Win Xp problem

rockape_2 · 1 January 2006 at 9:52PM

hi to all, a happy new year to everyone! :j

i got a new hard drive for my pc today and want to install it in place of my old one. the only problem is my pc was supplied without any windows boot disks. my old drive is on the verge of death, but obviously without the win xp disks i cant reinstall windows on the new drive. obviously i can slave it from the old one, but i'd rather dispense of its services. is there anything i can do short of buying windows from the shops?

rockape_2 · 1 January 2006 at 9:52PM

oh and thankyou in advance!!

hendersonb · 1 January 2006 at 10:40PM

You could use something like ghost or drive image to copy it to the new drive if you can find someone to lend you a copy.

Also - did you buy your computer new? If so you should have a copy if you were charged for it or at least a restore CD from the manufacturer.

If you have a licence sticker on the side/rear of your computer you can usually get away with borrowing a friends cd and using your serial number.

If you don't have a licence then my advice would be to get one around £60 for XP home inc VAT last time i looked

gizmos · 1 January 2006 at 10:41PM

When you say it came without windows xp boot disks do you mean the actual boot disks you can create through XP or the Windows XP software itself. How are you going to get your current data off it??

albertross_2 · 1 January 2006 at 10:49PM

Hendersonb's suggestion is the easiest if you can afford the software, as it will retain all you data and configuration settings from your original setup (there may be some freeware alternatives available?)

The only possible problem I can foresee, is if XP home product activation doesn't like your change of HD serial number - I've never tried swapping HD yet (using XP-home), so maybe someone else with experience can advise if this is going to be an issue?

rockape_2 · 1 January 2006 at 10:52PM

thanks for replying guys,
how would i go about creating boot floppys gizmos? would that mean i have the ability to install a fresh copy of windows?

hendersonb · 1 January 2006 at 10:53PM

Not usually an issue for me - have ghosted several machines at work - we usually keep a ghost image on cd when certain machines are built so a restore back to original config can be done in about 30 mins rather than an afternoon - however it does depend on the amount of hardware changes etc

If you have the licence then it doen't matter if you need to re-activate it clears your activation status after 6 months or if you need it done sooner you can callup their lovely indian call center for a code of ther phone.

gizmos · 1 January 2006 at 10:55PM

rockape wrote:

thanks for replying guys,
how would i go about creating boot floppys gizmos? would that mean i have the ability to install a fresh copy of windows?

You will need about 4-6 floppys to do it and you can download the necessary from the Microsoft website

Microsoft Boot Disks

I presume you have your licence key for the Windows XP Home Edition.

If your Windows CD is bootable then you wont need the floppy disks.

Hope it helps

PS EDITED TO ADD THE LINK IS FOR THE HOME EDITION FOR THE PRO EDITION YOU NEED A DIFFERENT SET OF DISKS

hendersonb · 1 January 2006 at 10:55PM

rocape in respone to the floppys - these are only if you have the win xp cd and your machine refuses to boot off the cd. They can be downloaded from https://www.bootdisk.com

Lorian · 1 January 2006 at 10:56PM

Post the manufacturer of the new disk, and I'll post you a link to free (legitimate) software to do the ghosting/copying if you want to copy the old disk.