OT computers

[Ralph Mowery]

Depending on how much data is on the computer, one of the Thumb USB drives may also work for less money.

I would not bet that the old keyboard and mouse can be used with a much newer computer. More of the newer ones come with USB ports and his is probably old enough to use the round connectors.

I just got in a computer BOX from ebay from $ 90 shipped . It has Win XP Pro installed plus the COA on the box,a DVD RW 160 GB hard drive, 3 GB speed and 1 GB of memory. Put in an order for 2 more DDR2 memory for about $ 12. Had to go to the store to get a keyboard and mouse as the only spare ones I had at home were the round plugs and that one needed the USB. I think that computer was made in 2006 from the Dell site info.

I still like Outlook Express for the email I do.

[Frank]

When ever they don't come back and enter into discussion, I suspect troll.

At least it churns the ng up as usenet is dying.

[clare]

Better idea for changing out a suspect drive is to get a universal USB Hard drive interface and a copy of HDClone or EASEuse backup. Clone the old drive to the new drive, then pull the old drive and install the new one. EASEuse allows you to easily change from, say, a

30MB to a terrabyte drive, or anything in between. Then after the drive is installed, do a "repair istall" of XP if required. VERY rare occaision that I actually have to re-install Windows XP to get performance back. I have a few "tools of the trade" that do a very good, if not excellent job of getting back lost performance. I know a lot of guys don't believe they work, but the "proof is in the pudding".

[clare]

You bet I am - and I have my wife's permission to say so!!!

[Robert Green]

I agree. That's an important clue. Here's another. Check out this list of posters with virtually the same email addy. It certainly seems suspicious!

"lorie"

[Bob_Villa]

Many people have installed 2Gb (Dell Forums and others) and have worked. The main reason for reporting lower amounts...denser chips were just not available when the specs were written.

[Stormin Mormon]

Pretty sure those are from Home Owners Hub. Posting via web interface.

[IGot2P]

You need to look harder on ebay as they come bigger than 128gb. I have a

512gb from there that unfortunately didn't work but I did get a full refund. Last night I purchased a new 256gb on ebay for only $25! Like most both were made in China but the 256gb was shipped from Missouri (I have the tracking number).

[Mayayana]

| Planning for the end, I got out my backup drive, | and put XP on it, with help from my computer | wizzard. | | The Windows update page doesn't function with XP. | I left the backup drive in last night, and there | were 133 auto updates waiting for me in the morning. | | Now I've got my next hard drive, for when this one | grows old and fails. |

Good idea. But one thing you might want to consider: You could have a new computer by then. In my experience, XP can deal with waking up in a new computer except for one thing: Incompatible motherboard chipset drivers can cause a bluescreen that's nearly impossible to recover from. You might want to save a copy of your current motherboard drivers, then boot that backup one more time, uninstall the drivers on it, and then shut down. If you then have to restart in a new PC it will install generic drivers until you can finish setting it up. (All of this assumes, of course, that you have XP Pro or some other version that can still be activated after being installed to a new computer. If you have OEM XP you probably won't be able to run it on a second computer, as it will be tied to the original motherboard.)

[Stormin Mormon]

Planning for the end, I got out my backup drive, and put XP on it, with help from my computer wizzard.

The Windows update page doesn't function with XP. I left the backup drive in last night, and there were 133 auto updates waiting for me in the morning.

Now I've got my next hard drive, for when this one grows old and fails.

[gfretwell]

Microsoft seems to be more easy going about that hardware profile thing. I have a number of COA stickers around here from various OEM licenses and they gripe about the install but as soon as it tags Microsoft, you reenter the 25 digit code and let it think about it.you get a "thank you for registering your windoze" response.

Who know what will happen next week.

[clare]

The video chip is the only real killer, so delete the video driver from the new drive - leaving it as basic VGA. It then will boot on any motherboard (in my experience) - might not have sound, or USB, or Network - but it will boot so you can install the required drivers.

[Mayayana]

| The video chip is the only real killer, so delete the video driver | from the new drive - leaving it as basic VGA. It then will boot on any | motherboard (in my experience) -

I've never had any trouble booting with wrong video drivers. It just dumps them if they don't work. But it doesn't hurt to uninstall those, too.

[clare]

Depends on the drivers. There are some (cannot remember which ones) that will NOT alow the computer to boot if the driver is installed and the video chip is not - - -.

