The continuing hard drive worries.

In general you will need the install discs, not much software likes the installed folder to be copied to a new machine, it will have sprinkled .dll files an registry settings all over the old machine.

That's not what you want to use in this case, it would blat your old WinXP on top of your new Win7 hard drive.

Tim Lamb wrote

What software do you want to transfer.

Are you trying to transfer the license from a machine that you have now or from one that you are buying?

A full retail license that you buy by itself on DVDs is normally transferable to a different computer. You might have to do a tedious telephone activation.

A license that is sold with a new computer is normally not transferable. You might be able be able to argue that re-registration is necessary because some part has failed.

A Windows 8 license is a bit more flexible.

In many cases you will need the Win7 version of the software, which may be a later version than you have installed. Any original activation codes may or may not work with later versions. I have some software that has worked as I've downloaded later versions all the way from Windows 95 until now (eg Total Recorder). Others have been a disaster (eg Borland C++ Builder) and I've only kept them because I've cloned the old machine as a virtual machine on the later hardware.

The whole thing is a potential pain, I'm afraid.

In most cases, you cannot transfer individual software without also moving the operating system. If you move the operating system, then all the drivers will be wrong for the new box and probably it won't even boot correctly. The reason is that most programs fiddle with the registry to store their default folders and other data. Really you need to have the original installers.

Brian

In message , Jabba writes

Umm.. Turnpike although there is a fair bit of *knowledge* on how to do this from previous moves.

I guess the obvious is a working browser so I can fetch the rest.

Nero came with the current m/c. I have a Norton account with 2 more free installs so that should be OK. Spybot etc.

Understanding error:-)

The refurbished m/c would be purchased with a working Windows 7 installation.

Ah! This might be the stumbling block. How much is a licensed copy of Windows 7/32?

why not be adventurous, and install linux mint, and then see if turnpike will run under WINE?

You wont need anti-virus then.

And you can stick the old drive in there as well and copy any data off it you want..

You shouldn't need or want to be transferring a Windows licence in what you're thinking of doing (presumaly you don't want XP on the new machine?) you should buy one that has a Win7 licence included, the OEM licences do transfer with the machine.

If you buy from one of the eBay "business" sellers who is offering multiple identical machines with windows included, they're not likely to stiff you on the licence, e.g.

e.g.

That's about a 5 year old model, but very few people *need* the latest and greatest nowadays.

Buying a one-off from a home user flogging a single PC, who knows how many relatives computers have the same licence already installed on them, and whether MS would re-activate it for you if you have problems?

There is an official MS refurbishers scheme, if you want the re-assurance of a brand new windows licence.

If you ask on demon.ip.support.turnpike you'll find that installation files are available - probably, depending on the version.

Turnpike 6 (which Tim is using) doesn't run under WINE

But transferring that will be easy enough, if Tim doesn't have it, though the installation file isn't available anymore from Demon I don't think, there are still copies around

I believe the later versions connect using Windows. Some users advocate falling back to the 5.02 issue but I think you are still stuck with the

Oh! Technical. Is there anywhere you can *experience* linux without jumping in with both feet?

Yes. There is 5.02 as well. I should be OK on the operating system but may need advice on the data files.

OK That's reassuring.

Are they all likely to be that old? Is there an easy way of checking vintage?

I have seen E-Bay references to that.

Ta.

Tim Lamb wrote

I had the impression you had a shedload of paid for programs like Office that needed installing. You've nothing that can't be replaced by a freeware program.

Turnpike is old. Demon have given up on it. Do you want to keep old emails, the address book etc? Suggest you clean off your printer or copy stuff to text files.

There are free alternatives to Turnpike such as Thunderbird, which can be used for mail and usenet. Many former Turnpike have transferred to other software.

Three or four free browsers that you can download the install files now and transfer to you new pc by burning a CD or using a memory stick. One trick is to download a portable version of a browser that will run off a memory stick. Get one of them, install it and test run it on your current pc.

I'd not touch either Norton or Nero. There are several free anti-virus programs that don't f*ck your computer when they are installed. For instance Avira. CD/DVD/Bluray burner - Burnaware free, Anyburn. Both small, easy to use programs, not bloatware like Nero.

Do you have a firewall ? Comodo is free and okay.

Spybot, Malewarebytes, Superantispyware, crapcleaner, defraggler etc etc can all be downloaded now and installed before you connect to the interweb.

Tim Lamb wrote

Win7 - 64 bit - £40 on Ebay.

HP Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit SP1 Full Version & Coa Product Key

The clue on those ones is that it is a "Pentium D" which pre-dates the Core and Core Duo processors, and the current Core2 processors, likely to be a bit more power hungry if leaving it on 24x7.

Some of these "refurbs" are machines from a large corporate that have been used, abused and replaced, then someone's bought up the job lot and made 50 usable ones from 100 half-dead ones.

Some might be brand new old stock that's been sat in a warehouse or a cupboard as spares for 5 years.

well virtualbox then.

Yes. All the main distros offer a "Live CD". Download the distro, burn a DVD (which you can do under Windows), then boot the DVD. It won't touch your hard drive. It will run rather slowly, but it will give you a feel for the software.

Alternatively, install Virtual Box under Windows and run Linux as a guest machine.