New computer setup – for gurus and geeks

Figured out a real neat way of migrating software and files when setting up a new computer. Tested only on XP, which, in my opinion, remains the only fastest, most useful and bug-free OS so far. So you start by cloning the hard drive of your old PC onto that of your new computer – whichever one you’d want to pull out. Once you’re done with that, boot from the Windows CD-ROM on your new computer and let it find an existing Windows installation. Note: you have to match the OS version – Pro to Pro, Home to Home, otherwise it will likely not work. Select the repair option and let it upgrade/repair what you had. You might need to boot to safe mode once or twice, if after Windows setup has finished your computer freezes at startup. Then restart normally. When done, you’ll need to manually load drivers for your new computer and any peripherals you have. In the end you should get everything exactly the way you had it on your old machine – all the files, documents, programs(!), etc. There might be a few glitches due to this undocumented routine but nothing too serious. Also note: if upgrading on a custom built PC using a retail Windows XP disk, you will have to re-activate Windows.