[clare]

Trust me - that has been tried. On the particular driver in question, even safe mode will NOT boot. This is on video cards from about 6-10 years ago -about the age of machine we are talking about - and the video driver was used on some Dell computers (as well as a host of other brands, including "white box" customs. I've had to search for operational old boards with the same chip to get the drive booted to remove the driver - and even repaired a few boards to get the driver off.. I have not run into one in the last 3 years - the last one was my brother's shop operating machine (auto repair shop) - luckily I had just ditched a handful of old computers at the insurance office - one of which had the same motherboard as his (and a bad power supply, flakey processor and bad ram from overheating due to bad power supply fan) and was able to retrieve it. With his processor and ram we were able to boot the drive and remove the driver - then installed the drive in a new faster computer, where we then cloned the drive to a new larger and faster hard drive. The main program was obsolete, and the only way to re-install it was to buy the new version and pay to have the data converted - that wasn't going to happen as he was getting ready to retire and sell the business, so we had no option but to get the old drive working on the new computer.

[Mayayana]

| Boot into Safe Mode to use the last known good configuration. |

The last known good configuration is the one from the old machine. But you can try it. Good luck. On the other hand, if it doesn't work you may have no other options, so why not just uninstall the drivers before storing the backup? It's not a lot of work.

Booting to safe mode *should* be fine for graphic drivers. I've never had a case where I even needed to do that. But one never knows. Clare@ seems to have come across something funky. (Which wouldn't surprise me on a Dell machine. I would never buy one of their computers for that reason: They customize both hardware and drivers unnecessarily, so that one is often dependent on Dell parts and service.)

I think a big part of the problem is that Microsoft has had a monopoly and could afford to adopt a parochial attitude. Windows should be more adaptable and less brittle in dealing with new hardware, but MS like to imagine that's not relevant. They assume one Windows license for every machine. So there's little documentation or adaptation of the OS for being moved. (Despite the fact that they charge about $100 extra to millions of people for the Pro license that gives them the legal right to move their "license" and OS to another machine.)

[Bob_Villa]

May be true on their BIOS's, Motherboards, and fans...and on very old P/S...but I think they're as good/bad as any of the other basic PC's. IMHO (and parts are cheaper for them of eBay!)

[gfretwell]

I have never had a problem installing a XP pro (OEM) on another machine.

[Mayayana]

| > I think a big part of the problem is that Microsoft | >has had a monopoly and could afford to adopt a | >parochial attitude. Windows should be more adaptable | >and less brittle in dealing with new hardware, but MS | >like to imagine that's not relevant. They assume one | >Windows license for every machine. So there's little | >documentation or adaptation of the OS for being moved. | >(Despite the fact that they charge about $100 extra | >to millions of people for the Pro license that gives them | >the legal right to move their "license" and OS to another | >machine.) | > | | I have never had a problem installing a XP pro (OEM) on another | machine. |

The original issue was about having it all set up on a hard disk, then moving that to a new machine with new hardware. So the problem there would be whether XP could "survive" the move.

OEM is a source of confusion. There's been OEM version Windows, Full version, and Pro version in the past. The typical prices were about $100/$200/$300. (At least they have been in the past. I just took a look at a reseller site and they seem to have prices all over the place, with a lot more variations:

64-bit only vs 64/32, key only with no disk, etc. I guess both the licensing and the value of a Windows disk have been getting more flexible.)

OEM Home is licensed to be installed on only a single machine. It's the license that OEM builders use on most retail PCs. One pays extra for a "real" Windows license that can be installed on any number of machines, as long as it's one at a time. Pro can also be installed on multiple machines.

There was a court case a few years ago where MS was trying to stop the sale of OEM disks online. Since it was resolved, one can still buy an OEM disk but the seller must also provide a piece of hardware, as per the license -- any hardware. :)

Looking at buycheapsoftware.com I see that they claim to sell such a thing as "OEM Pro". I would guess that's Pro without a box or manual, but still licensed for multiple installs. I'm not sure, but from what you say it sounds that way.

The whole thing gets further confused by the effort of resellers to make the product look good. OEM Windows is often referred to as "Full OEM" while Full version might be called anything except "Pro". In any case, if one buys a "Full OEM" disk it will probably not activate if installed to a second machine with different hardware. If I were going to buy "OEM Pro" I'd want to see the license first to make certain that it wouldn't be limited to a single install.

[notbob]

In my case, it did NOT. Moved the XP 60G HDD from a Vaio (asus mobo) w/ 2.5MHz Intel P4 cpu to a Vaio (asus mobo) w/ 1.4MHz Intel P4 cpu. Both boxes almost idential except for cpu and memory (RDRAM vs SDRAM). XP would not boot, even into safe mode, despite similarities of systems. I think it was the difference in memory or FSB speed (100 vs 133). Whatever, it didn't fly.

nb