How can I transfer programs to a new comp please ?

googler

Chris55 wrote: »

I agree with JasX here - swapping the main disk is not going to work. The drivers with be wrong, the O/S installation will be wrong. If it's Windows then even if the drivers were compatible enough Windows itself will require you to contact Microsoft to be re-licenced (or at least confirm your licence). The existing license wouldn't technically be valid anyway. This is a blind alley, don't go up it!

So..... you're saying if I have a valid Win XP licence on my current PC, I take the HDD out of that and install it in a barebone PC chassis, that I need to 're-licence' my copy of Win XP?

Why?

Who/what does the licence belong to? Me? The HDD? The chassis that I erected around that HDD?

googler

JasX wrote: »

That and the small issue none of the hardware drivers will be appropriate for the installed hardware.... good luck

If the PC is supplied with install discs for the hardware drivers......?

JasX

googler wrote: »

So..... you're saying if I have a valid Win XP licence on my current PC, I take the HDD out of that and install it in a barebone PC chassis, that I need to 're-licence' my copy of Win XP?

Why?

Who/what does the licence belong to? Me? The HDD? The chassis that I erected around that HDD?

Depends on the type of license, if you've bought WindowsXP from a shop as a RETAIL license you can move it about as you wish (and even sell it on when you are no longer using it).

If it came with the PC as an OEM license its specifically licensed for that hardware configuration and you are permitted only a limited number of changes to key parts of the system.

Move it to another PC, new hardware = OEM license no longer valid you need to buy a new one

Too many upgrades on your current PC = new hardware = OEM license no longer valid you need to buy a new one*

(*some people have reported success calling microsoft up and being allowed to reset their hardware profile and continue with the license, but they'd be within their rights not to do this)

If you want to know the specific bits of hardware it picks up on I;ve linked to a comprehensive list beofre, its stuff like CPU serial number, size of installed RAM, etc etc

rabidmonkey

End of the day. only way you're goping to get this to work correctly is to install the programmes again. Even then, you may hit compatability issues in changing from, say, winxp to win7, or moving to 64bit.

Swapping hard drives can work, but requires deleting ALL system devices within device manager, and ensuring the boards use the same chipset, amongst other things.

JasX

googler wrote: »

If the PC is supplied with install discs for the hardware drivers......?

If the OP is able to get the correct drivers from 'somewhere' and the old drivers work in 'some fashion' with the mis-matched hardware to allow the machine to run and survive replacing them piecemeal with the correct ones its a route that might work.

also as per the above OP might need to spend £40odd on a new XP license, although they might have luck with the CD key from the new machine as this would be tied to the new hardware config with only 1x hard drive changed

oldtoolie

You could try this:

https://www.laplink.com/pcmover/
Laplink says, "PCmover is the ONLY software that moves programs, files, and settings from your old PC to your new PC."

I haven't tried it but I have used Laplink products in the past. In the end it is probably better to find new versions of the programs for your new pc. As pointed out there is free or cheap software for almost anything.

Quaint1

Strictly speaking, if you drop your old hard drive into a new PC as the boot disk, you're not re-licencing Windows, you're re-activating it - I did this a couple of weeks ago and was dreading it in advance (the OS was XP Home that had been preinstalled in an Acer PC; I got a more recent motherboard/CPU combo and connected the drive up to it) - all you need is the original serial number (which should be on a sticker on the case of your old PC or on your original XP packaging); if the online activation doesn't work, you can call to speak to an 'adviser' who, if my experience is anything to go by, is helpful, doesn't pry into why you're re-activating and sorts everything out in about 5 minutes.

Drivers for devices in your new PC is a different matter entirely, but if the PC boots up off the old drive and you get to a Windows desktop, Device Manager will try to auto-detect 'new' devices and download/install relevant drivers. If this doesn't fix everything, run Windows Update and see what is available in the third party drivers section.

To be honest, if you have the original install discs for the programs you want to keep, that IS by far and away the better option - you get nice fresh installs - but if that isn't possible, then swapping the old drive is a way to go, especially if you're not all that bothered with moving to the newer OS.
Au Res.,
Paul

tronator

People, has anybody done this successfully? I don't think so.

In most cases you will get a BSOD during boot complaining about an inaccessible boot device if you put an hard disk into another computer.

So could somebody who actually done it in the past give the OP advice, how to do it? It surely involves more than swapping the hard disk. I'm too lazy to google it right now...

Quaint1

Tronator, I have done it, as I mentioned in my post above. The computer is currently sitting next to me and running perfectly (in fact I am using it to edit a podcast!)
As I mentioned in my post (the one immediately above yours), I took the boot drive from the old PC, put it into the new PC, started it up, reactivated it with Microsoft using the serial number on the case of the old PC, let it find all the 'new' devices and install relevant drivers, then I ran Windows Update and downloaded anything it suggested (with the exception of IE8, which is a personal preference)
Once all was installed and set up, I rebooted and it's worked fine ever since. And by 'worked fine', I mean that all the software I had installed on the old PC works as expected, I didn't have to reinstall anything or reenter any serial numbers for any of the software...
For info, the 'old' PC was an eMachines (not Acer as previously stated) 530 running a Pentium 4 1.4Ghz CPU; the 'new' PC is an Advent running an Intel P4 2.0Ghz. Whilst carrying out the move, I also moved the video card from the old PC to the new one and transferred the RAM from the old PC, but otherwise left everything the same.

That said, and to be fair, the two systems I have use much the same CPU architecture; as I more-or-less caveated at the end of my post, carrying out a fresh install if you still have the discs and serial numbers is much the better way to go, especially if moving between different CPU's (say a P4 to a Core2). I haven't tried that yet, mainly due to a lack of funds!
Au Res.,
Paul

tronator

Quaint1 wrote: »

Tronator, I have done it, as I mentioned in my post above. The computer is currently sitting next to me and running perfectly (in fact I am using it to edit a podcast!)
As I mentioned in my post (the one immediately above yours), I took the boot drive from the old PC, put it into the new PC, started it up, ...

Ok, then you are one of the few cases where it worked straight away. The hardware on both systems seemed to be quite similar.

Some feedback from the OP would have been good. He doesn't seem to read this thread anymore...