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Laptop purchase on the horizon


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#1
PhotoBoy

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I'm about to purchase a laptop to replace my Dell Inspiron 8600, and will spend around $1,200. Obviously I need some advice in regard to my needs! . . .

1 I'd like to start with a 320 gb hard drive [the max now available?]

2 Easy removal of the hard drive is imperative! I like to clone my complete drive to a drive in a hard drive enclosure, and when a crash occurs it takes me just a few minutes to replace the 'bad' drive.

My question is, what laptop models permit easy hard drive swops these days? My Inspiron does, and saved me twice recently!

3 I'm not a fan of Vista at all, so would install my cloned hard drive containing XP into the new machine then clone that to the 320 gb hard drive I'd place in an enclosure.

Can I expect any problems if I do this? Will my existing drive installed with XP work just fine in a machine that left the factory with Vista?

I'm just making sure, and would appreciate any input any of you may have. :)

Also, do you have a model of laptop recommendation given my particular needs mentioned above?

Thanks! :)
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#2
pip22

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I don't think drive removal is an issue with any laptop these days.

But as regards putting XP on to it by taking out the Vista drive and putting in a drive with XP already on it, that will probably not work, my friend. XP does not like being 'moved' in that manner and will most likely not run properly, if at all. That aspect has nothing to do with activation (although that also will be a problem since you're expecting it to run on completely different hardware which will invalidate the activation) it's just that XP doesn't like it.

The correct method if you want to install XP in place of Vista is by the usual method of using an XP setup CD. Cloning is intended for quick system recovery on the same PC, or to copy the OS on to an identical PC which has all the same hardware as the donor PC.

Even assuming I'm wrong and XP does run on the new laptop from a clone, you've then possibly got to find XP drivers for some of the components in the new host (the laptop). The laptop maker will only supply drivers for the OS that was pre-installed, not for an OS that you swapped over to.

Not forgetting the legality of what you propose, do remember that if you do 'clone' a copy of XP to use on another PC/laptop, you cannot have it installed on 2 machines simultaneously. You must remove it from the other PC. And if it's a pre-installed version you got with a new PC, you aren't allowed to transfer it on to another PC by any method. Pre-installed copies are 'locked' to the PC they're installed on. When that PC 'dies' the OS dies with it.

Edited by pip22, 19 December 2007 - 01:33 AM.

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#3
SOORENA

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The reason XP doesn't like it, actually no operating system of Windows likes it, is because from before the chipset drivers that are installed belong to a certain motherboard and when you swap hard drives the chipset drivers that are installed are not for that motherboard and therefore cause problems since the OS is doing stuff to the new mobo as it did to the old one, which makes it malfunction, which is why we say that it doesn't like it. This isn't just chipset drivers, its every driver.

Soorena
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#4
PhotoBoy

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Thanks for your responses folks.

Given your advice I'll now go ahead and play safe, and just copy all my data to the new machine with Acronis. [I bought Norton Ghost for the job but it was so buggy, I wasted my $70 :) ]

Thank you again. :)
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