My new pc desktop has a place for a second HD. Can I insert the HD from my
old pc without losing the os,Win XP, and the programs on it. My idea is to
run one HD with Vista and the second with XP. I seem to recal that adding a
loaded HD to a different pc could be a problem. Thanks in advance for any
help on this.

Johncon612 wrote:

My new pc desktop has a place for a second HD. Can I insert the HD from my
old pc without losing the os,Win XP, and the programs on it. My idea is to
run one HD with Vista and the second with XP. I seem to recal that adding
a loaded HD to a different pc could be a problem. Thanks in advance for
any help on this.

Your recollection is correct; XP was installed on completely different
hardware so at the very least a repair install would be required. Sometimes
a clean install is necessary and this would not be what you want at all.
You will need XP drivers for all your new computer's hardware so make sure
they are available first. I assume you already checked to make sure your
old drive is compatible with your new computer's motherboard (PATA/SATA).

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm - Repair Install
How-To

If the hardware supports XP, then you can do this and then follow these
instructions:

Install Windows XP On A Machine Already Running Windows Vista (MVP John
Barnett) -
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install...ning_vista.htm

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

In addition to Malke's comments, you will want to protect your Vista
recovery options from being destroyed by booting into XP. Use the following
registry edit.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926185

"Johncon612" wrote in message
...
My new pc desktop has a place for a second HD. Can I insert the HD from my
old pc without losing the os,Win XP, and the programs on it. My idea is to
run one HD with Vista and the second with XP. I seem to recal that adding
a
loaded HD to a different pc could be a problem. Thanks in advance for any
help on this.

Thanks for the info. I think I will just run two pc's separately.

"Malke" wrote:

Johncon612 wrote:

My new pc desktop has a place for a second HD. Can I insert the HD from my
old pc without losing the os,Win XP, and the programs on it. My idea is to
run one HD with Vista and the second with XP. I seem to recal that adding
a loaded HD to a different pc could be a problem. Thanks in advance for
any help on this.

Your recollection is correct; XP was installed on completely different
hardware so at the very least a repair install would be required. Sometimes
a clean install is necessary and this would not be what you want at all.
You will need XP drivers for all your new computer's hardware so make sure
they are available first. I assume you already checked to make sure your
old drive is compatible with your new computer's motherboard (PATA/SATA).

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm - Repair Install
How-To

If the hardware supports XP, then you can do this and then follow these
instructions:

Install Windows XP On A Machine Already Running Windows Vista (MVP John
Barnett) -
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install...ning_vista.htm

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

Thanks Colin. As i suspected, it wouldn't be easy. I will just run the two
pc's as they are.

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

In addition to Malke's comments, you will want to protect your Vista
recovery options from being destroyed by booting into XP. Use the following
registry edit.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926185

"Johncon612" wrote in message
...
My new pc desktop has a place for a second HD. Can I insert the HD from my
old pc without losing the os,Win XP, and the programs on it. My idea is to
run one HD with Vista and the second with XP. I seem to recal that adding
a
loaded HD to a different pc could be a problem. Thanks in advance for any
help on this.

You're welcome.

"Johncon612" wrote in message
...
Thanks Colin. As i suspected, it wouldn't be easy. I will just run the two
pc's as they are.

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

In addition to Malke's comments, you will want to protect your Vista
recovery options from being destroyed by booting into XP. Use the
following
registry edit.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926185

"Johncon612" wrote in message
...
My new pc desktop has a place for a second HD. Can I insert the HD from
my
old pc without losing the os,Win XP, and the programs on it. My idea is
to
run one HD with Vista and the second with XP. I seem to recal that
adding
a
loaded HD to a different pc could be a problem. Thanks in advance for
any
help on this.