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XP Pro to XP Home

M

mm

Flightless Bird
XP Pro to XP Home

Thanks again for all your help about putting a replacement hard drive
and OS in the second hand Dell my friend has given me.

It seems each solution leads to a new problem!

I had hoped to just copy an image of my current XP Home, which is on a
PATA drive, to the new SATA hard drive for the Dell.

For some reason I had assumed he had XP Home like I do, but he had
Profesional.

So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I have four
choices that I can think of to get all my data and programs and
settings to the new computer, all probably bad, but you tell me!


1) Clone my XP Home to the a SATA drive for the new-to-me Dell
computer, and hope that the Dell Product Key on that computer will
work for Home even though the computer originally had Pro. End up
with Home. If this would work, it would be just fine.

2) Use the Dell XP Pro Reinstallation CD to put barebones Pro in the
Dell,

a) then use my own retail XPHome CD to *down*grade from Pro to Home.
Then copy every file in my current XPHome to the Dell. End up with
Pro. If it's possible to downgrade, this would be just fine.

OR
b) then copy every file from my current XPHome that won't
interfere*** with Pro to the Dell. Copy every file I can that is
related to me and what I've been doing. On the Dell, reinstall much
of the software**, almost all of which I have the setup files for.
End up with Pro.

Or
c) then copy every file from my current XPHome including those which
would cause XPPro to become XPHome; copy almost every file. Reinstall
whatever needs to be reinstalled. End up with Home.


For option b)
***Is it possible that someone has made up instructions how to do
this? Or has made a list of what files *would* interefere with Pro?
I figure they would all be in the Windows folder, but otoh, I can't
make things work if I don't copy a lot of the files in that folder.
If this would really work, I'd end up with Pro, which would be nice,
but it seems unlikely to work.

Or maybe someone has made a list of files that *would* interfere with
Pro. Either way. Plus I can make reasonable choices myself, and
add more later, or delete/rename ones I shouldn't have have copied.

**Except Agent (for news) and Eudora (for mail) and anything else that
doesn't need installation. IIUC all the programs I have now should
be in the "Program Files" folder, but maybe some are elsewhere, like
in the Windows folder???.
-- end footnotes for 2b --

Thanks for any helpful suggestions.
 
D

Daave

Flightless Bird
mm wrote:
> XP Pro to XP Home
>
> Thanks again for all your help about putting a replacement hard drive
> and OS in the second hand Dell my friend has given me.
>
> It seems each solution leads to a new problem!
>
> I had hoped to just copy an image of my current XP Home, which is on a
> PATA drive, to the new SATA hard drive for the Dell.
>
> For some reason I had assumed he had XP Home like I do, but he had
> Profesional.
>
> So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I have four
> choices that I can think of to get all my data and programs and
> settings to the new computer, all probably bad, but you tell me!
>
>
> 1) Clone my XP Home to the a SATA drive for the new-to-me Dell
> computer, and hope that the Dell Product Key on that computer will
> work for Home even though the computer originally had Pro. End up
> with Home. If this would work, it would be just fine.
>
> 2) Use the Dell XP Pro Reinstallation CD to put barebones Pro in the
> Dell,
>
> a) then use my own retail XPHome CD to *down*grade from Pro to Home.
> Then copy every file in my current XPHome to the Dell. End up with
> Pro. If it's possible to downgrade, this would be just fine.
>
> OR
> b) then copy every file from my current XPHome that won't
> interfere*** with Pro to the Dell. Copy every file I can that is
> related to me and what I've been doing. On the Dell, reinstall much
> of the software**, almost all of which I have the setup files for.
> End up with Pro.
>
> Or
> c) then copy every file from my current XPHome including those which
> would cause XPPro to become XPHome; copy almost every file. Reinstall
> whatever needs to be reinstalled. End up with Home.
>
>
> For option b)
> ***Is it possible that someone has made up instructions how to do
> this? Or has made a list of what files *would* interefere with Pro?
> I figure they would all be in the Windows folder, but otoh, I can't
> make things work if I don't copy a lot of the files in that folder.
> If this would really work, I'd end up with Pro, which would be nice,
> but it seems unlikely to work.
>
> Or maybe someone has made a list of files that *would* interfere with
> Pro. Either way. Plus I can make reasonable choices myself, and
> add more later, or delete/rename ones I shouldn't have have copied.
>
> **Except Agent (for news) and Eudora (for mail) and anything else that
> doesn't need installation. IIUC all the programs I have now should
> be in the "Program Files" folder, but maybe some are elsewhere, like
> in the Windows folder???.
> -- end footnotes for 2b --
>
> Thanks for any helpful suggestions.


