Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
13 Posts
0
2751
Moving old HD to new computer question...
I have a Dimension 8250 with a 80GB IDE hard drive which contains the OS (XP-Pro SP2) and applications. All data is stored on a separate file server.
Is it possible for me to buy a new machine (precision 490 workstation) and put the old drive into the new machine? I need to upgrade the computer but want to avoid having to re-install all the programs and redo OS settings etc, etc.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Dev Mgr
9.3K Posts
0
March 17th, 2008 16:00
At best it'll take you several hours worth of driver updates and all sorts of things. There is a good chance that you'll need to (re-)activate Windows too.
It's a good idea to start with a fresh copy of Windows every couple of years anyway, so when buying a new computer is as good a chance to do that as any.
You'll have to reinstall all the applications obviously (possibly get updated versions if available and you're not on the latest yet).
To move data, you can either do this over your network, or put the old drive in a USB enclosure and connect it to the new system and copy and paste your documents and such from the old drive to your new drive.
shesagordie
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
46K Posts
0
March 17th, 2008 18:00
It will not work, after you installed the hard drive from 8250, in the Precision 490, you will need to reinstall windows, drivers and all the applications from their discs, or from the publisher's website.
Bev.
===================================================
Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.
josejb70
13 Posts
0
March 18th, 2008 10:00
shesagordie
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
46K Posts
0
March 18th, 2008 18:00
Pleased to have helped.
Bev.
===================================================
Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.
regdor
4 Posts
0
March 19th, 2008 09:00
Well i have done something similar. I went from HP to Fujitsu pcs.
Using Acronis(norton Ghost does the same i think) do an image backup of your 80gb drive to a usb2 hard drive.
Boot new pc from Acronis boot cd and overwrite the new hard drive!
The pc will not work but then use XP FULL user cd to do a repair build onto the existing restore and it should work.
However this does mean you need 1, Acronis (£40) 2, Usb drive or similar(£60) 3 a full XP licence
and it is not gauranteed to work!! Not sure if XP would work with Dell recovery cd instead of a MS enduser cd.
I did this as a disaster recovery scenario just to see if it is possible( ie the buiding has burnt down, can we go buy a new pc and use the usb offsite copy to rebuild a pc quickly). My rebuilt pc worked fine.
If you have time and some kit to play with it MAY be worth an experiment. It may be quicker to build your new pc with your old apps!!! What about Vista????
Via google i found a great techie site that told me what to do, sorry cannot remember the name.