add a second XP hard drive

I have Vista Home Premium pre-installed on my new machine. Is there a way to
add my old XP hard drive to my Vista machine?

"Bob" <> wrote in message
news:. ..
>I have Vista Home Premium pre-installed on my new machine. Is there a way
>to add my old XP hard drive to my Vista machine?
>

More info needed as to what you want:

Is the drive in your new machine a SATA or PATA drive? (probably SATA ??)
Is the old drive a SATA of PATA drive? (Probably PATA ??)
Is there a space in your new computer for HD?
If they are the same and you have the space and the connectors or there,
then it should be a "drop right in".
If not then it gets complicated quickly.

Do you just want more space on the new machine or are you expecting all the
programs and files from your old drive to work on the new machine?

Simple, most likely, generic answer.

Buy an external USB, PATA hard drive box and Power Supply (empty). Put your
old drive in this box and connect to you USB port. It should come right up
and you can see all your old files. It will show up as a newly mounted
drive (Letter). Generally, DO NOT expect to run any PROGRAMs from this
drive unless you reinstall them.

More help can be had if you can provide more details as to what you want.

Bob F.

Thanks for the quick response Bob.

How do I determine if I have SATA or PATA drives?

If I buy an external USB, PATA hard drive box and Power Supply (empty) and
put my old drive in the box and connect it to a USB port will I have the
option to boot to either XP or Vista?

"Bob Furtaw" <> wrote in message
news:TfednWvyncNx4-...
>
> "Bob" <> wrote in message
> news:. ..
>>I have Vista Home Premium pre-installed on my new machine. Is there a way
>>to add my old XP hard drive to my Vista machine?
>>
>
> More info needed as to what you want:
>
> Is the drive in your new machine a SATA or PATA drive? (probably SATA ??)
> Is the old drive a SATA of PATA drive? (Probably PATA ??)
> Is there a space in your new computer for HD?
> If they are the same and you have the space and the connectors or there,
> then it should be a "drop right in".
> If not then it gets complicated quickly.
>
> Do you just want more space on the new machine or are you expecting all
> the programs and files from your old drive to work on the new machine?
>
> Simple, most likely, generic answer.
>
> Buy an external USB, PATA hard drive box and Power Supply (empty). Put
> your old drive in this box and connect to you USB port. It should come
> right up and you can see all your old files. It will show up as a newly
> mounted drive (Letter). Generally, DO NOT expect to run any PROGRAMs from
> this drive unless you reinstall them.
>
> More help can be had if you can provide more details as to what you want.
>
> Bob F.

"Bob" <> wrote in message
news:. ..
> Thanks for the quick response Bob.
>
> How do I determine if I have SATA or PATA drives?

Go to Start>Computer, right click on OS(C>Properties>Hardware. Lookup the
model number of your drive on the Internet. ...or
Look internally at the cable connection and compare with the information at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

>
> If I buy an external USB, PATA hard drive box and Power Supply (empty) and
> put my old drive in the box and connect it to a USB port will I have the
> option to boot to either XP or Vista?

Short answer...no. Long answer, you can re-build an XP OS on the USB drive,
use some complex settings and get the USB to boot. Too many steps to
discribe here.

>
> "Bob Furtaw" <> wrote in message
> news:TfednWvyncNx4-...
>>
>> "Bob" <> wrote in message
>> news:. ..
>>>I have Vista Home Premium pre-installed on my new machine. Is there a way
>>>to add my old XP hard drive to my Vista machine?
>>>
>>
>> More info needed as to what you want:
>>
>> Is the drive in your new machine a SATA or PATA drive? (probably SATA
>> ??)
>> Is the old drive a SATA of PATA drive? (Probably PATA ??)
>> Is there a space in your new computer for HD?
>> If they are the same and you have the space and the connectors or there,
>> then it should be a "drop right in".
>> If not then it gets complicated quickly.
>>
>> Do you just want more space on the new machine or are you expecting all
>> the programs and files from your old drive to work on the new machine?
>>
>> Simple, most likely, generic answer.
>>
>> Buy an external USB, PATA hard drive box and Power Supply (empty). Put
>> your old drive in this box and connect to you USB port. It should come
>> right up and you can see all your old files. It will show up as a newly
>> mounted drive (Letter). Generally, DO NOT expect to run any PROGRAMs
>> from this drive unless you reinstall them.
>>
>> More help can be had if you can provide more details as to what you want.
>>
>> Bob F.
>
>