Yowsa.

I assume that when you use the term "files," you are referring to the
actual operating system files. If that is the case, you cannot do any of
those things mentioned above.

Just perform a Clean Install of XP Pro, using the Dell XP Pro
installation CD you have. Upgrade to SP3. Upgrade to IE7 or IE8. Install
a decent antivirus program (I like Avira AntiVir). Download and install
all the post-SP3 security updates for Windows XP. Install your other
apps. Copy your data. You'll be good to go.

(Copying stuff -- other than your data -- from your other hard drive
simply won't work. Don't even try it!)

Do you have a hard drive for this PC? I seem to recall in another thread
that for some reason you obtained this PC without a hard drive.
 
P

philo

Flightless Bird
On 08/28/2010 07:35 PM, mm wrote:
> XP Pro to XP Home
>
> Thanks again for all your help about putting a replacement hard drive
> and OS in the second hand Dell my friend has given me.
>
> It seems each solution leads to a new problem!
>
> I had hoped to just copy an image of my current XP Home, which is on a
> PATA drive, to the new SATA hard drive for the Dell.
>
> For some reason I had assumed he had XP Home like I do, but he had
> Profesional.
>




To get help, start as the beginning and ask a question


sheesh




> So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I have four
> choices that I can think of to get all my data and programs and
> settings to the new computer, all probably bad, but you tell me!
>
>
> 1) Clone my XP Home to the a SATA drive for the new-to-me Dell
> computer, and hope that the Dell Product Key on that computer will
> work for Home even though the computer originally had Pro. End up
> with Home. If this would work, it would be just fine.
>
> 2) Use the Dell XP Pro Reinstallation CD to put barebones Pro in the
> Dell,
>
> a) then use my own retail XPHome CD to *down*grade from Pro to Home.
> Then copy every file in my current XPHome to the Dell. End up with
> Pro. If it's possible to downgrade, this would be just fine.
>
> OR
> b) then copy every file from my current XPHome that won't
> interfere*** with Pro to the Dell. Copy every file I can that is
> related to me and what I've been doing. On the Dell, reinstall much
> of the software**, almost all of which I have the setup files for.
> End up with Pro.
>
> Or
> c) then copy every file from my current XPHome including those which
> would cause XPPro to become XPHome; copy almost every file. Reinstall
> whatever needs to be reinstalled. End up with Home.
>
>
> For option b)
> ***Is it possible that someone has made up instructions how to do
> this? Or has made a list of what files *would* interefere with Pro?
> I figure they would all be in the Windows folder, but otoh, I can't
> make things work if I don't copy a lot of the files in that folder.
> If this would really work, I'd end up with Pro, which would be nice,
> but it seems unlikely to work.
>
> Or maybe someone has made a list of files that *would* interfere with
> Pro. Either way. Plus I can make reasonable choices myself, and
> add more later, or delete/rename ones I shouldn't have have copied.
>
> **Except Agent (for news) and Eudora (for mail) and anything else that
> doesn't need installation. IIUC all the programs I have now should
> be in the "Program Files" folder, but maybe some are elsewhere, like
> in the Windows folder???.
> -- end footnotes for 2b --
>
> Thanks for any helpful suggestions.
 
M

mm

Flightless Bird
On Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:58:42 -0500, philo <philo@privacy.net> wrote:

>On 08/28/2010 07:35 PM, mm wrote:
>> XP Pro to XP Home
>>
>> Thanks again for all your help about putting a replacement hard drive
>> and OS in the second hand Dell my friend has given me.
>>
>> It seems each solution leads to a new problem!
>>
>> I had hoped to just copy an image of my current XP Home, which is on a
>> PATA drive, to the new SATA hard drive for the Dell.
>>
>> For some reason I had assumed he had XP Home like I do, but he had
>> Profesional.
>>

>
>
>To get help, start as the beginning and ask a question
>sheesh


Sorry. A friend gave me a Dell computer with everything but the hard
drive, which had failed. I want to start using his computer after I
load it with all of my stuff. I have an IDE drive but his computer
requires a SATA drive, so I can't use the same drive.

