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Move O.S. & Files from one system to next?

Move O.S. & Files from one system to next?

Postby martini_thief » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:08 pm

Ok here it is..
A friend has a computer he has been using for 10+ years in his shop that he asked me to "make faster". I was amazed to see a 533mhz CPU running the show and a whopping 512mb of RAM hanging out. Needless to say, he's getting a new system.

The problem is he will not pay for a new O.S. or Office software and wants "all" his old files. Also the computer needs to be up and running in short order for business reasons. Luckily he's running XP Pro and I think Office 2003. I could grab his software keys (he lost all the old disks) and re-install everything and start transferring files but I want to save myself as much work/time as possible. I have also noticed that sometimes old keys no longer activate.

I don't think I can just image the old 40g HD and burn it to the new 250g HD, am I wrong? (MBR, Driver issues, etc)

I was thinking of slapping his old 40g HD into his new computer as master and letting him continue to work off that, but I hate the idea of using 10+ year old hard drives. Is there a way to plug in the old drive and just tell XP to move it's self and everything else over to the other drive? It sounds so simple, it must be impossible.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!
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Re: Move O.S. & Files from one system to next?

Postby yeshuas » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:16 pm

XP has a built in files and settings transfer wizard, you will need the new computer to have an OS however.

You will also need a null modem serial cable long enough to connect the two computers, and both of then computers must have a serial port.
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Re: Move O.S. & Files from one system to next?

Postby martini_thief » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:50 pm

yeshuas,
Files and settings transfer wizard is not robust enough for what I need to do (move files, settings yes.. but also programs & the OS, everything, as it is. There is 10 years of programs there (some no longer available).

"null modem serial cable" .. to funny (people still use RS-232 cables?)

I'll just put the HDD from the old into the new or use a USB enclosure.
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Re: Move O.S. & Files from one system to next?

Postby yeshuas » Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:15 pm

martini_thief wrote:yeshuas,
Files and settings transfer wizard is not robust enough for what I need to do (move files, settings yes.. but also programs & the OS, everything, as it is. There is 10 years of programs there (some no longer available).

"null modem serial cable" .. to funny (people still use RS-232 cables?)

I'll just put the HDD from the old into the new or use a USB enclosure.

Merely telling you what MS has available, to do what you wanted to accomplish, especially since you implied that there are or may be at least some proprietary programs involved, which I am still not positive even the transfer wizard would handle.
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