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Help getting new comp going
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Post by
73830
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Post by
309394
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73830
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Post by
kamodius
It will not. The operating system (Windows, I presume) has to be installed in a particular way for the hard drive and BIOS (program that runs the hardware directly) to recognize it as a bootable device.
You'll need to install windows first, then you can attach your old hard drive and copy what you wish to the new one.
Post by
355754
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Post by
73830
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Post by
kamodius
so basically i can just install the other hard drive (old one) then set it as the primary boot drive, copy all of what i want into my new hard drive, then set the new hard drive as the primary boot drive, and go along my merry way?
No. Couple problems with that idea:
Just setting the drive as primary and booting to it won't work. This is mostly because of the hardware changes. The most likely event would be a blue-screen reboot loop.
Also, if the new hard drive is BRAND new, it will need to be formatted (part of the Windows install process) and just copying the \Windows folder to it will not make it bootable even if it were already formatted.
Get a CD, pop it in, boot to it, install Windows clean, then follow these steps:
Once Windows is installed install virus software.
Let me say that again, because it's important.
INSTALL VIRUS SOFTWARE BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE
Install drivers for all your devices. Motherboard, video card (if separate), etc etc. Should all be with the devices you bought.
Make sure to run Windows Updates to get current on vulnerability patches. I recommend that you install everything it says is critical except for Internet Explorer 8. Well, if you want to, but I use Firefox, so yeah.
If your old drive is IDE, check the jumper to make sure that it's set to Slave mode. This should be on a little diagram on the top of the drive.
If the drive isn't bad, after you've copied your data over, format it and use it for storage.
This should get you on your way.
Good luck!
Post by
73830
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Post by
kamodius
thanks a ton, at school still so i cant tell you how this will work yet. gonna get a windows CD from a friend and install AVG right off the bat.
It's worth the time to get a GOOD anti-virus.
I recommend
Kasperksy
, myself.
Post by
73830
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Post by
kamodius
That would require a dual boot, which Vista just isn't that fond of.
Anything wrong with the other computer? Just setup a second station :P
Post by
128491
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309394
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Post by
pak52b
Well, not entirely true. Vista dual boots just fine with Linux/Unix, but dual booting between two Windows versions, that's a bigger problem.
XP and Vista work fine on one machine.. you just need to make an entry in the boot.ini / use their boot-loader thingy.. it's a command line tool if i am not mistaken.
But, if you do that, youre going to have to at least do a repair installation on the old drive cuz you will probably be getting BSODs. As the Hardware Abstraction Layer has changed, Windows will usually also require an activation. It will work, but i wouldnt like to be the one to use that installation ^^
Windows might also not boot at all, depending on how your drive was set up. If it's a S-ATA drive, you most likely have a S-ATA / RAID driver which you need to install before Windows actually sees the drive (F6 installation). If it's an ATA drive, you should be fine.
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128491
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73830
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Post by
Arcage
Not to derail the discussion, but why go with vista.
I just did a full format and re-install after being on vista for about a year.
I went back to XP SP2, (not SP3). and my machine runs soo much better.
Vista chews up resourses, for the sake of looking only a little better, and lowers your performance for everything else.
Save yourself the headache, stick with XP, and get the real pwr from your new rig, you wont see any real benefits imo from vista.
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128491
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