I am using a retail version of XP Home and I thought his had XP Home
too, but his had XP Pro.

I have the Dell Reinstallation CD for XP Pro SP2, (and he mailed me
more stuff yesterday, including probably the CD for XP SP1, which is
what he started with.)

I could buy a Dell Reinstallation CD for XP Home, but iiuc, it
wouldn't work because the Dell was originally assembled with Pro. (I
didn't think of this the first time, but if that would work, it would
be easy too, Option 3!)

>> So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I have four
>> choices that I can think of to get all my data and programs and
>> settings to the new computer, all probably bad, but you tell me!
>>


So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I see five
possible optinos to get all my data and programs and settings to the
new computer, all probably impossible to do, but you tell me!

They are options 1, 2a, 2b, and 2c below, and option 3 above:

1) Clone my XP Home to the a SATA drive for the new-to-me Dell
computer, and hope that the Dell Product Key on that computer will
work for Home even though the computer originally had Pro. End up
with Home. If this would work, it would be just fine.

2) Use the Dell XP Pro Reinstallation CD to put barebones Pro in the
Dell,

a) then use my own retail XPHome CD to *down*grade from Pro to Home.
Then copy every file in my current XPHome to the Dell. End up with
Pro. If it's possible to downgrade, this would be just fine.

OR
b) then copy every file from my current XPHome that won't
interfere*** with Pro to the Dell. Copy every file I can that is
related to me and what I've been doing. On the Dell, reinstall much
of the software**, almost all of which I have the setup files for.
End up with Pro.

Or
c) then copy every file from my current XPHome including those which
would cause XPPro to become XPHome; copy almost every file. Reinstall
whatever needs to be reinstalled. End up with Home.

For option b)
***Is it possible that someone has made up instructions how to do
this? Or has made a list of what files *would* interefere with Pro?
I figure they would all be in the Windows folder, but otoh, I can't
make things work if I don't copy a lot of the files in that folder.
If this would really work, I'd end up with Pro, which would be nice,
but it seems unlikely to work.

Or maybe someone has made a list of files that *would* interfere with
Pro. Either way. Plus I can make reasonable choices myself, and
add more later, or delete/rename ones I shouldn't have have copied.

**Except Agent (for news) and Eudora (for mail) and anything else that
doesn't need installation. IIUC almost all the programs I have now
should be in the "Program Files" folder, but maybe some are elsewhere,
like in the Windows folder???. And maybe all of them are in the
add/remove programs list of Control Panel, but I don't know if that
really has everything.
-- end footnotes for 2b --

Thanks for any helpful suggestions.
 
M

mm

Flightless Bird
On Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:56:21 -0400, "Daave" <daave@example.com> wrote:

>mm wrote:
>> XP Pro to XP Home
>>
>> Thanks again for all your help about putting a replacement hard drive
>> and OS in the second hand Dell my friend has given me.
>>
>> It seems each solution leads to a new problem!
>>
>> I had hoped to just copy an image of my current XP Home, which is on a
>> PATA drive, to the new SATA hard drive for the Dell.
>>
>> For some reason I had assumed he had XP Home like I do, but he had
>> Profesional.
>>
>> So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I have four
>> choices that I can think of to get all my data and programs and
>> settings to the new computer, all probably bad, but you tell me!
>>
>>
>> 1) Clone my XP Home to the a SATA drive for the new-to-me Dell
>> computer, and hope that the Dell Product Key on that computer will
>> work for Home even though the computer originally had Pro. End up
>> with Home. If this would work, it would be just fine.
>>
>> 2) Use the Dell XP Pro Reinstallation CD to put barebones Pro in the
>> Dell,
>>
>> a) then use my own retail XPHome CD to *down*grade from Pro to Home.
>> Then copy every file in my current XPHome to the Dell. End up with
>> Pro. If it's possible to downgrade, this would be just fine.
>>
>> OR
>> b) then copy every file from my current XPHome that won't
>> interfere*** with Pro to the Dell. Copy every file I can that is
>> related to me and what I've been doing. On the Dell, reinstall much
>> of the software**, almost all of which I have the setup files for.
>> End up with Pro.
>>
>> Or
>> c) then copy every file from my current XPHome including those which
>> would cause XPPro to become XPHome; copy almost every file. Reinstall
>> whatever needs to be reinstalled. End up with Home.
>>
>>
>> For option b)
>> ***Is it possible that someone has made up instructions how to do
>> this? Or has made a list of what files *would* interefere with Pro?
>> I figure they would all be in the Windows folder, but otoh, I can't
>> make things work if I don't copy a lot of the files in that folder.
>> If this would really work, I'd end up with Pro, which would be nice,
>> but it seems unlikely to work.
>>
>> Or maybe someone has made a list of files that *would* interfere with
>> Pro. Either way. Plus I can make reasonable choices myself, and
>> add more later, or delete/rename ones I shouldn't have have copied.
>>
>> **Except Agent (for news) and Eudora (for mail) and anything else that
>> doesn't need installation. IIUC all the programs I have now should
>> be in the "Program Files" folder, but maybe some are elsewhere, like
>> in the Windows folder???.
>> -- end footnotes for 2b --
>>
>> Thanks for any helpful suggestions.

