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    Question about cloning HD

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by therealj, Nov 7, 2008.

  1. therealj

    therealj Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have a T400 due to arrive any day with Vista basic installed, I'm installing a 320GB hard drive to the laptop as soon as I get it. If I were to clone the new hard drive with the HD on another laptop I have running XP pro, would I be able to install the cloned XP hard drive into my new laptop, install the drivers and be good to go?
     
    therealj, Nov 7, 2008
    #1
  2. goofball

    goofball Notebook Deity

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    that depends on the hardware differences between the 2 laptops. That's akin to doing heart transplant for the OS. In many cases, that's not a good idea. Do a fresh install. What would stop you from doing a fresh install?

    Note that Windows Activation would freak out as well with that many hardware changes (assuming the OS boots successfully to the Desktop).
     
    goofball, Nov 7, 2008
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  3. therealj

    therealj Notebook Enthusiast

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    I don't have a copy of XP pro and can't really afford the $175 it costs to buy a copy in Canada :)
     
    therealj, Nov 7, 2008
    #3
  4. cat mom

    cat mom Notebook Evangelist

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    You will not be able to transfer the license from the other laptop to the new one unless it is a retail version that you bought separately from the laptop. If it came with the computer then the XP Pro is an OEM version and can not ever be moved legally to another computer.
     
    cat mom, Nov 7, 2008
    #4
  5. PhoenixFx

    PhoenixFx Notebook Virtuoso

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    Unless you have a retail XP Pro license and you remove it from the first notebook, what you are trying to do is illegal.

    Is there any particular reason for wanting to go back to XP ? Why not just use Vista ? Since T400 is a relatively new notebook, you should be able to run Vista quite comfortably (if you have enough RAM ~= 2GB).

    Getting back to your original question, as goofball has already mentioned if the hardware is different it would not work easily, you'll most probably get a blue screen rightaway. You might be able to repair it by logging in to the safe mode or by doing a repair install, but I don't recommend it.
     
    PhoenixFx, Nov 7, 2008
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  6. therealj

    therealj Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks guys, I'll just clone the T400 drive to my 320gb drive and run vista. I have XP pro on my work laptop and just prefer it over the Vista on my wifes laptop that runs slow
     
    therealj, Nov 7, 2008
    #6