JDShine said:
I am upgrading my existing DIY PC from (Intel D945Pvs, Pentium D 3.2 and
XP Home SP3) to (Intel DP35DP, Core2 Quad Q6700, and XP Pro {OEM}). I
have Acronis True Image 9 and a second clean 350GB HDD (identical to
existing HDD).
Could someone point me to a step by step guide for this process. I have
used 'Paul Thurrott's Super Site' and 'The Elder Geek' site in the past
but cannot seem to find the right information for this particular process.
I am an advanced novice with no formal computer education, however I did
build the existing PC from scratch and it has run without a crash or
burn since the initial boot.
TIA
JDShine
For the hardware changes, simply follow the manufacturer's instructions
in the documentation that accompanies each component.
Normally, and assuming a retail license (many factory-installed OEM
installations are BIOS-locked to a specific motherboard chipset and
therefore are *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
Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with WinXP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html
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.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375
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The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
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