Two Master Drives

[mikey48]

I have two computers that have the Asus 4P800 Deluxe. One of them crashed and I am waiting for a new motherboard. I would like to pull the master drive which has all my finances and install in the working computer. Can i install it leaving both as masters and choose which one I can use as the boot drive. Will i encounter other problems. Any suggestions? They are both running XP.

[ski]

If both systems have identical components, then you can have a dual boot set up with both HD's in the working system.
But if the systems have different components, then trying to boot from the non-working system's HD will be a problem, since that drive has the data on the non-working system's components, and it will get confused when installed on a system with different components. If that's the case, then you can install it as a Slave drive in order to access your financial data.

[mjc]

IF both machines have the EXACT same hardware...MAYBE. But most likely you would, at a minimum, need to reactive XP on the drive from the dead machine. There is a chance that going from the dead machine to the working one would be fine, but going back to the other machine after replacing the motherboard would cause problems with Activation, too.

What I would do is to install the drive from the dead machine and not worry about booting to it, unless you have encrypted the data, you will be able to access it with no problems on the working machine. Not booting to it will also prevent any driver/activation problems.

[Paul Komski]

You can boot to the transferred drive but will need to run a repair installation (http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm) on it and that requires that you have the installation CD.

Having repaired you will have to reactivate the installation as indicated and note that you are going to have to do the same reactivation routine again after you reattach it to the new motherboard and want to reatain its current contents. A repair installation is a bit like a new installation but just as far as the hardware is concerned.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

If the replacement mobo that you will be receiving is different, you'll need to 'reactivate' (that word is wrongly used btw imo) your Windows installation anyway. With such similar parts, you have the choice of which drive (or setup) you want to do this with.

Essentially substituting all the peripherals from the 'financial' pc to the other one is the same as putting the good mobo in the case that had the mobo which has been sent to be repaired/replaced. It's easier to leave the (on-hand) mobo in a (it's current) case and replace what's around it.

[Paul Komski]

If the replacement mobo that you will be receiving is differentFrom a reactivation point of view nearly all modern mobos (including the same model) are significantly different because they nearly all have one or more onboard LAN connections and with their MAC addresses being important triggers. Also if you have an OEM installation of Windows then MS may or may not (it's in their gift) allow a reactivation or not.