question about restoring images for windows partition

[Vesper8]

Hey everyone

I recently reformatted my own PC and decided to finally use an image backup program (I used Acronis TrueImage) to save myself a few hours of pain the next time I have to do it.

In my image I mostly installed a big software package.. but I also installed most of my drivers. This includes sound card/video card/motherboard Nvidia chipset drivers.

now here's my question

I have to do work on a cousin's computer this weekend.. I basically have to reformat it and install some software/drivers on it. I was wondering if it's ok to use that same image I made even though pretty much all of the drivers I installed on the image won't work on my cousins' PC

i guess what i'm really wondering is will windows XP be smart enough not to mess itself up and properly detect all the new devices.. and then I can just uninstall all the useless drivers ?

 

[Nothinman]

It's about 50/50 whether it'll work or not. Give it a try, if it doesn't work you'll know pretty quickly and can move onto a normal format.

 

[Smilin]

This is basically a dissimilar hardware restore. Query Anandtech and the MS kbase about this. MS has quite a few articles and AT has a FAQ on swapping motherboards.

Some options include:
1. After you get your machine built, run sysprep on it and then take the image.
2. Just drop the image on. If it boots, pop in a Windows XP CD and run an upgrade. If it won't boot, pop in a Windows XP cd, press enter to setup at the first screen then select 'R'epair once the existing OS is detected.