PC Migration Issue

OK this is going to be a pretty straight question so please be kind with your response thanks

Anyway i'm looking at a friends pc "its a compaq EVO so you know it sux and its broke" anyway it stoped working all by its self and i tried out several things
used another power supply
i chaged the battery in the mo-bo
i swaped the cpu for one from another pc and yes same socket ok!
so i was like power switch no way right and nope wasnt the power switch.

so now its down to the mobo itself being out the old cpu looks ok but the cream is a little crispy so maybe the fan stoped working but since i'm not getting any power to anything thats doubtful.

ok so here is my question this pc runs the ac system for a church and they cant get the original media for the apps so for the new pc i need to copy said programs over and make them work now my idea was to just use the HDD but then the hard part is geting windows to shut up and take the new hardware instead of asking for a re-install so if anyone has a solution for this it would be great.

the problem: moving unknown software and maybe even the OS from an old pc to a new one

method: unknown

Solution: new pc runs off the old hard drive and all the non microsoft apps run as well.

allright i know this is a crazy problem but someone probably has an answer right dont let me down.

Your question is a little hard to follow, but I'd say just get an external drive enclosure and put the HD in there.

If the drive is not hosed, the drive will be rather quickly recognized as an external drive.

I got a nice cheap enclosure from Circuit City, Mad Dog brand. One drive I had to go through a couple hoops to get the drive to be found, and it died for good after I got everything off. It had a USB port. So I just hooked it up to my new machine.

The problem with an already installed program is that unless the PC is running off the drive as boot and can find the settings in the registry, then it is unlikely to run. You may really need the original install program.

However if it's a simple legacy application that uses .ini files or the like it may run.

Even if it is not as simple a program that uses the registry may still run, but it might complain. Newer programs usually fail to run at all.

If that fails, I'd search the web for the maker of the application and try to contact them and see if you can get a fix or an install disk. Have the serial number available if you can find it to verify.

Many 'church' type programs are written in Visual Basic. So, again, depends on how registry dependent it is and if you require the old VB .dll files.

Without more info, can't do much more.

PS, I believe there are a couple programs that will allow an install "anywhere" or something like that. Whether it can find and extract registry settings and soforth, IDK.

Perhaps you can post the manufacturer, the name and age of the program and what lang. it's written in. If the data is available in plain text it may be worthwhile trying to extract that and then get a new program and re-enter the data. Sometimes you can find sites that have 'abandonware' and locate the program there, depending on how old it is.

Good luck!


[edit on 4-3-2008 by Badge01]

its not a matter of just backup they want to run the drive as a primary drive ona new pc without reinstalling anything

reply to post by razor1000


Well, as you probably know, there is an option in the BIOS that allows you to select which drive you will boot from. If the drive in question that contains the program also contains the Windows directory and is a boot drive, then just install it as an internal or external drive, and then when the machine boots, change the boot drive from the main PC drive to this rescued drive, reboot, and it should boot up.

If the drive or the boot table or something is hosed and the drive won't boot, then of course the version of Windows it used will not load and the machine will need to view it as a slave drive. The program, depending on how old it is may still run, but if not you may need to find the manufacturer and get an install CD.

It's been a while since I played around with swapping drives and so forth, so you may just have to play around with it.

I think the best next move is to get an external drive enclosure. Those things are cheap and quite handy, so you'll not have wasted your money, since they can be used for lots of things and can even run a DVD drive (they contain a power connector and a ribbon cable). All you need is a free USB 2.0 port on your host machine.

Good luck!

HTH.

[edit on 4-3-2008 by Badge01]

yes thanks i know about enclosures but i have dealt wityh this issue b4 and i still dont have any prper resolution old programs installed on this drive will not work on a new vista or xp intall and not even on server2000 cuz of the missing entries and missing files in the new install

It's a longshot, but I would post your question on a forum like 'majorgeeks.com' and see if anyone knows of a program which will extract the needed registry entries and make the application portable.

There's gotta be a work around for stuff like this because who hasn't lost their boot drive and had to rescue an important program that was orphaned?

Since you won't or can't post the name of the program or manufacturer, I can't help you search out a more specific solution.

my idea was to just use the HDD but then the hard part is geting windows to shut up and take the new hardware instead of asking for a re-install so if anyone has a solution for this it would be great.

The only solution that I know of is when you put the hd in the new pc and windows says it found new hardware, figure out what hardware it found, then use another pc to google for and download drivers for that new hardware, use a floppy, cdr, or usb pen drive to transfer/install them to the machine you need it on.

What version is the OS? 95, 98, xp?

If it's xp you may be able to run the repair option if you have the cd.
It won't overwrite any data, but you'll still need some of the drivers on hand. Usually sound, network card, & graphics.

[edit on 3/4/08 by makeitso]

i dont kno0w the name of the program you never see them working unfortunatly and the thing is running on server 2000

reply to post by razor1000


Maybe somebody has a better answer, but if it were me...

The short answer:
In the recovery console from the cd, or as a slave hard drive.
1. Rename c:\windows\system32\config\system to system.bak
2. Copy c:\windows\repair\system -to- c:\windows\system32\config\
3. On boot, install the new drivers as needed/prompted.
4. This is completely reversable if needed without any damage.




The long answer:
The information that tells the OS what hardware the computer uses is in a folder called c:\windows\system32\config The file in the config folder that holds the hardware information is called system.

Micrsoft built the original default system file used when installing the OS into a windows folder in the c:\windows\repair folder. It is also called system.

So a trick is to either use the OS cd to go to the recovery console, or put the hard drive into another machine as a slave. Rename the c:\windows\system32\config\system file to system.bak. Copy the c:\windows\repair\system file to c:\windows\system32\config\.

This trick resets the OS back to the default hardware installation settings like it was freshly installed on a pc, but before any new hardware was discovered.

On boot the OS will discover the hardware in the new pc and prompt for drivers. You will need to install the hardware drivers for the pc. It may not auto discover all the new hardware. The pc still has problems go to the device manager, look for items marked in red or yellow, right click and install device drivers for it.

The program that controls the HVAC system probably gets its data from a serial cable, or the network cable. These settings may have to be adjusted to point at the new hardware.

Best of Luck
makeitso



[edit on 3/5/08 by makeitso]

well just an update since a new install is out of the question i found a motherboard in ebay that i'm going to try

ok so i have replaced the mobo for an identical on and also the power supply and power swtich and still nothing???

A mobo from ebay? LOL.

Plug a lamp in the wall outlet to make sure its getting power.

Doublecheck the jumpers and connectors on the mobo.

Use a multimeter on the power supply cables going to the mobo to make verify that you're getting power to the mobo. Should be +5vdc or something like that.

Use the multimeter on the power switch and power switch cables to verify ohms @ infinite or close to it.

Double check that the power switch cables are hooked into the right place on the mobo.

Make sure the spacers are keeping the mobo from touching the frame of the pc case.

I'll look around for the troubleshooting chart. Its out there somewhere.
Ah, here it is.



Best of Luck
makeitso


[edit on 3/15/08 by makeitso]

reply to post by razor1000


Did you use the same CPU?

If the CPU is damaged, and as modern computers' power switch is software operated, the computer will not start. If you access to an identical or compatible CPU try it on the old motherboard to see if it woks.

yeah i did that and more diggin only to find out this oem powersupply is not standart and i must find one just like it because hp used a propietary one and a new one is 250 dollars extreme huh