Windows 7 - Changing HD's + Updating to Win7

EDIT: Problem has been resolved with me just buying a new HD and a Windows 7 system builder's kit since the HD I wanted to use might be/is broken. There are solutions in this thread if you are having a similar problem.


Ok so I bought a Dell a few years ago with Vista and we will call this OLD. I upgraded it several times including to Windows 7 student upgrade recently. OLD no longer meets my needs so I am making a new computer from the upgrades I put in the Dell and several pieces I bought. Basically I am taking the ODD and HDD from the Dell I own and the rest is new parts to make a computer we will call NEW.

Now my Dad got a Dell with XP in like 03 or 04 and its about to break, call it DAD I guess. So I am giving him my computer that will be the stock Dell computer aka OLD minus the ODD and HDD. I will take his ODD and HDD from DAD and put it in OLD.

These are both OEM from Dell but the upgrade to Windows 7 lets me put the OS on any system I want right?


Will NEW accept the HDD from OLD?

So should I upgrade DAD to windows 7 and then xfer it to OLD?

Should I transfer DAD to OLD and then upgrade to Windows 7?


DAD: P4 about to die, BSOD

OLD : XPS 410 upgraded, currently 2.13Ghz C2D, 4GB DDR2 667hz Ram (added 2GB), 9800 GTX+ 1GB, 700W OCZ PS, default mobo, Windows 7 Student

(I have all parts safe and ready to put back in to stock settings)
Taking parts from DAD: ODDs + HDD, Win XP (upgrade to Windows 7)

NEW:
New parts: Coolermaster Case, i5 760 Lynnfield 2.8Ghz, 4GB DDR3, Gigabit Mobo
Taking from old: 9800 GTX+ 1GB, 700W PS, Windows 7 Student, HDD, ODD

DAD doesn't matter, OLD and NEW need to run. NEW Needs OLD's HDD because it has all my info and Office 2010 which I need for college.

It depends what HDD types they are some may be ATA and some may be SATA so I cant say really

So what other solutions might there be? I can't check what HDD he has atm.

This is OLD's that is going in NEW:

Western Digital
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

I am pretty sure his is SATA as well. Could you give answers for both if possible? Otherwise I might have to format and just get a full Windows 7 copy for $60 more.

I am also unsure if he has XP Pro, but I think its XP Home OEM Dell. What is my easiest way to get OLD running for my dad?

The computer is a 2.13Ghz DCD, 4GB ram, 7900GS Nvidia, 350W PSU. I have ran Vista 32bit and am currently running windows 64bit (and loving it). My parts to make my NEW comp come in a few days.

Thx for any help.

So are you saying you need another HDD?

I might depending if I can or can't use his. I am pretty sure he has a SATA Drive. I would need an OS as well so I am trying to upgrade his XP to Windows 7 and put it in the OLD comp. I would prefer not to spend more money though.

XP upgrade to Windows 7 = $100
Win 7 + HDD = $250+

If you want to start XP HD on different hardware, you need to run an XP repair install from boot: XP Repair Install

Often times Windows 7 will start up when moved to new hardware, swapping out all drivers while requesting several restarts. I would remove the Product key first by running slmgr -upk from elevated command prompt. Then reinstall it later to update the Hardware profile. It may require a robocall to MS where you answer that it is only installed to one machine.

If it won't start, put it back in old machine and uninstall the major drivers: chipset, display, sound, CPU, SATA controller, etc. in Device Manager. Don't restart when prompted, when finished power down and move to new machine.

If this fails, try booting into Safe Mode to install key drivers to start it. Or use Paragon Adaptive Restore to remove drivers from HD first, or image with Acronis 10+ which will reimage with drivers removed if selected.

If nothing works, come back and we will walk you through some more options before clean reinstalling Windows 7. If it sees Windows 7 on the HD during booted reinstall, it won't require one of the workaround needed to install Windows 7 to cleaned HD: Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

I actually needed a rather urgent response (all my parts arrive Thurs and were ordered the day of this thread) so I ended up buying a new HD and a system builder kit from newegg but only spent about $150 ($50 more than reusing the old HD which would probably break soon and may have been the cause of the BSOD). The harddrive on his comp is most likely going to fail soon enough and I'm sure crystaldiscinfo would confirm it (the HD on my 06 comp is already on caution).

I figured I would need to call MS and deal with all that as well which is a huge hassle (even if they are friendly) which really isn't worth it.

Thanks for all the info and hopefully someone else will get use of it.