Computer Hope
Hardware => Hardware => Topic started by: rabramson on April 09, 2012, 12:49:27 PM
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I am using a Gateway E4000, with a WD IDE harddrive partitioned into 2 partitions, OEM XP Pro Sp3, 1.5 gig memory, 2.5 ghz CPU.
I want to put this existing harddrive into a Dell Dimension 8400. It has a SATA Harddrive, OEM (?) XP Media Sp3. 4 gig memory, 3 ghz CPU. I have no drivers BUT I do have the Dell Bios on a CD.
My questions are:
1. Since I am moving to the Dell will there still be a BIOS that I can set the IDE drive as the boot drive? If not how can I use the BIOS that I have on the CD?
2. I have no drivers, so will XP boot using generic drivers until I can download from Dell?
3. Since my IDE Drive has an OEM version of XP (and a different flavor of XP) will it need to be reactivated, and infact will MS activate XP anymore?
4. If MS no longer activates can I download software that will retrieve my old act # and use that?
5. What other problems am I looking at and any solutions for those problems?
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You cannot legally use an OEM installation of Windows on a different machine; the license is tied to the hardware. Also if you take a hard drive with Windows installed on it, out of one PC and put it into another PC, and set it to be the boot drive, it most likely won't work properly. If it works at all.
You will need to install a properly licensed version of Windows of your choice on the Dell, if there isn't one already.
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Welcome!
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The simple answer is 'Yes, you can do it.
But you have chosen to use a device with lower that erected performance. And. ill not boot very well, or many not even boot. You will have to, or should, make:
Changes to the BIOS
Set jumpers on the IDE drives. One master, one slave.
(OR use cable select, if you know nit will work.)
Install the Dell Windows XP on a primary partition.
Here are some details about your target machine:
Dell Dimension 8400
Dell™ Dimension™ 8400 Service Manual (http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/SYSTEMS/dim8400/SM/index.htm)
A epicure from the manual is below. Note that there is an IDE (PATA) cable for the CD/DVD drive. The cable can support another device. Put your IDE drive on that cable.
http://geek9pm.com/test/cd-rom-ide.gif
The Dell can work from the PATA (IDE) drive after a good install of Windows XP. The performance is almost as good as the SATA drive. In general use you won't see much difference. (BTW: ever plug in IDE power connectors in with power on.)
EDIT: I did this on another dell model and nit worked, but I was not able to use the CD DRIVE at the same time. But the Dell BIOS can boot from an eternal USB CD drive and install XP to the substitute PATA hard drive. That I did. ItWorked.
Please come back an tell what you found.
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You cannot legally use an OEM installation of Windows on a different machine; the license is tied to the hardware. Also if you take a hard drive with Windows installed on it, out of one PC and put it into another PC, and set it to be the boot drive, it most likely won't work properly. If it works at all.
You will need to install a properly licensed version of Windows of your choice on the Dell, if there isn't one already.
Best advice.
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If I read it correctly, the license agreement allows a legal copy of Windows to be installed on 2 computers. The problem comes if windows detects more than three hardware differences that occur with the swap. More than three detected hardware differences will lock out Windows until a call is made to Microsoft and a new product key is obtained. This will allow you to go online to Microsoft and unlock Windows. Microsoft has no problem with that, but the call must be made. This is similar to the comment by Salmon Trout, the new product key makes the copy properly licensed. I had to do it on an old Dell PC when I upgraded too much hardware at one time.
blithe spirits
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There is a mos interpretation of your questions. You do not need permission from Microsoft, or anybody else, to add a second Hard Dire to a PC that already licensed for Windows XP.
Both computers are Dell. Both have XP SP3. Both are licensed.
There is a difference in the hardware, but it is Dell hardware. There is way to get either machine to boot up the OEM Dell XP CD. (I have three different Dell machines. And three OEM CDs. But the all boot all my Dells. They are green, blue and purple. The BIOS is color blind.)
How to swap a IDE hard drive from a Gateway to a Dell the has a SATA hard drive
Do you intend to remove the SATA drive?
My questions are:
1. Since I am moving to the Dell will there still be a BIOS that I can set the IDE drive as the boot drive? If not how can I use the BIOS that I have on the CD?
The BIOS is very similar. Do not replace the BIOS.
2. I have no drivers, so will XP boot using generic drivers until I can download from Dell?
XP will recognize any IDE device.
3. Since my IDE Drive has an OEM version of XP (and a different flavor of XP) will it need to be reactivated, and infact will MS activate XP anymore?
