I have a pavilion 521c (HP) computer. On this system, the XP recovery files are stored in a hidden partition of the hard drive. When I need to do a system restore, I need to pull all the components I’ve added (for me, that means unplugging the printer, scanner and cable modem and removing a second hard drive). If I don’t remove these items, the system restore doesn’t work.
Given this, what happens if I try to put this hard drive in an entirely new system? Will this mean I won’t be able to re-install XP? Is this a feature of HP or a feature of XP? I’m using the term “feature” quite loosely. I understand that Microsoft will want me to re-active my copy of XP as well. Would I run into problems with that since the hash value of my system will have changed?
Sometime in the next year I plan to get a new system and I’m hoping to save the $120 cost of a new opsys.
You might be able to get it to work. However, XP is going to scream if you put the HD into a new computer as the primary drive. The drivers, especially those of the motherboard, will need to be updated. There will probably be driver problems all over the place. That said, I have gotten several computers to work under that same scenerio. As long as it will boot, you generally just go into the Device Manager and delete those drivers flagged as problems and let XP reintsall them. I am not sure how the HP disk works. I needed my regular XP install disk several times.
Hmmmm…
Have you considered just getting hold of a copy of an XP install CD to reinstall from someone and forgetting about the recovery files? Providing you have a valid licence (which you do if it came preinstalled) then this is legal, and will let you do a from-scratch install. Just remember to do a files and settings transfer first to store all your personal files…
…and to make sure you have the product key to re-enter on the clean install! (Should be on a sticker somewhere on the computer case, if it was pre-installed.)
It’s hard to say exactly what will happen. I upgraded my computer so that it had a brand new motherboard and CPU. It had the exact same drives and PCI/AGP cards, but I was expecting to have to call Microsoft as a result of the motherboard switch. Every time I have reinstalled XP on the new system I have had no problems reactivating online. However, if you are installing it on a completely different system, I’d expect to spend some time on the phone.
As for if it it’ll work to just stick a new hard drive in there–not a chance. Everything will be set wrong.
From a technical standpoint, your best chance to get the OS to function when moving the hard drive to a new computer is to go into Device Manager and switch drivers for devices to generic drivers where possible.
The most critical driver is going to be the IDE controller driver. If the IDE driver is wrong, the system won’t boot at all. The other drivers may not prevent the sytem from booting up, but if you can change them first, it’ll increase your chances of success.
Once the hard drive is in the new computer, update the drivers to the correct ones for the new hardware.
And don’t just uninstall the IDE controller thinking it’ll autodetect the new one. Chances are, it’ll try to reinstall the old one in order to have something to boot off of before it gets to where it can detect the new hardware.
As for explaining everything to Microsoft when you need a new activation code, I don’t know what will happen. You will need a new activation code if the only hardware remaining the same is the hard drive. I have no idea what the EULA states with regards to transferring the Windows license to a new computer.
This is not necessarily true for OEM installs (the kind where you typically get a ‘restore disk’ or a restore partition instead of a proper install CD - they are a different kind of license.
I had XP on a laptop that was destroyed beyond repair - it was replaced by another machine that came with XP preinstalled, but I still had the license key sticker from the broken machine; I decided to install it on a desktop machine I cobbled together from parts. I didn’t use the restore CD, as this was a disk image based on an installation on the laptop hardware - I just installed from another XP disk I had handy.
It wouldn’t activate - I wasn’t surprised, as it was entirely new hardware, so I did the telephone activation thing - I explained the situation fully to Microsoft - that the previous installation was no longer in use because the machine was dead and that I had installed this licensed copy on bare metal. They flatly refused to activate it, saying that the license was only valid for use on the hardware with which the copy of XP had been purchased.
On the other hand, I recently purchased a new desktop machine that had to go back to the manufacturer after a couple of days because it kept hanging - after replacing just about every bit of hardware, the problem was narrowed down to the motherboard, which was replaced; when I got the machine back, it needed activation again - I had to do this over the telephone and the assistant did at first ask “why are you installing this on another machine?”, but I explained the situation and they gave me a new activation code without any fuss.
I did something like what the OP is suggesting. For me, it was putting the hard drive from my old Dell into my new home-built computer. Of course, Windows detected the unfamiliar harware and cried foul.
I called Microsoft’s tech support line, told the Indian guy that I had upgraded my computer, and he gave me a new activation code without any problems.
I have an installation disk. I think I reinstalled Windows, but I don’t remember for sure. (This was a couple of years ago now.)
:eek: So you get charged for a windows licence but they get to choose which machine you run it on? :mad: I guess I really should read that mammoth EULA I keep ‘accepting’.
It’s a feature of the company whose name is on the PC. Many big-name PC companies do it now, to spare you the terrible temptation of having an OS install CD in your mitts and going madly about installing it illegally onto every PC in the universe. This is one of the reasons that computer geeks tell you that you are better off building your own PC (or at least buying only one that comes with a regular OS-installer CD).
I’d say to just forget about trying to save the cost of another license. Spend $80 for another copy of XP Home, and get a new hard drive to install it on. You can lie and get a new activation, or you can torture these things and get them to work but it takes some extra gear to do it (you can’t easily do it with just the one PC to use) and you often have problems later on down the line, particularly if you need to reinstall the OS for any reason.
If you still want to try, then there is a big thread on the Ars Technica forums about this exact subject: transferring a system HD with XP installed from one PC to another.
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