>
>Yowsa.
>
>I assume that when you use the term "files," you are referring to the
>actual operating system files. If that is the case, you cannot do any of
>those things mentioned above.
>
>Just perform a Clean Install of XP Pro, using the Dell XP Pro
>installation CD you have. Upgrade to SP3. Upgrade to IE7 or IE8. Install
>a decent antivirus program (I like Avira AntiVir). Download and install
>all the post-SP3 security updates for Windows XP. Install your other
>apps. Copy your data. You'll be good to go.


You know, you can see why I would want to do this in as few steps as
"possible".

>(Copying stuff -- other than your data -- from your other hard drive
>simply won't work. Don't even try it!)
>
>Do you have a hard drive for this PC? I seem to recall in another thread
>that for some reason you obtained this PC without a hard drive.


Right. I have to install a blank harddrive. I talked to my friend
tonight and the original one failed. (His repairman thought it was
because of a problem with the power supply. Maybe I should install a
new power supply too.)
 
P

Patok

Flightless Bird
mm wrote:
> XP Pro to XP Home
>
> Thanks again for all your help about putting a replacement hard drive
> and OS in the second hand Dell my friend has given me.
>
> It seems each solution leads to a new problem!
>
> I had hoped to just copy an image of my current XP Home, which is on a
> PATA drive, to the new SATA hard drive for the Dell.
>
> For some reason I had assumed he had XP Home like I do, but he had
> Profesional.
>
> So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I have four
> choices that I can think of to get all my data and programs and
> settings to the new computer, all probably bad, but you tell me!
>
>
> 1) Clone my XP Home to the a SATA drive for the new-to-me Dell
> computer, and hope that the Dell Product Key on that computer will
> work for Home even though the computer originally had Pro. End up
> with Home. If this would work, it would be just fine.
>
> 2) Use the Dell XP Pro Reinstallation CD to put barebones Pro in the
> Dell,


Or, see if this CD offers the option to do a repair install (or even
an upgrade install, but that's trickier, because Windows must already be
running). If a repair install is possible, you're home free, so to
speak. Since you have the original disk to clone from, experimenting in
this manner is risk-free.

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
--
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.
 
P

philo

Flightless Bird
On 08/28/2010 08:46 PM, mm wrote:
> On Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:58:42 -0500, philo<philo@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>> On 08/28/2010 07:35 PM, mm wrote:
>>> XP Pro to XP Home
>>>
>>> Thanks again for all your help about putting a replacement hard drive
>>> and OS in the second hand Dell my friend has given me.
>>>
>>> It seems each solution leads to a new problem!
>>>
>>> I had hoped to just copy an image of my current XP Home, which is on a
>>> PATA drive, to the new SATA hard drive for the Dell.
>>>
>>> For some reason I had assumed he had XP Home like I do, but he had
>>> Profesional.
>>>

>>
>>
>> To get help, start as the beginning and ask a question
>> sheesh

>
> Sorry. A friend gave me a Dell computer with everything but the hard
> drive, which had failed. I want to start using his computer after I
> load it with all of my stuff. I have an IDE drive but his computer
> requires a SATA drive, so I can't use the same drive.
>
> I am using a retail version of XP Home and I thought his had XP Home
> too, but his had XP Pro.
>
> I have the Dell Reinstallation CD for XP Pro SP2, (and he mailed me
> more stuff yesterday, including probably the CD for XP SP1, which is
> what he started with.)



