I know that it is a stupid question, but

Can you transplant hard drives from computer to computer? It seems possible with a reconfiguration disc.

When you say transplant, do you mean take it out of one computer and put it into another?

Yes. I mean putting a compaq hard drive into a gateway tower. The reason is stupid so don't ask.

The make of the hard drive means nothing. This computer I'm using me and my father built from other computer parts... so yes, you can use different hard drives.

Go ahead. Check your jumper settings and plug it in. Now, if you have an operating system on the hard drive and intend to boot the computer...you may get some grumbling about 'new devices'...but if you're running an up to date XP...it should find most drivers and install them.

If you just leave your original hard drive alone and check to see if it is set as master, you can set the jumper on the new hard drive to slave and plug it into your machine. You might need to add a cable, but most machines are already set up to accept a second drive.

Your new drive should show up as D: or E: depending on your configuration.

Here is a link to a Google search.
Add A Second Hard Drive

There is also a software program called Swissknife that I've found very usefull when setting up new drives. But if the drive has been used before and you just want to get at the data on it you won't need it.

Are you planning on using the hard drive as the boot drive?

Or is it just for additional storage?

The reason I ask is that taking the boot hd from one computer, and put into another computer, may not work. I have had a similar issue a while back. If I remember correctly, it would not boot up. And even if it did, you most likely will have to activate it again. (assuming win xp)

The reason for this, I believe is that Windows will detect a significantly different hardware setup on the computer, which it considers a totally new computer.

Thats from my experiences with boot drive swaps, or I should say attempts.

If it just for storage, Windows won't grumble too much.

Originally posted by Mechanic 32
Are you planning on using the hard drive as the boot drive?

Or is it just for additional storage?

The reason I ask is that taking the boot hd from one computer, and put into another computer, may not work. I have had a similar issue a while back. If I remember correctly, it would not boot up. And even if it did, you most likely will have to activate it again. (assuming win xp)

The reason for this, I believe is that Windows will detect a significantly different hardware setup on the computer, which it considers a totally new computer.

Thats from my experiences with boot drive swaps, or I should say attempts.

If it just for storage, Windows won't grumble too much.

You are 100% correct.



If you intend on moving it to another system as a Boot drive, you may save a lot of headache if the old system is still intact by uninstalling all the system devices and allowing the new system to find them. Otherwise you will most likely have to do an in-place repair of XP if the old drivers are still in the OS when you move it over.

No, it is like this. A compaq computer that runs XP has a short that I cannot find. And a gateway that runs ME (I know, I know Ha Ha you suck) and the drive cannot even install Age of mythology even when I have just reconfigured the hard drive with the original ME disc. It always says insufficent memory. I plan on switching them. I would use it as additional memory, but I don't know how to set that up.

It seems to me (maybe I'm wrong) that this is a RAM issue. How much RAM do you have installed?

Mechanic 32.

Building on Mechanic's post....you may need to locate some basic pc information. Your last post certainly sounds like you need more RAM and not storage.

I got less that 96 megs. I can't check since I am not very skilled with ME. The POS operating system. But trust me, I know that that is wrong. One time, it told me I could not get on the internet because I had a modem. And it doesn't have a modem.

[edit on 4/2/2006 by Vicious Reddragon]

I would wager that that is the problem. Check the specs (Age of Mythology) for recomended amount of RAM. As for how to check system information on ME, I don't know much about that OS.

Keep us posted.

Whenever I find the box, I will be sure to do that. Thanks for everyones help, I g2g.

You probably need a minimum of 256, or 512 MB.

96MB is very, very low. On some graphics apps that I use, even 1.5GB is not really enough!!

For Applications that are resource hungry, the more the better!


btw - you may not need to find the box.

Find your CD drive, right click it, then right click explore. Look for something like a readme file, or something that looks similar. They should have a file with the requirements, right on the installation disc.

[edit on 4/2/2006 by Mechanic 32]

Age of Mythology: Minimum system requirements

The minimum system requirements for Age of Mythology are:

• One of the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows 98
• Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
• Microsoft Windows 2000
• Microsoft Windows XP

Note Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows NT are not supported.

• 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM.
• Approximately 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available hard-disk space.
• 16 MB 3D video card is required; 32 MB video card is recommended.
• DirectX 8.0-compatible sound card with speakers or headphones.
• Multimedia computer with a Pentium 450 megahertz (MHz)-or-higher processor.
• 4x CD-ROM.
• Microsoft Mouse or other compatible pointing device.

[edit]
Even though the Compaq supposededly has proprietary memory (ram), perhaps you can try to move some it to the Gateway since the Compaq has a short. That you give you the required amount of memory maybe. You could also move the network card, or modem if needed.


[edit on 4/2/06 by makeitso]

Yea, its possible and my uncle has done it...would i recomend it? no...cuz if you dont do it right it could really mess up your computer.

You can swap ram out from pc to pc, you just have to make sure its the same type of ram currently installed as there are several different styles. I do it all the time and I am a network admin, so I know it works, the only thing is this, it will only run as fast as the mb will allow, as far as installing a modem, sure, no problem as long as you have the correct drivers for it.

[edit on 7-4-2006 by Striker8441]

Watch out about static electricity while handling your RAM. Touch metal or ground yourself with anti-static wrist strap if you can find one. Because a static shock could damage your RAM and you would have to buy replacement.