No, tis should not be an issue.
4. If MS no longer activates can I download software that will retrieve my old act # and use that?
Why? if you only want to read the drive, the OS does not matter. Please clarify if you want to boot the borrowed IDE drive or do you want to still use the XP version on the SATA?
5. What other problems am I looking at and any solutions for those problems?
As I mentioned before, that model has only one IDE cable. So you have to share the cable with nothe the ODE drive and the IDE CD/DVD drive.
Boye the XP versions are SP3 OEM from Dell
If the above statement, ignore the remarks the others have made. You have two Dells and two legal copies of the OEM version. With OEM versions a slight downgrade is not con tray to te license. The fact that the two versions have some difference is a case of splitting hairs In not way is it omparable to outright violation of the One CPU One Lcense Rule.
The import point is you have a license for each computer. The two versions of XP SP3 are virtually the same.
Please let me know if this helps any.
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If I read it correctly, the license agreement allows a legal copy of Windows to be installed on 2 computers.
You didn't read it correctly. Maybe you're thinking of Microsoft Office, where some licenses allow one desktop/one portable? An OEM Windows license (which the OP said he has) allows installation on only one machine (ever) and Full Retail licenses allow installation on only one machine at a time. The OP has said he or she has a Gateway OEM install that he wishes to put into a Dell (license status not mentioned). As I have said, OEM installs are tied to hardware, and modifications to the original machine may be covered, but not a completely different machine of a different make. Anyhow, an installation from a different machine probably won't boot.
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Both computers are Dell. Both have XP SP3. Both are licensed.
Why did you post that? Can't you read? One is Gateway (has XP SP3 OEM license). The other is a Dell (no OS or license mentioned).
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My Bad.
But he did not say he wanted to copy the OS, did he?
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My Bad.
But he did not say he wanted to copy the OS, did he?
He did, at least that's the way I read it. He wants to move the IDE drive with Windows from the old computer (Gateway, with XP Pro) into the new one that has a SATA drive (Dell, with XP Media Center Edition) and get the Windows XP installation from the other computer working on that computer.
The Dell also has a different version of XP currently installed to the SATA drive:
I am using a Gateway E4000, with a WD IDE harddrive partitioned into 2 partitions, OEM XP Pro Sp3
I want to put this existing harddrive into a Dell Dimension 8400. It has a SATA Harddrive, OEM (?) XP Media Sp3.
In short, I think the answer is that he can't. The installation from the Gateway is not licensed for any computer except that Gateway.
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I do not have the Dell windows CD, and I would like to use the IDE drive as my boot drive and remove the SATA drive completely. Basically I want to upgrade my IDE hard drive with it's existing programs into the Dell Machine which has more memory and a faster cpu.
1. If there is only 1 IDE cable/channel can I use alohaBob and transfer my Gateway OS and installed programs onto a new SATA HardDrive?
2. Or do I have to use AlohaBob on the old Dell Hard drive and reinstall the programs I want?
3. Or can I transfer the Dell OS and then transfer my programs from the Gateway on to the Dell which is using a different (flavor) of XP?
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Just for the record, moving from a SATA to an IDE hard drive is downgrading, not upgrading. SATA drives are better.
Also, you cannot legally transfer the OS license from the Gateway to the Dell, so we can't help you do that.
If you want XP Pro instead of the Media Center Edition on the Dell, you'll need to purchase a license for the Dell.
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quaxo, thanks for setting it right. My bad. My brain is small.
The OP wants to use the OS of one brand to another. Not legal without paying some money.
Now before closing this topic, there are some other thongs the OP may wish to consider.
Does he have the install CDs and licensees for all the programs he needs? Maybe he could just install needed programs on the target machine followed by a transfer of data and settings.
A legal copy of Dell OEM XP Pro on CD can be purchased from Dell. My Dell laptop came with Media and I installed Pro from Dell XP Pro CD which was purchased for much less that a full retail version of XP Pro.
It seems that he wants the programs of one machine to be moved to another. The two machines have licensed XP versions, but the each can only be licensed nor its own maker. In other words, the gateway OS stays on gateway, the Dell OS strays on Dell. What he needs are the programs, settings and data to be transferred.
As for AutoBob:
AutoBob was purchased by Microsoft in 2006. (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/microsoft-buys-alohabob/16)
For years, Windows users have been complaining that the process of moving programs and data to a new PC is needlessly complex. A whole cottage industry of less than perfect software utilities has grown up to deal with the problem. ...
OP: I was just trying to help.