I have an old Dell running XP Home SP2. I want to buy a new bare bones system and move just my hard drive, CD ROM, and DVD drive over to the new system. I've heard that I'm going to have to reinstall the OS since the mobo and CPU are totally different. I've been told that it's possible to put the old drive into the new system and then boot to an XP Home CD, which would allow me to reinstall the OS. I just read through one of the guides on this site and I'm not sure about the procedure. It looks like I can delete the C:\ partition and start over, which I definitely don't want because I want to keep my applications and data intact. It also looks like the other option is to repair the OS. Would that work? Also, since I'm running SP2, what if I can only find an SP1 CD ROM? If I repair an SP2 installation with an SP1 CD, is it going to thoroughly hose my system or will I be okay after I login and download SP2? Thanks! John

No dice the version of XP you have is linked to your DELL PC, though your solution may work ACTIVATION will not work.

try just ploping it in..every one say NO DONT JUST SWAP HDS it wont work and will cause tons of errors. From my experiance its a 50/50 shot..might be fine just switchign the hd. If u do need to reinstall the dell activation will not work so u will need anew copy of xp Always back up...I JUST LOST 287 gigs entertainment!

Is that even true if I'm using a new copy of XP Home that has never been activated? Is it going to conflict with the old Dell installation?

well ... first of all, you can create your own installation CD, just download, service pack 2 and slipstream it into your xp cdrom (nLite). if you have a legit copy of xp home (not the oem version that is dedicated to your dell) you may use this disk for a repair installation. then enter your legit license key into your existing installation, tools to do that are plenty. you may have to activate. but, if i were you, i'd backup my data and go for a clean installation on a new system. Today's subliminal thought is: 'Calm down ... it's only ones and zeros.'

save yourself some issues...buy an oem installation disc and be done with the garbage. It is good to get away from the proprietary issues of branded products..as you are embarking on. But the disc will come in handy later on and it is just much better to have an original that a burnt (pirated) copy. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... In The Matters Of Style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, Stand Like A Rock "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."

PC manufacturers such as Dell use an XP install that looks for hardware that is coded as Dell branded components. Installs on non Dell systems fail because the hardware does not match. That is one of the reasons that off the shelf systemboards can't be used in their systems. Using the hard drive in the new system will work as long as the install CD is a retail or OEM copy and you do an install to a new directory. A repair install is the option where you do a recovery to the same XP location and have all your software showing up. You could try this if the selection is available during setup using the new CD. As long as key matches the media being loaded you should be alright. My one thought is bringing the old drive to the new system as the primary drive. I see older drives frequently that start showing signs of wear and end up failing fairly quickly. I would take the bare bones system and add a hard drive to be used as primary and use the old one as a secondary data drive. No matter which way you go on the drive the main point is that the XP install will require a non Dell package. Good luck Richard