Install HDD from my old HP with vista onto a T60p with XP

[Tang Tonic]

Good day,

I recently acquired a T60P on Ebay which has the beautiful Flexview LCD. So far I am enjoying this new rig. The reason for buying this computer was because my old HP G60 laptop had the screen go out. This laptop still works fine and I can connect to an external monitor and everything functions as normal. My question is, how do I go about removing my HDD from the HP which runs Vista and install into the T60P which has XP. I am pretty good with computers but obviously not enough to perform this HDD switch. Physically removing the drives I think I can figure out. Its the Bios and drivers side of things I don't know how to do. I would prefer to run Vista on the T60P since I've been using this OS the past few years and feel pretty comfortable with it. Eventually I will upgrade to Windows 7 but the main reason for wanting to switch is the greater storage capacity of the HP HDD and the fact that I have all my programs, music, pictures, etc saved on this drive.

Thanks in advance for any help with this matter.

[mariol90]

You could try just installing the HP hard drive into the thinkpad, and see if it boots up. if it does, you can download all the lenovo software and drivers from support.lenovo.com.
this won't work at all if Vista is 64-bit and your T60p has a core duo (not a core 2 duo).

[Raceboy]

Why would you bother installing a hard drive with windows full of bloatware from another computer? Even IBM/Lenovo factory configuration is crappy to say at least.

Just do a fresh install, save yourself from headache.

[Tang Tonic]

How do I do a fresh install? Save all my data to an external hard drive and then do a system restore? Once restored can I just plug the HDD into the T60P? Sorry if these are basic questions, I've never done this before.

[Raceboy]

http://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/windows_xp.htm

You will need an OEM install media and then you can use the COA key on the bottom of your ThinkPad.

[hhmcsv]

Just use the file transfer wizard in Windows (All programs -> System tools -> file transfer). But of couse before loading the files from the old computer you need a fresh install of OS and major programs first.