[soap10]

Hi there I have a DELL Dimension 2400 which runs win XP. I would like to put the HDD from (which has win2000)a much slower P.C into it. I don't want to loose data & e-mails etc. Is this possible or does the DELL have to have an XP operating system. Is it easy enough to upgrade s/w on my old and slow then move the HDD over to the quick DELL ??
Any help, thoughts, or advice would be very much appreciated.

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You can put the drive in as a secondary drive, but you can't put it in and expect Win2k to boot on the Dell.

[Neil Jones]

You can put the drive in as a secondary drive, but you can't put it in and expect Win2k to boot on the Dell.

[phillipcorcoran]

Welcome to Geeks to Go!,

There is also the legal aspect to consider.

If Windows 2000 was pre-installed at the factory on the slower PC, you would be breaking the terms of Microsoft's licencing agreement by attempting to transfer it to another PC, since pre-installed OEM copies of Windows are not transferrable, they are permanently tied to the PC it was supplied with. When that PC is scrapped, the copy of Windows that was factory pre-installed on it has to be scrapped as well.

However, if the Windows 2000 is a retail copy for self-install, the law is different. You can transfer a retail copy to another PC provided it is not installed on any other PC at the same time. You would have to install it on the Dell using the actual retail setup CD that was purchased (as Neil Jones says, simply transferring the hard drive would not work) then you must remove it completely from the original host computer to comply with the licence terms.

Edited by phillipcorcoran, 04 April 2010 - 04:36 AM.

[123Runner]

Are you trying to just save data and emails?
If so, then place the drive in the Dell as a slave and copy the data over.
Usually if you are looking to have the emails be available in the "new" email program you would "export" from 1 program and "import" to the other program.

[soap10]

Thanks for you input thus far but my real question remains. Does the DELL have to have a HDD with XP operation system ?? Is there something weither in EPROM or boot program or whatever that overides or limits boot processes ?? (It doesn't boot to the HDD with win 2000.)

[SpywareDr]

Does the DELL have to have a HDD with XP operation system ??

No.

Is there something weither in EPROM or boot program or whatever that overides or limits boot processes ??

No.

(It doesn't boot to the HDD with win 2000.)

More often than not, taking any old hard drive with Windows on it and popping into any other PC is NOT going to work. During installation, Windows builds a HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) file to match the hardware it sees in the computer. If you then move this hard drive to another computer, the HAL will probably not match the hardware in the new computer.

Sometimes a Windows Repair install can find and fix the problem. (With XP. Don't know about 2000).

[soap10]

Cool, Thanks for your awesome quick responce to my question(s). I'm more the wiser now./ Thanks again.

[SpywareDr]

You're more than welcome.