New computer / old Win XP o/s question

If I get a new barebones computer, can I just hook-up my existing boot hard
disk and get things to work, or do I have to go through an entire re-install
of the o/s?

Thanks

John D99 wrote:
If I get a new barebones computer, can I just hook-up my existing boot hard
disk and get things to work, or do I have to go through an entire re-install
of the o/s?

Thanks



Reinstall. The new computer requires too many new drivers.

Depends, you can try a repair installation and install the new drivers
during the process.
But if your version of winxp is OEM it may be locked to the origonal hw

"John D99" wrote in message
m...
If I get a new barebones computer, can I just hook-up my existing boot
hard disk and get things to work, or do I have to go through an entire
re-install of the o/s?

Thanks

John D99 wrote:
If I get a new barebones computer, can I just hook-up my existing boot hard
disk and get things to work, or do I have to go through an entire re-install
of the o/s?

Thanks





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/directo...;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.


--

Bruce Chambers

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