dual hard drives running win xp

[Guest rena03sb]

Re: dual hard drives running win xp

 

 

Tim,

The \"it\" I was referring to was the computer. I replaced the mobo in

my computer with a direct replacement and when I turned on the computer

everything booted up as if I never touched the mobo. So my question

pertained to taking that HD and installing it in my new computer that I

just ordered (the one with Vista). Since the new computer has all

different hardware, what can I expect if I try to boot from my 'old' XP

HD? I'm assuming 1 of 2 things is going to happen: either it will boot

up and I'll need to download some drivers to get the computer 100% OR

it'll prompt me for the XP boot CD…..

 

 

--

rena03sb

[Guest Anna]

Re: dual hard drives running win xp

 

 

"tonya" <tonyacozart@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:tonya.37hfy1@no-mx.tabletquestions.com...

> I have two computers I want to "combine".

> One is the kids computer, one is mine, I want to move my hard drive to

> the kids computer so that we can share the CPU, but when i want to use

> my hard drive I can boot from it, and when the kids are doing their

> thing, my hard drive won't be in use (or jeopardy!)

> I thought I would run it externally, but it does not appear to be able

> to boot that way. Is there a fairly simple way to do this?

> --

> tonya

 

 

"tonya" <tonyacozart@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:tonya.37i6rz@no-mx.tabletquestions.com...

> The comupter I want to use to combine the hard drives does not have a

> large enough hard drive to transfer my hard drive to the other one. I

> thought of doing that, as well as creating a partition and then doing

> it, so as to keep the hard drives "seperate".

> I work at home, and I don't want the kids on my hard drive "playing

> around", but we are having to consolidate our computer space, so I

> would really like to run these two machines in the same space, same

> monitor, etc.

> I have an external for storage already, I was just thinking if I could

> hook my hard drive up someway, and just use it as if it were a combined

> partitioned drive, or just be able to select which one to boot from,

> then that would be the best option for me. I have seen where you can

> run dual operating systems, so I thought maybe I could do this too. I

> understand it would be a bit "involved" and not really "easy", but I am

> just looking for the best way to do this and I may be way off trying to

> dual boot...

> thanks for all the input, I am reading the info you gave me, and would

> appreciate whatever you can give me;

> --

> tonya

 

 

tonya:

I see you've rec'd a fair amount of info in response to your query.

Hopefully such has been helpful to you and you've been able to formulate a

"plan of action" to achieve your goal. But in the event you're still

pondering a strategy, let me offer another approach you may want to

consider.

 

But before I do, I would need some add'l info from you re the PC involved,

i.e., your child's computer.

 

1. First of all, what kind of a PC are we dealing with? Is it a laptop or a

desktop machine? If it's a laptop, read no further.

 

2. Assuming it's a desktop PC, does the case have at least one vacant 5 1/4"

bay available? Do you understand what I mean by a "vacant 5 1/4" bay"? If

you don't, read no further.

 

3. Is the PC an OEM machine, e.g., Dell, Gateway, HP, eMachines, etc? If so

what's the make & model? What kind of the XP installation CD was used to

install the operating system on your child's PC? Is it a "full" XP

installation CD or do you have only a "restore" CD? Or perhaps no

install/recovery CD at all?

 

4. If it's not an OEM machine, do you know what the make & model of its

motherboard is? Tell us something about the machine in terms of its

components.

 

5. Have you ever had any experience that involved opening up the PC's case

and getting inside its "innards"? For example, have you ever installed an

optical drive, or a floppy disk drive, or some other component inside the

case?

 

6. Do you think you would be comfortable doing so - affixing an

easy-to-install component to the case from the inside & making some simple

connections involving that component? Or would you rather not get involved

with any hardware situation, even one not terribly complicated?

 

What I'm trying to get at here is to determine whether it would be feasible

for you to install a removable HDD in your child's PC. I can go into more

details re its advantages given your objective and the installation process

if you're so interested and would like to pursue further. So if you are so

inclined, answer the above questions and we can go on from there.

 

And BTW, just out of curiosity - what are you planning to do with *your*

computer?

Anna

[Guest Timothy Daniels]

Re: dual hard drives running win xp

 

WOO, boy. I thought that you'd just be installing XP on the new HD,

not transferring an XP installation to a new computer. That would

trigger a need to re-activate in addition to the requirement for drivers

for the new hardware. I've never tried that, and it might be easier to

just install XP in the 2nd HD after you've put it into the new computer.

Since you've nothing to lose, just try the transfer without re-installation

and see what happens.

 

*TimDaniels*

 

"rena03sb" wrote:

> Tim,

> The \"it\" I was referring to was the computer. I replaced the mobo

> in my computer with a direct replacement and when I turned on the

> computer everything booted up as if I never touched the mobo. So

> my question pertained to taking that HD and installing it in my new

> computer that I just ordered (the one with Vista). Since the new

> computer has all different hardware, what can I expect if I try to

> boot from my 'old' XP HD? I'm assuming 1 of 2 things is going to

> happen: either it will boot up and I'll need to download some drivers

> to get the computer 100% OR it'll prompt me for the XP boot CD...

>

>

> --

> rena03sb

[Guest Bob]

Re: dual hard drives running win xp

 

On Jul 1, 11:51 am, rena03sb <sk1e...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Tim,

> The \"it\" I was referring to was the computer. I replaced the mobo in

> my computer with a direct replacement and when I turned on the computer

> everything booted up as if I never touched the mobo. So my question

> pertained to taking that HD and installing it in my new computer that I

> just ordered (the one with Vista). Since the new computer has all

> different hardware, what can I expect if I try to boot from my 'old' XP

> HD? I'm assuming 1 of 2 things is going to happen: either it will boot

> up and I'll need to download some drivers to get the computer 100% OR

> it'll prompt me for the XP boot CD…..

>

> --

> rena03sb

 

Hi Rena

You've got a good idea but Bill Gates not likely to approve. Unless

the two motherboards are nearly identical, as determined by XP while

booting, the boot will stop with some sort of message indicating it is

unhappy and you should call microsoft support. Some fee most likely

will apply. You will probably have to buy another license. All-in-all,

you are entering the Twi-light zone. Anna certainly knows her stuff,

answer her questions and lets see what she recommends.

 

You might consider going with Linux or get a Mac. Of the two, probably

Linux will be better if you don't mind getting under the hood. (And it

appears you like to). Newer chip sets are allowing more

virtualization which may support fancy footwork like tailor the boot

so an alert kid might boot on one drive/partition and Mom boots on

another. On the other hand, there is a device called KVM switch (I

hope I remembered that right), which you can flip a switch to move the

monitor, and keyboard from one computer to another nearby computer.

And Intel is working on something so all the computers at home, as

well as TV and maybe a few other devices can be controlled by the head

of the house.

 

Good luck.

Bob