DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi all, I have to put in new HDD in my old PC. I have XP disc with it that came with service pack 1. I have seen that updates can now only be had for later versions of XP. My question is can I copy service packs from my PC onto a cd so that when I put new HDD in with XP service pack 1 on I can then use the service packs from the cd to update it. I don't really want to transfer all the junk from my old HDD onto the new one. I have all the discs for the things I want to put on to new drive. Anyone have any ideas. Thanks. Shed.

theshedman,
Instal XP with SP1, then google "XP service packs" and go to the microsoft web site, you can then download SP2 and instal it. You will then be OK with automatic updates.
end

You could download the latest version of XP SP3 from Microsoft. Load it on your PC and register it by using the original activation code supplied when the computer was new.

Hi, thanks for the replies. I was told that to be able to put the later service packs on I needed SP1A and my pc came with service pack 1. I have now got sp1a on HDD but for some reason won't go onto a Cd. I will now keep hold of the site I got it from and go to it when I put the new HDD in. The only other answer would be to put Windows 7 on but I can't afford to do that at the moment as I have just put new motherboard, graphics card and power pack in. Thanks again for the help. Shed.

Hiya surely if you know how to "motherboard, graphics card and power pack in" you would know the answer to this.? pls dont be offended it would seem you have installed hardware which is or can be more tricky to install them the OS...Anyway as other members have stated its pretty simple! ive used XP for years but now i wont go near it after using W7 (64BIT) for the last yr and half, The SP's should be able to be burned to a disc then should just load onto the Hdd...alternatively if its genuine XP then you should just be able to goto MS's website & dl them from there,If its not genuine then i would suggest looking at your hardware upgrade from xp compatable hardware needed like from 1 gig RAM to 3 then get W7 ITs miles faster & just overall better than XP! ive got a XP Pro genuine disc & i havent used it in ages! If your stuck please let me know i maybe able to help you..
Regards
QC64

Hi QC64, I have good idea on putting stuff on PC but it's nice to have a bit extra input just to make sure on some things. Ms don't do updates for the earlier versions of XP Service packs any longer so I did in the end get sp1a and sp2 onto a memory stick. I have put in new HDD and service packs loaded from the stick then put on sp3 from ms site. Needed sp1a and 2 before sp3 will download for some reason. All seems to be working fine so far. Thanks for all the help. Shed.

Hi All

For everyone that reads this post, if you wish to either replace the hard drive due to small problems creaping in or you wish to put in a larger hard disk because your original one is too small, I found the easiet way to do it is use a program called Migrate Easy by Acronis, put the new disk in the machine as a "slave" drive on old machines or a a second SATA drive on newer ones, start your machine and run "Migrate Easy" it asks for the original disk, then the destination disk and copies your whole disk including the boot sectors onto the new disk, remove the old disk, set up the new disk as the "Master" on older machines then start the machine, your computer will then run on the newer/larger disk and nothing has changed with your files ( Migrate Easy costs about £25.00 but saves hours of grief)

By the way I dont work for Acronis I just have used this product numerous times with no hassle.

If you have space in your pc for 2 hard drives, I would install the new one as the main one and the old one as a second (E: drive?).

Format the new drive and install Windows, do all the updates, then you can copy across what you need from the old drive using My Computer, File Manager or whatever.

As far as the updates to XP, I find the best way is to create your user with no password, so that when the updates install and require a reboot, the system will reboot and continue without you having to log in every time. Sometimes it helps to run Windows Update just to get the next set of updates kicked off, there are hundreds of them.

If you don't have space in your computer for a 2nd hard drive, you can buy a cheap casing that you can place it in so you can use it as a USB external drive instead.