:Very interesting, and I’m sorry I misled you, Kacen. Philip, what part of the boot process is MOBO-dependent? I’ve never heard of this.Well, I’m a geek but I’m not that geeky, lol. I would say the beginning of the boot process (when you turn on your PC), but also I find that XP and probably Vista are very fussy when the OS and drivers are loading and initializing. So as in Kacen’s case, if we were to just install his old hard disk into a new system with new hardware, XP would just complain and throw up, since it’s still loading all the old drivers from the old motherboard. Make sense? Of course you could uninstall all the old drivers, etc. before moving the hard disk, but chances are XP would still throw a BSOD at you. That’s why I always do a fresh install of the OS whenever the motherboard is changed. That way, you can be 100% sure that the system will boot without any problems.
For the record, I have found (surprise!) Windows 98 to be more forgiving. In years past, when I slotted a hard disk from an old Win 98 system into another system (with a different MOBO) Win 98 would simply just redetect the new hardware and prompt me to install the pertinent drivers.
Sorry, Philip, I have to disagree. Kacen, searching some other forums, it seems like this process should be pretty painless. Most of what I’m reading says you should be able to just boot into safe mode and load all the drivers you need right on the new setup. If you want to be extra careful, you can disable the old drivers like Philip says. Here’s a howto on TechSpot: How To: Swap motherboard without clean or upgrade installing Windows – TechSpot OpenBoards
Mmm I could do that if I wasn’t so terrified and paranoid of something going wrong. I have anxiety problems, just seeing weird screens on my comp.
So Wolverine basically just boot into safe mode and it automatically installs all the drivers?
Yes, backup the important stuff of course. But I would feel really confident about it. Just google “move HDD between motherboards”.
Quote:For the record, I have found (surprise!) Windows 98 to be more forgiving. In years past, when I slotted a hard disk from an old Win 98 system into another system (with a different MOBO) Win 98 would simply just redetect the new hardware and prompt me to install the pertinent drivers.That isn’t surprising since Win98 was more like software on top of DOS, whereas NT is an entire OS. I seem to remember 98 getting stuck in a loop of trying to install drivers and failing on boot every time, making for a very slow boot process, heh.
Kacen: I would not ever recommend that you do what you are suggesting. For starters, the motherboard you have now doesn’t support Serial-ATA, and it is likely that the new computer you will buy will lack IDE connections, or you will be using the same channel as the optical media drive. Using an older drive is also a bad idea, since the lifespan of disks is shorter than most other components.
I would highly suggest that you look into proper backups, and using the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. I doubt you have much in the way of applications which require configuration that this program will not migrate for you.
There is also a level of risk involved here that nobody has discussed. If you are not a technology savvy person, the possibility exists for you to get “stuck” between computers, where the drivers don’t load properly for the new computer, but you have lost the ability to load windows on the old system as well. At this point, you could be stuck without a computer to use, and without the internet to find a solution. If you are not comfortable with “seeing unfamiliar screens where you need to make decisions,” then I would again recommend not swapping the disk to a new system, but migrating over the network with the FSTW. Just my thoughts on it. Anyone who has done this before knows that unexpected conflicts are almost always going to happen, I’ve broken computers and spent hours searching for solutions, the errors can be cryptic or misleading–there is a reason that there is an entire IT/support industry.
Hmm, I just took my own advice and Googled “move HDD between motherboards”, and I found something I hadn’t thought of. If your XP came preinstalled on your current computer, moving the HDD over to a different system is illegal. Haha, this is less than a minor detail. I give up, you probably want to buy a new HDD with a new OS separately or installed 😮
I’ll clarify it with the guy’s at best buy when I go to get my new comp this weekend.
Okay I feel reassured now.
Oh umm I don’t have a Windows XP installation disk…will I need it?
If you are building your computer, you need to buy an operating system, yes. If you are buying the computer pre-built, an operating system will probably be pre-installed. This is definitely a question to ask the salespeople.
…Of course, Ubuntu is free:p And that’s a good way to get tech-savvy real fast, haha.
Umm…
No I meant for moving my current Windows XP operating system on my current HDD onto the new hardware’s primary HDD slot and booting into safe mode to install drivers so I can just continue on new hardware with the same software without re-installing anything…will I need the installation disk for that?
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