My dad has a small business and the PC that he uses is old as hell (it has windows XP).
Now I want to give him my laptop so he can replace it with his old PC but the problem is there are a few programs on his old PC which he needs (for the business) and he doesn't have the installation CD/Disks for them. Please note that there is currently no way to get those programs (they are custom-made programs).
So I thought about cloning the disk image of his old PC and then use that image in my laptop. I have a few questions :
1) Is it even possible to do what I'm trying to do?
2) does cloning a disk keep the installed programs in the same state they were on the original hard disk?
yes,cloning will keep his programs in their original state.the only thing i would do after cloning is to delete all the xp files from the drive.even that may not be necessary,i would try it first.use the drive from his old computer as a second drive and he will be able to access all his files.i use a program called macrium reflect free version and it works well for me.there is also one called acronis that ive heard good things about but have never used.
chipset of both laptop & pc has to be the same as in intel to intel or amd to amd but not intel to amd or vice versa as windows will barf. if it works than might have to reactivate windows.
yeah i probably didnt make it clear enough,if he is planning to use the os on that drive,chances are its not going to work.i would use it as a 2nd (slave) drive.
I would virtualize the XP machine and run XP in a virtual environment on the laptop using VMware, if the laptop is capable of it. You would still have the "original" XP O/S from the desktop. Acronis is a great cloning/backup program. VMware can create a virtual machine using the Acronis backup image.
As a matter of fact you can clone it by using differential hardware option,so when ready to clone if the option isn't there for clone then all you do is create an image of the partition you want instead & restore the image to the laptop.
WARNING:
if your wondering if it works yes it does however the catch is your key ,i assume the laptop isn't xp so where are you going to get a license key from as for vm machine same problem,even if the laptop is xp you may get a reactivation even after activating it,if that happens don't attempt reactivating or you'll loose the key entirely
you could always ring microsoft & say had to change hardware due to blown mobo in which case they'll give a new key maybe,personally be better off getting a new pc & keep the xp,using avast antivirus & comodo firewall v5.0 to be exact will keep him protected on xp machine
