Re: Swapping Laptop Hard drives

Fixer wrote:

"John Williamson" <johnwilliamson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:ff77bf$f44$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fixer wrote:
The Dell version of Windows almost certainly won't install on the HP & vice versa. I believe they check a system makers code stored on the BIOS. You can even add memory with no problem.

That is incorrect, any OEM copy of windows will install on any machine HOWEVER if you install say a Dell copy of XP on a HP/aACer/Whatever you will need to activate windows and provide a 25 hexadecimal key. But if you install a dell copy of XP on any Dell you wont have to activate or provide a key and the same goes for other manufacturers supply of OEM Manufacturer supplied XP windows


On an Acer package I bought a couple of years ago, the restore disc supplied will *not* work except on an Acer machine, (Tried on Toshiba, IBM & HP laptops, as well as a tower unit I'd built myself) ditto with a Toshiba I've tried recently. An HP? machine I worked on a while ago actually needed the boot sector of a replacement HD "branding" (or it may have been a code burnt into the BIOS to match the HD, either way, it needed a seperate non-Windows boot CD with a downloaded program off the manufacturer's website) with a key to match the motherboard before it would even consider using it as a boot device. Once this was done, the manufacturer's restore CD set then worked to reinstall Windows. Even a full retail version of Windows (98, ME & XP tried) wouldn't install until the unit had been branded.
Dell no longer supply a restore CD with their machines, the restore partition needs to be backed up, producing a restore CD set. HP do the same. As to whether the Dell would find the HP restore partition & vice versa, I've no idea.

Going back a decade or so, a Fujitsu tablet machine I've got on the shelf needs the right external floppy drive to boot from, as it writes a special code into the boot sector of the HD. Fdisk on another machine won't produce a bootable HD for this machine, & it won't boot from either the PCMCIA slot (for CD, HD or CF card) or the USB port.

So, *any* OEM version will install on *any* machine? Not in my experience, although with 95 & 98, it was easier to work round the problems.

Possibly if you copy the I386 folder from one machine onto a fresh HD or bootable CD/DVD & use it on another machine, it may work. But then, if you're doing that, you might just as well just borrow a full copy of the appropriate OS, & use the key on the COA attached to the machine. Either way, you need to download all the drivers for the fresh installation.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.
your actually talking about two seperate things here ie a recovery cd and a windows cd, Dell does not provide recovery cds they supply a Dell copy of windows that is locked to the bios ie it will install on any dell machine without needing activation, BUT it will install on any machine and then you will need to provide a 25 digit key.

Ok, this is a new development, later than my experience. My experience was with the systems with only a restore partition, & a recovery CD as a paid for option. In effect, I take it you now get a standard copy of Windows with the Dell drivers built in.

Acer on the
otherhand to name just one use a recovery CD that will recover the hdd to the state it was when it left the factory and will only work on an acer specific model range

Agreed.

So i stand by my original post and any OEM copy of windows will install on any machine, but to clarify your point a OEM Recovery cd which is something totally different will be manufacturer specific

My query here would be how do you get the OEM copy of Windows onto another machine except by reinstalling it from scratch?

The Original poster was also asking if he could take a Hard drive out of a Dell, & put it in an HP machine, & I think the agreed answer to that would be no, especially as the Dell is Vista & the HP is XP.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Assume ? What about OEM users?
    ... Windows help - www.rickrogers.org ... > If this is a relatively recent issue, you might try using System Restore ... > If the above fails to resolve the issue, try a repair install as follows: ... > Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)
  • Re: Questionable Item in Restore Feature
    ... No the tech had done an earlier restore and I ... Looks to me like it is a problem between MS signed driver and my new Dell ... something with the scanner and I don't know what to ask for with Dell. ... a Kernel-Mode Driver install process on one of the various devices installed. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Windows Update Failure; Tech Abaondoned Me
    ... I did not think about Dell technical support, ... MS will provide support for the OS if you install it. ... Create A Bootable/Slipstreamed Windows XP Installation CD ... Reinstallation disc and after it finished it still had the same error message ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsupdate)
  • Re: Computer Infected:
    ... Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition ... Dell Application – Backup Dell installed programs, ... SeagateDisk Utility ... You do NOT want to do a Repair or Recovery install. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Restore Question....
    ... In Start, Control Panel, Automatic Updates uncheck Automatic and check ... "Notify me but don't automatically download or install". ... computer up-to-date with Windows Update and opt for a Custom install. ... About three weeks ago I tried to use the System Restore feature ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain)