Dead HP Win 7 laptop - salvage parts and upgrade older computer?

So, my HP DV4-2145 (Win 7) bit the dust the other day - it went to sleep and never woke up, and the flashing lights indicated a CPU and/or motherboard failure. It was time for a new one anyway, so no big deal.

However, I also have a much older (circa 2005) HP laptop that runs Win XP. It is basically sound in the body, but has become extremely slow over the years. My stepdaughters use it for web surfing and such when they're around, and it will do that, but not much more. Anyway, I'm wondering if I can use some of the parts from the dead HP to upgrade the 2005 HP. The hard drive (which I removed and hooked up to the new computer) works just fine, and the memory is ok as well. Is it possible to use these bits to upgrade the old machine (if they fit, of course)? How would I go about this? Obviously, Win 7 is installed on the newer hard drive and the old computer has XP - is it even possible to upgrade such an old computer to Win 7? I have the Win 7 recovery discs that I made when the computer was new.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions (including "this is a totally crackbrained scheme and WILL NOT WORK," if applicable). If upgrading the old machine isn't possible, is there something I could do to improve its performance? I have an XP reinstallation CD if that would potentially help. Thanks in advance!

 

Memory: Must be the same type (DDR, DDR2) in both machines. If so, you can try swapping it. If they are 2GB sticks, they may not work on the older PC (depends on the specs, but it shouldn't hurt to try).

Hard Drive: Must be same connection type (IDE or SATA). Be aware that, if you put the Win 7 drive in the XP machine, you'll have to reload a genuine copy of Windows for it to work properly on the old PC. Also, back up any files before you do this.

Hope this helps.

 

Very helpful. I'll crack the old laptop and see what I've got in terms of memory. Regarding the install of Win 7 - I don't have a CD from Windows, but I do have the recovery discs I made when I first got the computer, including one that I labeled Windows 7 repair disc. Will that work?

 

Those recovery disks are only for the computer Win 7 was installed on originally. You'd need a fresh full install.

 

Ah, ok. Is there a cheap/free way to get a CD if you have a copy licensed to a computer? Or would I have to buy it new?

 

I cracked the older PC today (it's an HP DV1000, btw), and the memory cards look the same, more or less. However, the max supported RAM in the older one is 2GB, and the newer one has two 2GB sticks - worth a try, or will they not work?

 

Could you provide the exact model number for the dv1000?

It looks like the RAM will not work, as this the laptop is DDR.

 

You can go to http://www.crucial.com enter the model & manufacturer info, it will tell you the spec's for RAM that machine used, if you cannot get it from the OEM website, for Product Spec's.