hard drive xp question

[judge alba]

i've got two computers one runs xp the other runs vista what i was wondering is can i put the hard drive from the xp machine into the vista one so it's like a second drive but still running xp like a dual boot type of thing.
i have a few programs that i use a lot but will only work on xp i've tried using the compatibility mode in vista but the programs arent having it, so i have to keep two desktop machines on my desk an was hoping to make some room.
thanks for any help

 

[Jadzia]

You wont be able to just transfer the hard disk and have the system boot from it. You would need to reinstall xp on the hard disk placed into the new machine.

 

[Mr. B]

The hardware of both machines would have to be identical for that to work with any practicality.... although I have successfully done what you're proposing... other times it hasn't worked.

 

[Marc]

The hardware of both machines would have to be identical for that to work with any practicality.... although I have successfully done what you're proposing... other times it hasn't worked.

Factiors he's going face. New MB/CPU etc will result in a SID (system idenfifier) which will require Windows to be reactived. If the copy of XP was an upgrade version than MS should allow a reactivation if you call them. If it's OEM then hope you can activate on line or tell porkies when you speak to them.

Secondly from my experience the biggest killer with moving drives from one system to another was the hard disk controller. Other drivers can be changed etc but if the controller isn't recognised, the hard disk won't be found and you're frelled. If there's a great age differece between the boards it's more than likely to come up (chipset differences even with SATA is still SATA). A repair might get around this problem though it's no guarentee.

Finally you're gonna to want be able to change you boot sequence around so you can boot off the second hard disk. Much easier than than having to hack about because the machine looks for files on drive C: but you drive is now the second drive and thus D:

 

[Noname Given]

You wont be able to just transfer the hard disk and have the system boot from it. You would need to reinstall xp on the hard disk placed into the new machine.

Actually, it depends. IF the other machine has hardware and a processor that the WinXP drive has drivers for, it will reconfigure the OS to work with them for the most part (but not all that optimally).

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ Would it automatically update the boot.ini file on either drive to allow the OS boot screen to show 2 OS choices?

 

[Noname Given]

^ Would it automatically update the boot.ini file on either drive to allow the OS boot screen to show 2 OS choices?

Well, understand you can only have one active bootable partition, so the above only applies if it's your C: drive. You cannot have two seperate physical drives be bootable.

 

[Marc]

^ Would it automatically update the boot.ini file on either drive to allow the OS boot screen to show 2 OS choices?

Well, understand you can only have one active bootable partition, so the above only applies if it's your C: drive. You cannot have two seperate physical drives be bootable.

You can acutally but the only way it works involves using the BIOS to change your boot sequence so you can boot from the first drive or the second - been there done that but it's a messy as hell cos if you forget to change it back.

You can also modify the boot.ini on the first drive to boot the system from an operating system on the second drive. Though the presence of the first drive maybe play havoc with your drive lettering which in term can play merry hell with your installed programs.

Then again it might see the primary partition from the second drive as C: in which case you're fine - it's been a while since I've done it.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I currently have XPx64 on one HDD (C: ) and Win7 on another separate HDD (also C:, from it's POV). The Win7 (or other second (or even third) OS) installation creates a boot.ini file that has both OS listed ("previous version of windows" & "Windows 7"). The issue I had was when I cleared Win7 off the (3rd) HDD a while back and the OS boot screen still had the 2 options on it even though the boot.ini file for Win7 was gone. I was like "where the hell is it getting this from?" because the XP boot.ini didn't have any reference to Win7 in it.

This link shows a screenshot that's the same as mine ( except it lists "Vista" instead of "previous version of windows").

 

[Marc]

I currently have XPx64 on one HDD (C: ) and Win7 on another separate HDD (also C:, from it's POV). The Win7 (or other second (or even third) OS) installation creates a boot.ini file that has both OS listed ("previous version of windows" & "Windows 7"). The issue I had was when I cleared Win7 off the (3rd) HDD a while back and the OS boot screen still had the 2 options on it even though the boot.ini file for Win7 was gone. I was like "where the hell is it getting this from?" because the XP boot.ini didn't have any reference to Win7 in it.

This link shows a screenshot that's the same as mine ( except it lists "Vista" instead of "previous version of windows").

Was the second drive already in place when you installed Windows 7 on it i.e when you started the install process did you tell it to install to the second drive?

 

[JustAFriend]

When Windows is installed, it looks at every piece of hardware and loads very specific drivers.

You try booting a machine off of another setup and you'll get very weird problems.

(I worked for a company and we had to clone thousands of pc's for offices around the world... we found that even changes in manufactures hardware - changes in the production line of motherboards or video cards - was enough to induce weird errors.)

Nothing is less fun than to try to trace down unrepeating 'ghost' crashes and error messages....

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Was the second drive already in place when you installed Windows 7 on it i.e when you started the install process did you tell it to install to the second drive?

Yes, this (now) 3rd HDD was originally the 2nd HDD. When I replaced it with a 1.5TB, I couldn't decide if I wanted to get an enclosure for it and use it as an external backup or not, but when Win7 beta came out I decided to leave it internal as the 3rd HDD and did a fresh install to it.

And since then have reformatted it, used it to run a VMWARE virtual machine on while testing slipstreaming, now have Win7 (RC) on it again. This was the period I had the issue with the multi-boot screen not going away, even thought the second OS had. Luckily I had finished the slipstreamed installation disk for XPx64 and reinstalling that got rid of the problem. Still don't know where it was getting that info from.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

You try booting a machine off of another setup and you'll get very weird problems.

Weird problems? Gheh. If you call a big fat BSOD at boot time a "weird problem", then yes.

 

[Marc]

You try booting a machine off of another setup and you'll get very weird problems.

Weird problems? Gheh. If you call a big fat BSOD at boot time a "weird problem", then yes.

Yes that often happens if you've cocked up the drive controller driver (or your hardware is Fubar'ed)

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

You try booting a machine off of another setup and you'll get very weird problems.

Weird problems? Gheh. If you call a big fat BSOD at boot time a "weird problem", then yes.

Yes that often happens if you've cocked up the drive controller driver (or your hardware is Fubar'ed)

Indeed.