Can I put the HD from my old PC in my new one?

[swee'pea99]

I've got a lot of old software on my old PC, which I got off ebay, and I was wondering if it might be posible to instal the HD in my new PC as a slave, and run the programs from it? Is that possible? Is it difficult? I'm not a complete numptie - I've installed hard drives before, eg - but I'm certainly no expert. Would I be able to do the physical installation, then are there any challenges to actually using it? (Do I have to make it boot up using the old HD, eg, in order to use the progs?)

Any advice appreciated.

 

[rusky]

You can connect the old HDD as a slave assuming the new PC has an IDE connector & isn't pure SATA but you won't be able to simply run the programs that were installed on it as they will need DLLs, reg keys etc that were installed into the original Windows folder hence they won't exist in the new install.

There's a possibility that you can use the original Windows install on the new PC but that depends on the IDE/SATA issue above & even then there's no guarantee that Windows will load as it's a bit funny about switching hardware platforms.

What's the old & new motherboard & HDDS?

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks but you're *way* over my head.

I don't know what IDE/SATA mean, eg. I could google (and would be happy to), but I'm just letting you know that my level of knowledge doesn't extend that far. I was hoping I'd be able to just plug the old drive into an empty bay and that would more or less be that. Thus far at least, it seems that the answer's no.

 

[ian turner]

I don't know what IDE/SATA mean

In that case forget it.

The odds that the old drive would boot the new pc without crashing would be low and even if it did then the PC would operating in a less than optimal state.
What did you do with the original install cds for this software or are you hoping to avoid having to do this ?

 

[swee'pea99]

Ah well, it was worth a query. Thanks for responding. I never had the CDs - like I say, I bought the PC off ebay - it came with all the software installed.

 

[ufkacbln]

How old is the system.There are a number of ways of transferring data and programs from one PC to another.My last netbook came with a lead and softwarevexactly for this purpose

 

[ian turner]

Think you mean what operating system is installed and the answer is probably windows xp and 7 and some of the software won't be 7 compatible.

Just out of interest what software are we talking about . I'm guessing Microsoft office but then which versions as well.

 

[swee'pea99]

Ah. Now that's interesting! Umm, it's not ancient...probably five or six years would be my guess. It's one of these.

Sorry...missed the last message while I was googling around looking for it. It is indeed XP - but then so's the machine I'm calling my 'new' PC!

The software is stuff like Adobe Acrobat and there's some other stuff on there that I never used but now would like to check out. I think some of it might enable me to do flash-type stuff on a website I'm trying to upgrade. I can find the full sp if it's useful...

 

[delport]

these[/url].

The software is stuff like Adobe Acrobat and there's some other stuff on there that I never used but now would like to check out. I think some of it might enable me to do flash-type stuff on a website I'm trying to upgrade.

acrobat free version is for reading , the £200+ version is for reading and writing.
I think you need that version for your website.

 

[swee'pea99]

Yup - and that's the one I got! Except it's on that old machine...

 

[Red Light]

Have a look at Acronis stuff. It's a cloning/backup tool but includes the ability to clone between different hardware platforms.
http://kb.acronis.com/content/13671

 

[ian turner]

Ahem did you read the bit that said

I'm not a complete numptie - I've installed hard drives before

tsk.

 

[swee'pea99]

Sorry, I've been buried in other stuff for the last couple of days. I think I've basically come to the conclusion that my best bet is simply to haul the old pc out of the attic and park it here next to this one, then when I want to try the old programs, I'll just transfer the monitor, mouse and keyboard to it and away I will - rather crudely - go. Thanks anyway.