If the sticker on the side is for Pro,
then your Dell XP pro cd might work with it.
( IIRC the model has to be the same...but I could be wrong)

I'd give it a try.


If that does not work you can always use a non-OEM version of XP
and just use the number that came with it...and ignore the label on the
side.
As long as it's not installed on another machine, it will be legit


Cloning your drive is very unlikely to work
and there is no way to downgrade XP pro to Home
unless you just perform a fresh install

>
> I could buy a Dell Reinstallation CD for XP Home, but iiuc, it
> wouldn't work because the Dell was originally assembled with Pro. (I
> didn't think of this the first time, but if that would work, it would
> be easy too, Option 3!)
>
>>> So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I have four
>>> choices that I can think of to get all my data and programs and
>>> settings to the new computer, all probably bad, but you tell me!
>>>

>
> So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I see five
> possible optinos to get all my data and programs and settings to the
> new computer, all probably impossible to do, but you tell me!
>
> They are options 1, 2a, 2b, and 2c below, and option 3 above:
>
> 1) Clone my XP Home to the a SATA drive for the new-to-me Dell
> computer, and hope that the Dell Product Key on that computer will
> work for Home even though the computer originally had Pro. End up
> with Home. If this would work, it would be just fine.
>
> 2) Use the Dell XP Pro Reinstallation CD to put barebones Pro in the
> Dell,
>
> a) then use my own retail XPHome CD to *down*grade from Pro to Home.
> Then copy every file in my current XPHome to the Dell. End up with
> Pro. If it's possible to downgrade, this would be just fine.
>
> OR
> b) then copy every file from my current XPHome that won't
> interfere*** with Pro to the Dell. Copy every file I can that is
> related to me and what I've been doing. On the Dell, reinstall much
> of the software**, almost all of which I have the setup files for.
> End up with Pro.
>
> Or
> c) then copy every file from my current XPHome including those which
> would cause XPPro to become XPHome; copy almost every file. Reinstall
> whatever needs to be reinstalled. End up with Home.
>
> For option b)
> ***Is it possible that someone has made up instructions how to do
> this? Or has made a list of what files *would* interefere with Pro?
> I figure they would all be in the Windows folder, but otoh, I can't
> make things work if I don't copy a lot of the files in that folder.
> If this would really work, I'd end up with Pro, which would be nice,
> but it seems unlikely to work.
>
> Or maybe someone has made a list of files that *would* interfere with
> Pro. Either way. Plus I can make reasonable choices myself, and
> add more later, or delete/rename ones I shouldn't have have copied.
>
> **Except Agent (for news) and Eudora (for mail) and anything else that
> doesn't need installation. IIUC almost all the programs I have now
> should be in the "Program Files" folder, but maybe some are elsewhere,
> like in the Windows folder???. And maybe all of them are in the
> add/remove programs list of Control Panel, but I don't know if that
> really has everything.
> -- end footnotes for 2b --
>
> Thanks for any helpful suggestions.
 
Y

Yousuf Khan

Flightless Bird
On 28/08/2010 9:49 PM, mm wrote:
> Right. I have to install a blank harddrive. I talked to my friend
> tonight and the original one failed. (His repairman thought it was
> because of a problem with the power supply. Maybe I should install a
> new power supply too.)
>


Dell power supplies used to be proprietary. Don't know if they still are
now, but they used to be something you can only get from Dell itself.

Yousuf Khan
 
Y

Yousuf Khan

Flightless Bird
On 28/08/2010 8:35 PM, mm wrote:
> XP Pro to XP Home
>
> Thanks again for all your help about putting a replacement hard drive
> and OS in the second hand Dell my friend has given me.


You didn't ask that question in this newsgroup, you asked it in
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage. So most people in this newsgroup will
not be familiar with your previous questions. I'm on that newsgroup too,
so I know what you're talking about.

> It seems each solution leads to a new problem!
>
> I had hoped to just copy an image of my current XP Home, which is on a
> PATA drive, to the new SATA hard drive for the Dell.
>
> For some reason I had assumed he had XP Home like I do, but he had
> Profesional.
>
> So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I have four
> choices that I can think of to get all my data and programs and
> settings to the new computer, all probably bad, but you tell me!


