How do I transfer Windows 7 hard drive to a windows xp computer

Forget it. It's not going to work. The cheapest Windows 7 I have seen is this one. Sometimes they run specials $10 cheaper, but those are always 64bit and you may need 32bit.

windows8hater said:

Sorry for the long response. Remm sorry if I'm wrong but right now I'm understanding you think my Sata 2.5 HD does not physically connect with my desktop

Sorry, I don't know what I said that gave you that impression. Any hard drive can work with any DT. It's just that Vista-and-later OSs use the AHCI SATA setting in the BIOS b/c they have native SATA drivers to read a SATA HD, whereas XP needs that SATA setting in the BIOS on Compatibility mode or it cannot read a SATA HD... as XP has no native SATA drivers.

but it does since my XP desktop was made around 2005 and the sticker that says windows XP but it also says on the bottom Windows Vista Upgradable and I'm pretty sure it was made for windows vista hardware but since windows vista was delayed I"m guessing they just put XP on it.

If the DT was designed for a Vista upgrade, the SLIC in the BIOS will be v2.0.

SLIC v1.0 = XP
SLIC v2.0 = VISTA
SLIC v2.1 = W7

(.... and W8 doesn't use SLICs.... it went to a new scheme.)

There is a little freeware program called SLIC DUMP TOOL that does not need to be installed. Just runs from an .exe and will show you the SLIC version in your BIOS.

If the BIOS has SLIC v2.0 and you put W7 on the machine, you will get a not-genuine error. W7 will look for SLIC v2.1 in the BIOS.

EDIT: BTW if you want to try W7 on your machine you can get it free by downloading the ISO from the MS-approved outlet, Digital River. It will install in trial mode and run perfectly fine for the trial period before requiring activation and registration. See the links here:http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...7-1c8486a46ebf

I believe this will work as well if you need an X64
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Newegg.com