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How do I put a laptop hard drive into a desktop computer?

Anonymous
2012-05-09T17:58:11+00:00

I have a HP Pavilion ZV 5000 that died a while ago and the hard drive is still good. It is 60 GB Running Windows Xp. it has  I got the laptop from a friend because they did not want it.Also I have a IBM Aptivia desktop from 1998 and it has a gigantic 8 GB Hard drive running windows 98. I want to put the laptop drive into the desktop computer and take out the old one. I would buy a whole new hard drive but it has Microsoft Office 2003 pro. That is the only copy I have and I don't have the product key to re install it. I need this computer for my workshop. How do I get it to work? Is there a part I need? If so, where do I get it from?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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  1. LemP 74,930 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2012-05-09T19:12:27+00:00

    If I understand correctly, you have an HP Pavilion ZV 5000 laptop that does not run but has a 60 GB hard drive that has Windows XP installed and also has Office 2003 installed.

    You want to put the hard drive from the laptop into an old desktop.

    You have two issues: hardware and software.

    The hardware issues can probably be easily solved (you would need something like this $10 kit --> http://tinyurl.com/d539pwf -- but read the comments).

    The software problem is that you can't take an existing installation of Windows XP and completely change the computer hardware.  If you try that, you have to do a reinstall of Windows before it will work.

    If you have a generic OEM XP install CD, you may be able to do a repair install (saving the applications -- e.g. Office 2003), but the CD must be at the same or later version of XP (Home, Pro) and Service Pack level as the version of XP which is installed.  You must also have the product key that goes with the OEM install CD (I think the key from the label on the HP will fail).

    More likely, you will have to do a clean install, which will involve formatting the drive. 

    If you have the install CD for Office 2003, you can recover its installation key from the laptop drive before you install it in the desktop.  Probably the easiest way to do this is to put the laptop drive in an external drive enclosure, attach that to a working computer, and use Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder using its "Load Hive" feature.

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  1. LemP 74,930 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2012-06-19T20:53:14+00:00

    I did it and everything went ok but the RAM. It had 64MB expandable to 92MB and it would boot halfway then freeze. 

    You did what?

    And what had "64MB expandable to 92MB"? 

    I apologize.  I really should have asked you about the hardware specifications of the Aptiva.  Here's what Microsoft says: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314865

    What does the Aptiva have as a CPU?

    Do you mean that you attempted to do a clean install of Windows XP into the Aptive and the Aptiva only has 64 MB of RAM?  That's the absolute minimum amount of RAM that Microsoft says is needed for XP, but except for the barest of bare-bones systems, 512 MB is the practical lower limit.  See http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_minimum_requirement_for_RAM_for_Windows_XP

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-06-19T20:09:45+00:00

    I did it and everything went ok but the RAM. It had 64MB expandable to 92MB and it would boot halfway then freeze.

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