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Windows Vista Running programs off XP external drive in Vista?

Discussion in 'Legacy Windows' started by ksharp, 2009/10/08.

  1. 2009/10/08
    ksharp

    ksharp Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi everyone,

    I have an old Gateway laptop (6 years) with a 2.5" parallel ATA hard disk, running Windows XP. That disk has a sophisticated / expensive molecular modelling program installed on it. Why yes, I am a chemist! The computer is slow, heavy, the battery has no capacity anymore and the power jack is all messed up.

    I also have a newer Dell Inspiron (1 year) laptop, flush with USB 2.0 ports and a speedy processor.

    Anyway what I want is to be able to run the molecular modelling program on my newer laptop (or any other computer in theory) and I was thinking that I could put the old hard disk in an external enclosure and stick it in one of the USB 2.0 ports on a newer machine.

    I'm just wondering about whether or not I can run the program off the external drive, and/or whether or not I would I need to boot XP on my new machine from the external drive?

    Thanks for any feedback, thoughts and suggestions! :)

    K.
     
    ksharp,
    #1
  2. 2009/10/08
    Arie

    Arie Administrator Administrator Staff

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    Please enter your System Details. It helps us in answering your questions!

    Do you have the installation media for the program? Do you have the installation media for XP?
     
    Arie,
    #2


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  4. 2009/10/08
    ksharp

    ksharp Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi Arie,

    New System:
    PC is Dell Inspiron 1526
    Motherboard is Dell 0D154D
    CPU is AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile Technology 2.00 GHz
    Memory is 1 x 1024MB [Hyundai DDR2 (PC2-5300)]
    + 1 x 2048MB [Samsung DDR2 (PC2-5300)]
    HD is Hitachi 250 GB SATA
    OS is Vista Home Premium SP2
    32 bit

    Old system - power jack is pretty spotty so I can't get it loaded up but here is what I know:
    Gateway 7215
    CPU is AMD Athlon XP-M 3000+ (72W) 266MHz
    Memory is 512MB 333 MHz PC2700 DDR SODIMM
    HD is Hitachi 60GB 4200 RPM
    OS is Windows XP
    32 bit

    I do not have the installation media for the program, but I do have a disk for XP.
     
    ksharp,
    #3
  5. 2009/10/09
    Arie

    Arie Administrator Administrator Staff

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    OK, well, this is probably going to be laborious. You will be able to get the old hard drive in an external enclosure, first thing you then need to find out if you can get your Dell to boot from that drive.

    If yes, you'll need to do a repair install of XP for it to be able to boot successfully with the new hardware.

    If you go that route, be sure you have a working backup (I'd use Acronis or such software to get an image of the old drive) of your old drive.

    To do the repair install, boot from the WinXP CD (you may have to change a setting in your BIOS that allows you to boot from the CD). Do not choose the option to repair an XP installation using Recovery Console when prompted, choose the option to To set up Windows XP now press ENTER.

    After more files have been copied, you'll get another selection screen where you should select the current XP installation, & the option To Repair the selected Windows XP installation, press R.

    Make sure you repair the external drive, not the internal (Vista) drive.
     
    Arie,
    #4

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