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May 19th, 2010 15:00
clone a hard drive
wwI have two dell 8400 dimensions! One completely original with original hard drive etc. , one original minus hard drive!
Both have windows xp home!
I want to clone system 1 to a new hard drive and then install in computer no 2! If it is necessary, I want to use the coa from computer 2 to validate the operating system as genuine!
If reasonably possible, I would like to create a partition in the new hard drive so that I can consider installing windows 7 at a future date!
I would like to make sure the hidden files transfer so that on computer 2, I can use F11, I think, to completely errase all the data from computer 1 and revert the computer to the way that Dell delivered it originally (I realize it will be like computer 1 but they are essentially the same! I purchased a new flat panel from Dell so I will be wanting to change drivers for flat panel anyway after I get computer up and running! The "new" computer is to be used by my daughter for college!
Perhaps dell fees are reasonable, however, I prefer to learn how to accomplish this myself! I know there is software out there to do this, some free! I think I even have norton Ghost 2003 but not sure that is the way to go!
Any information, advice, instructions, recommendations are appreciated! If Dell has a "how to" with fairly detailed instructions without service purchase, would appreciate being informed
RoHe
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May 19th, 2010 18:00
This may be easier said than done!
If the system doesn't have a hard drive, it doesn't have XP Home, it has no operating system. It may have been sold and licensed to use XP Home. But you cannot use the product key from the first system with XP Home to validate the installation on tthe new drive in the second system. That's not legal. It's also not legal to install XP Home on a system that was licensed for XP Pro (or vice versa), unless you purchase a retail copy of the other OS.
If both were sold with XP Home, you could use the same Dell Windows Installation disk to install XP Home on the second system. And in that case, you shouldn't even need to enter a product key. The Dell XP Home disk will verify that the OS is being installed on a Dell PC and should never ask for a product key.
You could use Ghost (among other apps) to clone the first hard drive and install that image on a second hard drive. But both drives have to be the same size. And, if the second 8400 doesn't have the identical hardware (eg video card, audio card etc), the image won't work because it doesn't include the correct drivers for the actual hardware that's installed in the second system.
If you want to create a dual boot with XP home and Win7 on the second hard drive, you'll lose access to PC Restore (Ctrl-F11) which resets the drive to the way Dell shipped it. Dell uses a custom Master Boot Record to allow access to PC Restore. The MBR will be modified when you partition the drive and create a dual boot setup so no more access to PC Restore.
It seems to me, that it would be easier to do clean install of XP Home from your Dell XP Home CD on the new hard drive. You can pick whatever size drive you want (bigger/smaller) than the one in the other system. Install XP and then create a partition (you'll need partitioning software) where you can install Win 7.
You also need to check that the 8400 is suitable to run Win 7 (There's a Windows advisor that you can run) and that there are drivers for the hardware installed in the 8400 to work with Win 7. XP drivers probably won't work, but in some cases Vista drivers may work....
My 2-bits...
Ron
RoHe
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May 19th, 2010 18:00
Me again...
Here's a link for manual reinstall of Win XP.
You can use the Service Tag number for the second system to find the right XP drivers for the hardware to install in step 5.
Ron