is this possible??

[bigcfromcinci]

I gave a cheap rig to my cousin a few months ago:

K62-450
AZZA MOBO
256 Megs pc100
matrox 400 dh

anyhow when I had the system back then I tried installing xp...but it wouldn't installl...just kinda hung up during installation...So I ended up putting 98 se on it...well now they would like XP on it..My question is is it possible to install a hd w/ xp loaded on into their existing system??The hd I would be installing has XP on it and it come outta an Intel setup...the hd that's in my cousins rig now has 98 and a via chipset I believe...Could I swap the hd's and would it be ok??Reinstalling XP after I swapped the hd's wouldn't be a hassle at all..but what about the chipset difference??Is there an easy way to do this anyone??I have no clue why XP wouldn't install awhile back.


thanks

 

[minendo]

It would be a huge hassle to do that. First of all, you would get BSOD after BSOD due to the chipset and other changes. Not to mention that XP would have to be redone since there are all the hardware changes. Remember that XP needs to be reactivated after so many hardware changes.

 

[Buz2b]

Why don't you just run the "upgrade" option for XP (upgrade the existing 98 OS) instead of trying to "install" it fresh. Or was that what you were trying to do before when you had the trouble? Other than that, maybe you should try to find out what was causing the "hang" when trying to load XP.
XP is not too "switching MB" crazy. I have had dismall luck trying it but know someone that has had good success. The key (we think) to his success is the similar or exact chipsets that were involved. That isn't the case with you so my bet would be that you would be headed for disaster if you try just switching the HDD's.

 

[GAZZA]

It can be done BigC but there is no guarantee's as has been highlighted by the above posts but I have done it and had it working fine , infact my switch was between a PIII 800 with a BX chipset and the ECS K75SA sis chipset running a Athlon 900 Tbird .
What I did first though was back up the entire partition using Ghost before installing the hard drive , that way if it does screw up you can at least restore it back .
I would try Buz2b suggestion of trying the upgrade path to XP , infact there is a test at the start up you can use to verify that your components are compatible or not .

 

[bigcfromcinci]

thanks for the suggestions guys...I'm gonna try swapping the drives out..I just so happen to have ghost 7.5 with me just in case...otherwise I'll try the upgrade path...then if all else fails I can put 98se back on it.