RE: Another topic about PC hard drives

It shouldn't matter in most cases, but it can.  If the BIOS has drive
settings that are hard-coded for tracks/cylinders/etc. it could be
problematic.  It could also be an issue if the DMA access level (or,
deity-forbid, PIO level) is wrong.  Some drive cables are more sensitive
than others.  That said, the majority of drives & controllers should
correctly auto-detect and run just fine.

A work-around would be to send a Ghost image instead & let it restore
the XP build onto their drive.  Most issues would probably be overcome
that way.

That said, if you install Windows XP on your PC & move the drive to
another PC, including via the Ghost image restore, XP will almost
certainly demand to be re-activated on the new hardware.  Even if the
PCs are essentially the same, it will detect changed serial numbers,
etc.


Which sort-of brings me to an i5-related issue I had last week.  I
installed W2003Server using one of our MSDN DVDs on 2 IXS servers.  I
had a devil of a time trying to activate as apparently the activation
codes for MSDN DVDs are not the same as the activation codes for OEM or
retail releases of 2003 Server.  One would think the codebase would be
identical but it is not.  That was a pain as the 800 number for
activation codes COULD NOT provide a working code.  I had to have our
developer, who has the MSDN license (good for 10 W2003Server installs),
generate the activation key.  

And then the second IXS wouldn't load after installing.  Not safe mode,
not in any mode at all.  The only option was to enter a manual
activation key or activate online.  But I couldn't activate online
because it wouldn't let me access the network settings to insert the IP
settings.  Microsoft still doesn't think straight.  I mean, come on,
it's a SERVER product.  So why would it only work with a DHCPed IP
address?  Who in their right mind uses DHCP on servers?  Who beyond
departmental file/print even has DHCP services on the same subnet as
their production servers?  (Kinda like W2K SERVER installing Outlook
Express...)  Anyway, I had to do the manual activation.  It dynamically
generated this really long (9 groups of 6 digits) number that I had to
read over the phone to an automated system.  It then returned a
7-groups-of-6-digits number for me to enter to activate.

John A. Jones, CISSP
Americas Information Security Officer
Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.
V: +1-630-455-2787  F: +1-312-601-1782
john.jones@xxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: daparnin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:daparnin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 9:07 AM
To: pctech@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [PCTECH] Another topic about PC hard drives





Is anybody aware of any reason why you shouldn't be able to partition,
format, and install Windows on a hard drive that's in one PC, pull it
out and stick it into another PC.  It sticks in my mind from about ten
years ago that was a bad idea due to different BIOS's interpreted the
number of cylinders, sectors, etc.

The reason that I ask because my sister-in-law and her husband had drive
problems in November.  They live in New York and I live in Indiana so I
was trying to talk them through some things over the phone.  Since they
had backed up the family photos, to CD they just wanted Windows
installed.
When she decided to come to the midwest for Christmas I told her to
bring the hard drive and their Windows XP CD.  I stuck it in my
father-in-law's PC (after disconnecting his drive), blew away the old
partition, and reinstalled.  Everything worked fine.  She took it home,
her husband put it back in their case, and it wouldn't boot.  I do know
that it's a single drive system and the jumper is set correctly on the
back of the drive.

I know that it could be something like an incorrect BIOS setting, bad
cable, etc.  He seemed eager to go out and buy a new laptop to replace
it so I didn't pursue it.  We will be going to New York in March to
visit them so I'll get a chance to see it for myself.  Both their PC and
my father-in-law's are Dells that are 2-3 years old.

Dave Parnin
Nishikawa Standard Company
Topeka, IN  46571
daparnin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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