HD in a mobile rack + WinXP Pro doesn't boot on others PC

[rottek]

Dear sirs,

I have 2 PCs that run Win XP Pro.
On the first of them I have the hard drive (#1) mounted on a Mobile Rack.
On the second PC I have another fixed HD (#2) with he same OS.

When I connect the HD #1 on the second PC it does not boot.
Also if I disconnect the HD #2 and keep only the HD #1 connected it does not boot.
I checked with the bios that it recognises correctly the hard drive #1 and not the #2, but when it try to start the OS from it, it just shows a cursor blinking on the top left side of the screen and the system remain permanently in that condition.

I also tried to connect directly the HD (without the rack)but wiht the same result.

The other test that I made was to put the HD #2 on the first PC and the only result was that that appears the window with the options for the boot (normal, safe mode ....) but when I select an option it reboots and goes to the same window again.

If I put back the HD #1 on the first PC and HD #2 on the second PC they boot regulary.

The last test was to make some subtitututions of HDs with a third PC running the same Win XP PRo but the result was the same.

So could someone help on this and give me some input on how to make an HD with Win XP Pro bootable from different PCs trough a mobile Rack?
The other PCs have their own HD but when I put the mobile HD on the Mobile Rack they should boot before from it.

Thank you.

 

[bcastner]

Windows 98 was the last Windows OS that would have made your plan feasible.

When XP is installed there is an extensive amount of self-customization performed to match XP with the motherboard, video adapter, network adapter, sound adapter, mouse driver, keyboard, USB and 1394 adapters, and both hard disk and CD Rom optical controllers. There is also product activation, which is keyed directly to specific elements of the computer hardware on which XP is installed. Last, their are EULA or licensing issues, as the EULA does not allow what you are planning:

What happens when you change a motherboard or move a hard drive depends on the accumulated changes made within a 120 day period since initial activation. As a precaution the windows\system32\WPA.DBL and WPA.DBL should be copied to a floppy before doing a repair install. For more information see Alex Nichol's article on XP activation.

It also depends on the version of Windows XP intended for the move.

Retail versions of XP

Retail versions of XP can be moved from and reinstalled as many times as you want as long as it is in compliance with the EULA. The EULA states: You may install, use, access, display and run one copy of the Software on a single computer, such as a workstation, terminal or other device ("Workstation Computer")

OEM versions of XP

OEM versions of XP preinstalled on systems according to the OEM EULA cannot be transferred to another computer. This is defined in the EULA.

OEM versions sold with a piece of hardware are thought to be tied to the original computer it is installed on. From the link [clarification], hardware can be upgraded and only the change of mother board will qualify as a non-original computer.

See:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xpfrm.html

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm