Moving XP installation to a new machine

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My current (3-year-old) machine is too slow. I plan to buy a stripped down
new one(CPU and case only, if I can manage it) and cannibalize the current
one for parts.

I have XP Pro sp2 installed on the current machine, and don't want to a) pay
for another copy of the operating system or b) carry over the forty-'leven
programs that install themselves on bootup and contribute the the current
machine's pokiness. I still have the original installation disks the vendor
(HP) included with the machine (obviously pre-sp2).

How do I uninstall/reinstall XP from one machine to another? I'm capable of
following instructions, so a pointer to the right article in the knowledge
base would do the trick, but my current searches have not been successful.

I will face similar challenges moving over my MS Office 2003 and Adobe
Creative Suite (both of which do the verification thing), so if there's a
consistent approach to this issue, that would be a help.

TIA.
 
Wm. Kritzberg said:
My current (3-year-old) machine is too slow. I plan to buy a stripped down
new one(CPU and case only, if I can manage it) and cannibalize the current
one for parts.
Click to expand...


Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations are
BIOS-locked to a specific chipset and therefore 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/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

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.

I have XP Pro sp2 installed on the current machine, and don't want to a) pay
for another copy of the operating system or b) carry over the forty-'leven
programs that install themselves on bootup and contribute the the current
machine's pokiness. I still have the original installation disks the vendor
(HP) included with the machine (obviously pre-sp2).
Click to expand...


This is the deal-breaker. Becsue you have an HP OEM installation, you
cannot move it to another computer. Not only does doing so violate the
OEM licensing agreement, but the HP OEM License is BIOS-locked to the
original motherboard. It won't install on another motherboard.



--

Bruce Chambers

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both at once. - RAH
 
Thanks -- I'll go to the link you recommended. As this moment I'm not sure
how "in-place" relates to a new machine, but I'm hoping the article will
explain it. I think I'm OK on the OEM issue, because the machine originally
came with XP Home and I upgraded to XP Pro which (if I recall correctly --
I'll have to go dig in some boxes) came on separate disks.

I have sp2 on another disk, so I'll upgrade after doing the "in-place
upgrade" you recommend. Thanks
 
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