building a pc with existing hard drive

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regeisle

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May be a stupid question.. (I know, there are none)

I'll be building a new P4 system within the next few weeks, using several parts from my current P3 system. So, a simple question... is it possible to use my existing hard drive (120GB) WITHOUT re-formatting it before I put it in the new machine, and having to reinstall everything, including XP-Pro? I know it's best to start clean, but I just did a clean install on this system a few months ago, so am in pretty good shape. Just wondering if I can save that headache this time.

Thanks in advance!

Richard
 
If you are taking this hard drive from one PC to another and the two PCs are totally different Motherboards then yes. Otherwise, your new PC, with the hard drive from the old system will attempt to boot with all of the old PC's motherboard hardware information. This doesn't work as the drive needs to have the old info removed and the new environment introduced.

-Michael
 
If all else fails you can try a program like drive image pro and create bootable images of your existing hardrive. Depending upon hoiw much space is used it might be aot of cds though ;)
 
actually there is a way to fix the problem, what you have to do is take the xp cd (if you have it) and run the repair option (youll have to boot from the cd or to dos and do it in dos) and it will detect all your new hardware, and yes it does work, ive done it myself a 1000 times, good luck! ;)
 
deth angel, so i would build the system as i would with a brand new drive, and then for the first boot, just boot from CD? don't I have to get into the bios to change the boot sequence? can i do that on the first boot? also... this is from a how-to on the Tech TV website... how adn when does the boot from CD approach fit into this sequence?

Thanks for the help!

Richard

TECH TV >>> "Is everything plugged in? Plug the power cord (which came with your case) into the back of the power supply. If you're absolutely sure everything is correctly in place, plug the power cord into the wall.

Now push the power button.

It's alive! Or is it?

You can jump up and down

If the gods are on your side, you'll hear happy beeps and see fun things happening on your monitor. This is your computer performing its POST.

Once you get a good POST, you're all set. Install your OS and the drivers that came with all your devices. " <<<<
 
Keep in mind that even though in theory his idea should work, it won't be the most stable system in the world. XP chose more then just a video driver when it installed onto your hard drive. Your looking at your chipset and all the other little things that your mobo has that effects how you run.

M$ can barly handle a regular install without ruining something, I'd reconsider letting them fix this.
 
another quick question...

Thanks for the help. Another quick question and then I'm out of your hair.

For a basic P4 system... 2 HDD's (1 IDE, 1 SATA), 2 optical drives, floppy, 2-4 fans - would you recommend the common mid-tower case, or a full tower / workstation? Any drawbacks or benefits of each, other than size?

Thanks again!

Richard
 
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