HDD with Vista installed?

[alexma]

I recently purchased a used HDD which 'came with Vista Premium already installed' also the original COA sticker, removed from a scrap PC. I installed it in a PC & tried to boot up, but got a message to 'Insert system disc'. Of course I do not have that disc. It is only through curiosity that I tried, as I will be formatting it later for use as a slave. Q1, Why will the PC not boot if Vista is already installed on the Hard Drive?, Q2, Is it illegal/immoral to do this? Like I say, I just wanted to see if it would work. Thanks in advance Alexma.

[EEVIAC]

Q1, Why will the PC not boot if Vista is already installed on the Hard Drive?,

You'll need to reinstall Vista on the HDD so Vista setup can detect your hardware and use the correct HAL driver.

Actually, Vista uses a "hardware independent" HAL so a Vista image can be deployed on any machine (capable of running Vista) regardless of the hardware, unlike in Window XP.  So the problem booting the system is probably due to a corrupt installation or you might not even have the drive hooked up correctly...

 

Q2, Is it illegal/immoral to do this? Like I say, I just wanted to see if it would work. Thanks in advance Alexma.

Even if you get it working, you'll need a Windows Vista product key to use Vista on the computer it is installed on...  If the Vista that is installed on the hard drive is an OEM version, then you're just stuck, nothing you can do to get a license key..  If the version is a retail copy, see if you can get the license key for it from the person you bought the drive from, and you will be able to legally use it on the computer...

Of course I do not have that disc

hmmm, not sure what to tell you there.. Like I said before, if you have the product key and its a retail version, you could go online and order another copy of the installation disc for a few dollars, provided you enter the license key..

[alexma]

Thanks for your reply. I have the Product Key which is on the sticker supplied with the HDD, but no means of knowing whether it is OEM or Retail, nor do I have a Vista disc, (well at least only a 64 bit disc) so I pretty much have answered my own question!! Best Regards to all, Alexma

[EEVIAC]

(well at least only a 64 bit disc)

If the disc is a 32-bit version of Vista, it can run on a 64-bit processor..

[alexma]

Let me clarify, I have a 64 bit Vista disc, OEM (CD/DVD) but don't know which version is on the disk (HDD) ie 32 or 64bit. Can I put this disk into a USB external caddy to explore the contents? Will it show which version of Vista is written to it?

[EEVIAC]

COA sticker

sorry alexma, I seemed to have disregarded this.




If the drive has a "COA" sticker it means that it's an OEM version of Winodws.  You cannot use that key on a computer other than the one that came with the HDD..  So, even if you got it to boot up, you would not be able to legally use the installation on your system..

[EEVIAC]

Actually, Vista uses a "hardware independent" HAL so a Vista image can be deployed on any machine (capable of running Vista) regardless of the hardware, unlike in Window XP.  So the problem booting the system is probably due to a corrupt installation or you might not even have the drive hooked up correctly...

Just for the record I tested this, which I thought was true, and putting an HDD with Vista installed on another computer does not work, even if the computer is capable of running Vista.  Vista must be reinstalled.      But either way elexma, your HDD has an oem version of Windows installed, so it doesn't matter.

[EEVIAC]

Just realized that the Vista image I made was done on a 64bit cpu, and I tried to put the drive in a 32bit system, which is probably why it didn't work.

[jkolak]

Right. That is the error message you usually get when the HDD is not present or bootable.

For example, you will see this if you go into BIOS Setup and disable the HDD controller in Integrated Peripherals.

[patio]

Actually, Vista uses a "hardware independent" HAL so a Vista image can be deployed on any machine (capable of running Vista) regardless of the hardware, unlike in Window XP.  So the problem booting the system is probably due to a corrupt installation or you might not even have the drive hooked up correctly...

Source ? ?

Actually Vista does NOT do it this way at all...

[EEVIAC]

Source ? ?

Actually Vista does NOT do it this way at all...

From "Upgrading and Repairing Windows" 2nd Edition

"Vista no longer uses different HAL drivers for systems.  Instead, it uses a hardware-independent HAL that enables you to create a Windows Vista image and deploy it to any Windows Vista-compatible system, as described in Chapter 3, "Installing Windows."  You no longer need to be concerned about mismatches between source and target hardware as with Windows XP and earlier Windows versions."


Also, have a look here:

http://4sysops.com/archives/no-more-hal-*censored*-the-implications-of-windows-vista%E2%80%99s-hardware-independent-imaging-technology/





edit: if you still disagree, please tell me how it DOES work

[patio]

Install Vista to a clean HDD then swap it into another machine...
Let me know how that goes.

[EEVIAC]

I will

As I mentioned, the test I did before when I made the Vista image was done on a Pent. 4 641 EM64T processor and was transferred to a pure 32bit cpu, which I believe is the reason it didn't boot.  Although the 641 cpu operates in 64 and 32 bit mode, and it was a 32 bit image that I made, I think the failed boot is due to a bug that prevents transferring an image from a multi-mode processor to a 32bit processor.  I'm going to do the installation again on a pure 32bit cpu and transfer the image to a similar cpu.  There are most likely, as with most hardware/software, bugs, that are undocumented with this new technology.  Why would it work for Scott Mueller and that other guy, and not anyone else?

[patio]

If you read the article Scott (who i know BTW ) used PE builder to do this...
This is quite different than moving an existing Vista from one machine to the next successfully.

[EEVIAC]

Well I'm not familiar with imaging software, so if you say they're different things I guess I can accept that.  My impression was that if HAL is "independent" then it doesn't matter how the image is made.

You'll need to reinstall Vista on the HDD so Vista setup can detect your hardware and use the correct HAL driver.

so I guess my first assessment was the right one..