[twiggs396]

hi, i just bought a dell 8400 and it came with a hard drive in with xp home, i was wondering if it were possible to take the hard drive out of my other computer and boot from this in my dell. they are both sata,

just wondering if this were possible?

thanks

[redden137]

It might
But i doubt it as the other h/d will have xp registered to that pc and have all the necessary drivers for it and not for your other pc also you might find that IF xp boots it will require a activation code as it will detect the hardware settings have changed ( this is to stop pirating ) unless both pcs are the same then you might be lucky
Im sure other guys from the forum will be along and give you their views

[philthomas]

It may work, but bear in mind all the hardware drivers will be wrong, so if it boots, you will need to change them all, including motherboard chipset drivers and any on board stuff.

If it doesn't want to boot, you could try a Windows Repair, but you would need an XP Installation disk to do this.

Also depending on what version of XP it is (OEM, Retail), it might flag up the changes in Hardware and ask you to reactivate.

[philthomas]

sorry redden137 ... I was typing as you were posting

[twiggs396]

hi, here is the full problem i had a computer with xp pro and all my uni work and programs everything was good, but my mobo died, and i wanted to put this hdd with all my settings and work into my new dell 8400.

when i try to boot with it in it comes up with the screen 'sorry windows did not boot properly' then i have a list of ways top boot, normal, safe mode etc. but none work

i can get to the setup etc in the bios, would clr cmos make a difference. or do i simply have to start again

[redden137]

If its an old ide drive change it to slave plug it in and you should be able to recover/use your old files if sata then id suggest plugging it in and pushing F8 on start up and boot from the h/d that originally came with the pc ( norm top option in bot mode) again you should be able to use the files

[twiggs396]

hi, i dont have a problem booting with the new one and using the old as a slave to view the files, but i had the operating system set up how i wanted it with my programs and settings all set up

[kanoakavirus]

Only one way to find out, do you have the xp disk for your older computer?

[twiggs396]

yes