Will this work?

[JimmyJ65]

It's time for my yearly upgrade and winxp has me a little worried. I don't want to have to clean my HD to install XP on the new (845PE) motherboard. I'm currently running an ASUS P4B with 1 gig sdram, and a 1.8 gig cpu on win XP.
Here's what I want to try;

Set up new rig, install winxp with a new HD - then install old hard drive as a slave and copy it to the new HD.

The only major changes other than the motherboard and an 2.53 gig CPU will be a GE 4 TI4200 video card to replace a GE 3 200. And of course new DDRRAM.

Removal of a d-link nic card to use the on-board NIC on the new motherboard.

I will carry over the santa cruz sound card, key board mouse etc.

I don't want to lose my installed programs, and files. Thanks. If this is a headache factory in the making - let me know.

Jim J.

 

[jackschmittusa]

As long as you only copy data files, it will work fine. If you try to copy Windows files over, you will have problems. You will still have to re-install all of your apps as most all of them create registry entries.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Don't even need to do this much.

Build the new system. Install the new drive as master and the old drive as master on the secondary port. Set the CDROM as slave on either port.

Use the software from the drive manufacturer to copy the partitions from the old drive to the new drive. Shut down, remove the old drive, put the CDROM as master or slave on the secondary port (assuming you will be later using the old drive as a storage device, put the CDROM as slave). Boot to the WindowsXP CDROM. Go through the setup process until it reaches the point that it finds your existing installation. Select the Repair option.

Setup will go through essentially a full reinstall, but it will leave all your applications and stuff alone, and all your data files will be left alone. When it's done, you'll need to reinstall all the Windows Updates, and all the drivers for the hardware will need to be loaded as if it was a new install. But it's easier to do it this way because no applications need to be reinstalled. The final result is essentially the same as having installed XP fresh to the new drive. You can then put the old drive back in and erase it. (I suggest having it removed during all this just in case, so you don't risk losing the data before you've ensured the installation is good.)

 

[JimmyJ65]

I was away from the forum for a while - thank the both of you for your excellent advice. When I get my stuff and the new Antec piano Black case ( my first departure from beige), I'll see how problemaric it may be to switch stuff around a lot. Thank you again.

Jim J.

 

[JimmyJ65]

Thanks for your input sir!

Jim J.

 

[GnomeCop]

damn I wish I could upgrade every year