switching hard drives?
- Thread starter never1234
- Start date
The_Other_One
VIP Member
How old is the compaq? Some of the older ones(probably from '92 until late late 90s, maybe some into the 2000's) Had a portion of the BIOS on the drive itself, there for you basically couldn't do anything without the original drive... You could, however, add a 2nd drive to the computer.
Another thing, XP isn't very swapable... The drive would work, but you would probably have to reload XP...
Another thing, XP isn't very swapable... The drive would work, but you would probably have to reload XP...
The compaq is basically brand new.
What I want to do is, buy a hard drive off of ebay (OS preloaded) and kinda have it like an extra computer. So i can just unplug my current hard drive, plug in the one I buy from ebay, and use it like a totally different computer. Is this possible?
What I want to do is, buy a hard drive off of ebay (OS preloaded) and kinda have it like an extra computer. So i can just unplug my current hard drive, plug in the one I buy from ebay, and use it like a totally different computer. Is this possible?
diduknowthat
formerly liuliuboy
Highly doubt it, as the_other_one said, swapping harddrives for xp isn't really doable. Plus it could be illegal cause whoever put the preloaded OS could have pirated or whatevered it. You're best just buying another version of XP and installing it on the harddrive you buy.
In order to have the drive work in the Compaq you would need an installation disk to delete the current installation for a new copy of Windows to run on it since XP takes a thorough snapshot of the currently installed hardwares. That
new installation would also require the appropiate drivers/softwares obtained direct from Compaq in order to run properly.
Another problem if the Compaq is over five years of age is the ability of some
drives to be backward compatable to ATA33 or ATA66. If the Compaq runs an
ATA100 or 133 and the other system runs an ATA33 or 66 the drive from that
other case will not run even if someone installed XP on an old 586? Compaq as
well as the majority of prebuilt pcs are proprietary for service and upgrades.
new installation would also require the appropiate drivers/softwares obtained direct from Compaq in order to run properly.
Another problem if the Compaq is over five years of age is the ability of some
drives to be backward compatable to ATA33 or ATA66. If the Compaq runs an
ATA100 or 133 and the other system runs an ATA33 or 66 the drive from that
other case will not run even if someone installed XP on an old 586? Compaq as
well as the majority of prebuilt pcs are proprietary for service and upgrades.