Move HD from A21P to T42P - advice?

[rpwt]

I plan to get a T42P 2373KXU to replace my 3-year old, wonderful A21P. I had replaced the HD in the A21P with a 60GB Travelstar earlier. Running Win2K, lots of installed software. Display is also 1600x1200 UXGA. The T42P comes with pre-installed XP Pro and lots of IBM utilities, etc.

I am attempting to short-cut the reinstallation of software, databases, etc.

What would be the dangers of moving the 60GB drive from the A21P to the T42P? I understand that I wouldn't have the correct video or other drivers. Could I install them after moving the disk without major problems?

Thanks for any comments, including the expected "you'd be foolish..."

[JHEM]

Got a burner in your A21p? Run a backup on it to CDs.

Then restore everything under XP on the new T42p.

Also, if you've got access to an XP CD, run Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (http://aumha.org/win5/a/fast.php) from the CD and transfer everything to the new machine.

You've got the same HD in both machines.

Running W2K rather than XP on a T42p is a step backwards IMHO.

Regards,

James

[rpwt]

James - thanks for your ideas.

I don't have a burner, but I have used Acronis TrueImage before to make a complete disk copy to a USB2 external backup drive.. This is how I moved from the original 30G drive to the 60G on the A21P.

I was unaware of the XP File&Transfer Wizard. It looks like just the ticket.

I had planned on upgrading from 2K to XP after the move in any case, altho I've been very pleased with the stability of 2K - at least compared to earlier incarnations!

..roger

[rpwt]

After a bit of reading on FAST (File & Settings Transfer), it looks good for transferring data files and settings, but not for helping avoid the reinstallation of the various programs.

I have 115 "Program Files" entries, most of which would need to be reinstalled. I am also running SQL Server and other server apps which don't appear to have their data files/settings copied over. The thought of installing the bases and all of the service packs in the right order is giving me nightmares, even in the mddle of the day!

This may seem like a strange solution, but I'm starting to think that running VMWare on the T42P XP and restoring the A21P software into a Win2K partition (later upgrading to XP in the partition.) Since the T42P is much faster than my A21P (4 to 1?) this might not be such a bad performance hit.

..roger

[Humpa]

This is a similar thread:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=3433
Not sure if that is a viable solution, or if 2000 has the same "repair" option, though.

[rpwt]

Humpa - thanks for finding that other thread. Gosh, if only I had been running Un*x I wouldn't have this problem - probably others..

The XP Repair may make it worthwhile for me to first upgrade to XP and then attempt the disk swap. I will backup the IBMTOOLS directory to an external drive (actually, probably everything) so I can reinstall the IBM applications and drivers after the swap.

Still a bit up in the air trying to figure out the better of two (or more) solutions. Hobson's Choice.