hp pavilion desktop xp/vista?

I have just purchased the HP Pavillion a1730n desktop computer that
comes with Vista OS installed.

As I am not happy with Vista and its clumsiness and lack of
compatibility issues, I desire to use Windows XP on the computer.

Is it possible to remove the hard drive with the Vista installation
and substitute the hard drive from the older computer that has Windows
XP w/service pack 2 by placing the older disk in the new computer?

All replies welcomed!

Aaron in N. Hollywood

No, you have to install XP at the new pc, because the hardware from
the existing XP-installation is different from the new one. A good
idea is to make a new partition on the new pc, and install XP on it
and make a dual boot.

you can try installing the drive and doing a repair install on it, but they
can be problematic.. you will save time by backing up your data (use a
regular CD burning software first on the XP machine as it stands), then
clean install XP onto the drive when installed in the new machine, and copy
your backed up data onto the new installation..

Firstly, is the version of XP on that drive OEM or retail? If OEM, by its
license, it's tied to the first computer on which it's installed and can't
be moved to a different computer. If retail it can be moved.

Secondly does your new computer support XP? Some manufacturers are not
providing XP drivers for new hardware. Visit the computer manufacturer's
web site and see if there are XP drivers for your model. If so copy them to
CD.

To move a drive with XP to a different computer will require at the least a
repair install, and you would also need to install the XP drivers. See this
link:

Lastly, installing a different OS might impact the warranty and certainly
you would loose any tech support from the manufacturer. Check out the
impact of using a different OS on the warranty.

[eggyineggsile]

Sorry for hijacking this thred, I've been looking for a way to start a new thread but can't?

I have a HP Pavilion t3000/t3049.uk desktop which I have had from new for about 4 years.

In the past when I have had problems that couldn't be fixed easily I have been able to do a clean install from the recovery partition, or from the disks HP sent me after the recovery partition failed and the recovery discs you burn yourself failed.

I have used both methods without any major problems and all has been fine, however, a couple of weeks ago after using my PC the night before without problems, I booted it up and it said the NTLDR was missing and it wouldn't go any further.

After trying other methods of sorting this out, I resorted to using the System Recovery partition to do a clean install of the OS, my joy was short lived when it stopped partway through and after that it totally refused to go past the initial screen of the process, almost as if the partition was still there, but empty!

My next move was to do a clean install from the HP discs that worked fine the last time they were used, but my problem now is that it is getting around 90% of the way through, then I am getting error messages saying "cannot copy file x:\windows\i386\12520437.CP_!"

I have 2 options here, Retry or Ignore, Retry makes absolutely no difference, if I ignore, there are hundreds of other files that it can't copy either.

If I ignore all these that it cannot copy I end up back where I started with the message "NTLDR is missing"

I am stuck now at 91% complete of recovery (Im sat by it on my daughters laptop and can try things on there while I am on the laptop). Any help from here would be greatly appreciated, if anyone has any idea what I should do, or if its a case of the disc has become damaged, (it shouldn't be) as its always been kept in a CD case.

I will await a response, thanks in advance for any help offered!!!

I have now seen the button for starting a new thread so I have done a new thread here!! Problems with clean XP install/recovery :0)

NTLDR is the boot loader in WinXP and not in Vista, and this is
a Vista newsgroup, and your subject line suggests that you dual-boot
WinXp and Vista. Backup and tell us what OS(s) you have and how
many partitions are on the disk and which ones are Primary and which
one of those are set "active" (seen in Disk Management).

I didn't realize it was a vista group, someone else started the thread with "xp/vista" in the subject. I don't dual boot.

I am running XP Home. there are 2 partitions on the drive, I'm not too sure what you mean by primary and active but, C: is the drive that the Windows runs on, I would assume here that this is the "active" but I will let you tell me that.

D: is the other which is the Recovery partition, this is only for making either a destructive recovery which should leave the system as it was when bought, or a non-destructive recovery which leaves all your documents and files intact. The latter I tried after I booted up and got the NTLDR is missing error.

This failed therefore I tried to do a clean install from disc which I have used once before and didn't have a problem doing so.

I am by no means an expert but I consider myself to manage reasonably well when trying to solve any problems I have but this one has left me stumped.

I have tried a XP boot disc which I downloaded and burnt on my partners PC, this also failed. I have also downloaded and burnt a ISO image for the NTLDR which also failed.

Another thing I have noticed is that both of my rom drives don't seem to recognise when a disc has been put in, I have had to use a USB external Rom drive but when my problem first started a couple of weeks ago I tried to install Linux, this wouldn't download but it did let me use it live in one of the Rom's but Linux live isn't really suitable for my needs.

I should point out that on the night before the problem, I didn't download anything or add any new programs etc. It came completely out of the blue.

Someone has suggested that it is a HD failure.

P.S. How do I get to Disk Management?

NTLDR is the boot loader in WinXP and not in Vista, and this is
a Vista newsgroup, and your subject line suggests that you dual-boot
WinXp and Vista. Backup and tell us what OS(s) you have and how
many partitions are on the disk and which ones are Primary and which
one of those are set "active" (seen in Disk Management).

There is a hardware problem - most likely your hard drive is failing. If
your HP has any built in diagnostics, run a hard drive test. If not, you
will need to either connect the drive to another working computer as
secondary and test it that way, or download a CD bootable diagnostic program
from the drive manufacturer, or a other bootable tools. If your not
comfortable with this, you might want to seek help from a local tech.

Youve got a hardware problem (hard drive maybe), or memory problem
The HD maker has a free bootable disk checking utility and
feature a bootable memory checker

[eggyineggsile]

Originally Posted by DL

Youve got a hardware problem (hard drive maybe), or memory problem
The HD maker has a free bootable disk checking utility and
feature a bootable memory checker

Hi Folks

Thanks for your help on this matter, I couldn't be much bothered sorting this out as I was going away and arrived back yesterday, so I got back to it and found a SMART self test on my system that would check my hard drive.

Spot on with the advice, it failed the test, it wasn't reading so I have been and bought a new HD today and I am now in the process of recovering the system with my discs.

Thanks again

Eggy x