So why do you need to have your own particular image of XP Home on it?
The computer came with XP Pro originally, so why not just keep it?

> 1) Clone my XP Home to the a SATA drive for the new-to-me Dell
> computer, and hope that the Dell Product Key on that computer will
> work for Home even though the computer originally had Pro. End up
> with Home. If this would work, it would be just fine.


Even if your XP Home is originally from another Dell machine, there may
be all kinds of drivers that are specific to one machine or the other.
Stick with the copy that came with the machine.

> 2) Use the Dell XP Pro Reinstallation CD to put barebones Pro in the
> Dell,


Yes.

> a) then use my own retail XPHome CD to *down*grade from Pro to Home.
> Then copy every file in my current XPHome to the Dell. End up with
> Pro. If it's possible to downgrade, this would be just fine.


No.

> OR
> b) then copy every file from my current XPHome that won't
> interfere*** with Pro to the Dell. Copy every file I can that is
> related to me and what I've been doing. On the Dell, reinstall much
> of the software**, almost all of which I have the setup files for.
> End up with Pro.


What kind of stuff are you copying over besides the OS? Really for
applications, the best bet is to simply reinstall those applications
rather than try to copy them over. There are some utilities that are
designed for migrating applications from one machine to another. One is
called Carbon Copy, but there may be others.

> Or
> c) then copy every file from my current XPHome including those which
> would cause XPPro to become XPHome; copy almost every file. Reinstall
> whatever needs to be reinstalled. End up with Home.


No.

> For option b)
> ***Is it possible that someone has made up instructions how to do
> this? Or has made a list of what files *would* interefere with Pro?
> I figure they would all be in the Windows folder, but otoh, I can't
> make things work if I don't copy a lot of the files in that folder.
> If this would really work, I'd end up with Pro, which would be nice,
> but it seems unlikely to work.
>
> Or maybe someone has made a list of files that *would* interfere with
> Pro. Either way. Plus I can make reasonable choices myself, and
> add more later, or delete/rename ones I shouldn't have have copied.
>
> **Except Agent (for news) and Eudora (for mail) and anything else that
> doesn't need installation. IIUC all the programs I have now should
> be in the "Program Files" folder, but maybe some are elsewhere, like
> in the Windows folder???.
> -- end footnotes for 2b --
>
> Thanks for any helpful suggestions.


You're setting yourself up for failure. All of this overthinking is
going to end you up with a non-functioning machine or worse, a partially
non-functional machine which will work in some cases and not in others.
You'll end up debugging this thing for the next ten years.

Yousuf Khan
 
D

Daave

Flightless Bird
Interesting, mm. Perhaps you have pissed off someone somehow; I don't
believe *any* of your posts appear when viewing this group through the
soon-to-be-defunct MS news server!

The rest is inline.

mm wrote:
> On Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:56:21 -0400, "Daave" <daave@example.com> wrote:
>
>> mm wrote:
>>> XP Pro to XP Home
>>>
>>> Thanks again for all your help about putting a replacement hard
>>> drive and OS in the second hand Dell my friend has given me.
>>>
>>> It seems each solution leads to a new problem!
>>>
>>> I had hoped to just copy an image of my current XP Home, which is
>>> on a PATA drive, to the new SATA hard drive for the Dell.
>>>
>>> For some reason I had assumed he had XP Home like I do, but he had
>>> Profesional.
>>>
>>> So now, other than the really really time-consuming way, I have four
>>> choices that I can think of to get all my data and programs and
>>> settings to the new computer, all probably bad, but you tell me!
>>>
>>>
>>> 1) Clone my XP Home to the a SATA drive for the new-to-me Dell
>>> computer, and hope that the Dell Product Key on that computer will
>>> work for Home even though the computer originally had Pro. End up
>>> with Home. If this would work, it would be just fine.
>>>
>>> 2) Use the Dell XP Pro Reinstallation CD to put barebones Pro in the
>>> Dell,
>>>
>>> a) then use my own retail XPHome CD to *down*grade from Pro to
>>> Home. Then copy every file in my current XPHome to the Dell. End up
>>> with Pro. If it's possible to downgrade, this would be just fine.
>>>
>>> OR
>>> b) then copy every file from my current XPHome that won't
>>> interfere*** with Pro to the Dell. Copy every file I can that is
>>> related to me and what I've been doing. On the Dell, reinstall much
>>> of the software**, almost all of which I have the setup files for.
>>> End up with Pro.
>>>
>>> Or
>>> c) then copy every file from my current XPHome including those
>>> which would cause XPPro to become XPHome; copy almost every file.
>>> Reinstall whatever needs to be reinstalled. End up with Home.
>>>
>>>
>>> For option b)
>>> ***Is it possible that someone has made up instructions how to do
>>> this? Or has made a list of what files *would* interefere with Pro?
>>> I figure they would all be in the Windows folder, but otoh, I can't
>>> make things work if I don't copy a lot of the files in that folder.
>>> If this would really work, I'd end up with Pro, which would be nice,
>>> but it seems unlikely to work.
>>>
>>> Or maybe someone has made a list of files that *would* interfere
>>> with Pro. Either way. Plus I can make reasonable choices
>>> myself, and add more later, or delete/rename ones I shouldn't have
>>> have copied.
>>>
>>> **Except Agent (for news) and Eudora (for mail) and anything else
>>> that doesn't need installation. IIUC all the programs I have now
>>> should be in the "Program Files" folder, but maybe some are
>>> elsewhere, like in the Windows folder???.
>>> -- end footnotes for 2b --
>>>
>>> Thanks for any helpful suggestions.

