sysprep 1.1 - Win2K HDD move

[Snorlax]

Here's the scenario:

I need to move a Windows 2000 hard drive from Computer "A" to Computer "B".

Computer A - 933 mhz pentium 3 (20GB HD w/Win2k)
Computer B - 400 mhz Celeron (no HD)

I plugged the hard drive from Computer A in Computer B but it would not boot. I guess because the hardware is different. Isn't there someway I can fool computer B into accepting the HD as is?

Is sysprep really the only way to go? It seems like I have read endless messages about using this tool but it is not getting any clearer. There are endless command lines you can add to the .inf and different switches you can use, etc. These systems are different but I didn't think this operation was going to be that complicated. Any lessons learned would greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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Snorlax,

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[Snorlax]

I was just reading about the "Standard PCI IDE Controller" trick. This should allow the hard drive to boot in another PC. The only problem here maybe that if I have to run a repair would that wipe out all my non-system files? I'm trying to avoid having to reload everything. Does anyone know? Thanks.

 

[Canterwood]

Doing a repair will just do what it says and fix your windows installation.

Any files or programs installed, should remain untouched.

Remember though, a repair will put your OS back with the files from the CD which wipes any patches or service packs you have installed.

If your 2K disk already has SP4 slipstreamed, then you just need to get on windows update after repair and patch it.