Load OS on HDD and swap?

Is it possible to put my new hard drive in my old laptop, install the OS and then put the old hdd back in. That way once my new laptop arrives I could just pop in the new HDD and it would just need to recognize the hard ware and I could just install the drivers?

 

Yeah, you could do that, but I don't recommend it.
PS: It will probably not work with XP, only with Vista. With XP you will have to do a repair of the OS (which takes some time) and then figure out what's what from that point.

 

hmm that doesn't sound like fun =/

 

No, it doesn't.
When you change the motherboard XP will need a repair (through the CD), which makes the whole idea kind of pointless.

 

I wouldn't do that unless both the new and the old systems were identical. Even then, you may still have to undergo Windows "initiation" (i.e., validation) if there are sufficient changes in hardware that you trigger the possible-pirating routines of the installed OS.

All in all, unless you really, really need an OS to be up and running the instant you open the new system (in which case you'd be better off going with something like a bootable CD, such as the ultimate boot cd with whatever special apps you need added into the CD image), you'll do right by yourself in the long-run if you do a clean install when the hdd is installed in the new system.

 

In addition to this possibility, you also have the possiblity of getting a NTLDR or other STOP error/BSOD due to incompatiblities regarding basic chipset drivers. If the system chipsets are significantly different this is very liekly to happen. Also, there is the chance that your old laptop contains an IDE HDD, and the new one is SATA. On top of this, you will likely, at the very least, trip the Windows Activation feature into resetting.

In short, it will be far less painful to install from scratch when the new machine gets here. After you get all of your OS patches and drivers installed, you could take a system state image, and save it to another sotrage device, incase your laptops HDD ever goes to hell. It will make reloading a much easier process. I'd recommend Acronis TrueImage or Norton (Symantec) Ghost.

 

Seriously, if you really wanted this much trouble with your OS, you could just get Vista factory-loaded.

 

bleh hell no...that was part of the beauty of a barebone laptop, no one's gonna be touching it but me . I was really just looking for something to pass time time today lol. "stares at all his laptop parts"

 

Waiting's hell; all I can say is, I envy you your waiting. I guess I'll go back to kicking the vaio (and it's ill-gotten little companion, the Compaq presario 1700) around the room - maybe something will finally break so I can justify the debt needed to get my own Clevo.

 

It's not really the waiting thats killing me its the fact that this is laptop # 5 since last September and I'm just gonna give up if something goes wrong with this one.....

 

your title belays that you are a reviewer here, as in "I don't pay for these things." if that's the case, I have lost all concern for your 5 failures...you'll just get another one! Hell, I reload windows more often than you replace your laptops! and no, I don't bork my installs. I just a fresh start...a lot...and I quad boot...so that doesn't help.

 

Cool your jets boss; I think "reviewer" just means the person submitted a formal review (usually of a system they bought and paid for themselves), not a person whose "job" it is to get freebies from companies and then write up a review.

 

i just read my post. I kind of sound like a jerk in it, but I was only joking. well...not about the quad boot and reloading a lot part

 

First laptop I bought was a dell that had this problem http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166486
Second one was a lenovo laptop that took two weeks to get onsite repairs done
twice. 3rd laptop was a alienware that had overheating problems....that one took forever to get my money back after sending it into the repair facility twice over a month. 4th laptop was the gateway P-6831fx that I bought not to long ago and actually sold it to a member on this forum. The clevo I recently bought had better be the last laptop I have to deal with or like I said I'm done with trying to buy a laptop...as for my title...it is what it says I did a review on the P6831fx since I was the first on on the forum to receive one almost a week before it was released .

 

well first things first...yes the fan noise is annoying. Other than that I just finished puting it together and its installing the OS right now. >.> the fan keeps ramping up almost every minute.