>>
>> Yowsa.
>>
>> I assume that when you use the term "files," you are referring to the
>> actual operating system files. If that is the case, you cannot do
>> any of those things mentioned above.
>>
>> Just perform a Clean Install of XP Pro, using the Dell XP Pro
>> installation CD you have. Upgrade to SP3. Upgrade to IE7 or IE8.
>> Install a decent antivirus program (I like Avira AntiVir). Download
>> and install all the post-SP3 security updates for Windows XP.
>> Install your other apps. Copy your data. You'll be good to go.

>
> You know, you can see why I would want to do this in as few steps as
> "possible".


Of course. Unfortunately, the method I outlined *is* the fewest steps
possible. You cannot copy system files as you asked about and expect the
result you are hoping for. OSes need to be *installed.* If you have
unlimited time, you can experiment and try placing the cloned drive in
this laptop and then perform a Repair Install. But if it were me, I
wouldn't waste my time.

>> (Copying stuff -- other than your data -- from your other hard drive
>> simply won't work. Don't even try it!)
>>
>> Do you have a hard drive for this PC? I seem to recall in another
>> thread that for some reason you obtained this PC without a hard
>> drive.

>
> Right. I have to install a blank harddrive. I talked to my friend
> tonight and the original one failed. (His repairman thought it was
> because of a problem with the power supply. Maybe I should install a
> new power supply too.)


Okay, what we have here is a whisper-down-the-lane effect. Somehow I
doubt the power supply caused the drive to physically die and become
unusable. Then again, maybe the real problem is the power supply after
all, and your friend (or his repairman) had no business removing the
hard drive. Can you get that sent to you, too?

In anaother post, you mentioned you have a Retail version of XP Pro and
you may in the near future receive a Dell-branded OEM version of XP Home
(which the laptop had been licensed with in the first place per the COA
sticker on it). Either will work. Of course, your Retail version of XP
Pro is limited to one PC at a time, so if you decide to run it on the
Dell laptop (along with the COA sticker the Retail XP Pro CD came with),
you may not run it on any other PC (concurrently). And since most home
users don't need the few extra features on XP Pro *and* if you indeed
will be receiving the correct installation media soon (the Dell-branded
OEM XP Home installation CD), you might as well use that CD to perform
the Clean Install.

Of course, now we need to worry about the power supply!

(Crossposting to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell)
 
B

Bob I

Flightless Bird
Yousuf Khan wrote:

> On 28/08/2010 9:49 PM, mm wrote:
>
>> Right. I have to install a blank harddrive. I talked to my friend
>> tonight and the original one failed. (His repairman thought it was
>> because of a problem with the power supply. Maybe I should install a
>> new power supply too.)
>>

>
> Dell power supplies used to be proprietary. Don't know if they still are
> now, but they used to be something you can only get from Dell itself.
>
> Yousuf Khan


Actually it was the motherboard that had the proprietary pinout, you
could use a regular powersupply by simply switching two of the wires in
the connector to match the motherboard requirement.
 
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