Replacing internal master C: drive

Hi Geeks !!

Upgrading my internal C:drive which is the Master boot drive. IDE off the shelf Compaq Presario w/ Windows XP Home SP3. Disc did not come with puter.

Friend gave me a XP Pro Disc that I want to load onto the new HDD. Is this going to work ?? What Problems might I run into and will it Boot from the New Master HDD.

I've read many Posts and Threads and I really don't want to Clone the old HDD if I don't have to. Is there a way that I can make this as painless as possible ??

I know the Bios might need some attention, but will tackle that issue if and when I need to.

Thanks for any and all advise.

 

Shouldn't be a problem. Make sure the new drive is set to master, and plug it in. Windows should install fine, though if your friend still has his copy of XP registered, you might have a problem. The computer should detect the new hardware as soon as it boots. You might have to alter the order so it boots from CD first, but that's a mostly minor concern.

 

Thanks for the Quick reply, Triaxx2.

The XP Pro is a Corp. edition supposedly and Authentic.

I'm a little concerened about using it as I don't or didn't get a disc of XP Home with the computer when I bought it. They instructed to make recovery disc's inwhich I did.

If problems with the Corp edition surface, will the Recovery disc's serfice or will I need to buy a new XP OS ??

Thanks,

 

Recovery discs should work on the new harddrive. Depending on which type of Recovery disks they are they may take over the whole HD creating one partition without giving you the option of making more than one or choosing the size.

Since you aren't initially using the HP/Compaq restore disk you might want to go to HP website and download any drivers for your model in case they aren't detected by your XP Pro CD. Graphics drivers, broadband, audio. Write them to disc or keep them on a flash drive just in case you need them after the install.

 

Thanks Sach2.

I'll check the HP site and see what they offer.

 

Update....

Well this was quite an experiance for me. I am self taught on what Little I know about computers.

My philosophy on this stuff is try to find as much info I can on what ever task I'm attempting to tackle and just Do It.

Can't afford the Outrageous Charges these so called "Computer Experts" demand. "Geek Squad" = Big Joke. :mad

Posting this in Hopes that maybe it Might Help someone else that is not as computer savvy as some here at MG's.

First off I installed the New HDD as the Master Drive. Attempted to Boot off of the XP Pro Disc that I got from a friend. Would not Boot. **slight panic**

Then used the Repair Disc's that I had made from when I first purchased this computer. This was a hugh set back as it was everything from 2004. Could'nt get anything to work right. Nothing would Copy over from the old C: drive or even update. **Really Panicking** :cry

I now switched the old C: drive back to Master and made the New HDD as Slave.

I then used "Acronis True Image Home" to back up the old C: drive to an external HDD. Reformatted the New HDD that had the Recovery Disc's on it. I then Restored the exact image of the old C: drive onto the new C: drive from the Backup. **Fingers Crossed**, I Rebooted the New Drive and in Sheer Amazement, was Exactly like the Old drive.

I can't say enough about Acronis True Image Software. It is truly Amazing. :-D

 

I thought you said you didn't want to clone the old HD?

Nice job! Glad you got things sorted out.

 

Probably because he wasn't certain about it.

The reason it wouldn't copy/paste from the old drive was that it had different settings and permissions from the account on the old drive. It's kind of frustrating, especially when you loose irreplaceable data. Congrats on getting it all back to running.