IDENTICAL HARD DRIVE COPY, This is a tricky one

[pcrepairs247]

ok guys here is my situation of what i am tryign to achieve

I have bought 10 systems, built them all up, and they are all identical. I then installed an legitmate xp home on computer 1, drivers, etc etc..., everythign fine so far. (i also activate the windows i am using online.

I then take the hard drive out of computer 1, and try it in computer 2... works perfect! things are going really well for me here. So now i have realised that windows thinks its still on the same system, hasnt notice any new hard ware, and doesnt want me to activate the cd key again. So everyhitngs ok.

Now i install norton ghost (novice user) copy the hard drive identical. completed... i then put the new cloned hard drive in computer 2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10 boots up fine, loads windows splash screen, but then jsut before it loggs on its stops there. (not froze) just wont load any further, and the hard drive isnt flashing or anything.

So you can see my problem, does norton ghost copy the hard drives identical???? do they have a setting that doesnt allow you to copy windows or something. or when i select hard drive copy am i selecting the wrong settings. I have already established this earlier that the hard drive can work on any systems without windwos clicking on, all i have to do now is copy the hard drive identical. cany any one help me at all?

any fedback would be greatly appreciated.

apoligies if this thread is nto allowed on your forumns

 

[Tmagic650]

You would have done better to have used a drive installation utility like Seagate's DiscWizard to make perfect clones of your drives. I have done this many times. I use a temporary drive to completely set up a new build, then I install a new drive as a secondary IDE, copy C to it, then move it to the C or boot drive position. You could do this over and over again. I just remove the temporary drive, and the system is complete. They always boot and run perfectly, programs and all

 

[pcrepairs247]

ok i will try seagate m8, does norton not make a identical copy ? i cant understadn why it doesnt work

 

[Tmagic650]

I don't know why Norton doesn't make exact copies either. I have tried to restore backed up files using Ghost too, and I have had nothing but troble in doing that alone

 

[pcrepairs247]

well norton is getting a massive se you later to teh recycle bin, thanks for you help m8 your an absoloute legend giving me that previous answer. Al let you know how it goes.

by the way, say i was to sell one of these computers. Is ther any way i can get caught for doing this if i have solf all the computers, and have the original xp product key.( am gonna sell the computers with pre installed windows)

cheers for your help m8

 

[RealBlackStuff]

For Norton, read Symantec, read unreliable bloatware crap.
Even their own latest 2 versions are not backwards compatible!

Acronis would do that job, as would the older Drive-Image 8, when it was still owned by PowerQuest.
Do not EVER buy any junk from Symantec!

 

[Tmagic650]

well norton is getting a massive se you later to teh recycle bin, thanks for you help m8 your an absoloute legend giving me that previous answer. Al let you know how it goes.

by the way, say i was to sell one of these computers. Is ther any way i can get caught for doing this if i have solf all the computers, and have the original xp product key.( am gonna sell the computers with pre installed windows)

cheers for your help m8

Glad I could help... As for the preinstalled Windows, we'll just leave that one alone. Good luck with the systems

 

[howard_hopkinso]

I hate to pour cold water on your idea, but WindowsXP is only licensed for one machine only.

In order to do what you have in mind, you would need to have a separate copy of WindowsXP for each machine.

So to answer your question as to whether you could get into trouble for doing this. The answer is yes. As it is classed as piracy.

The problem will arise, that when you have sold the machines, the people who buy them will quickly be confronted with a message from Microsoft telling them that their copy of Windows isn`t genuine. This will happen probably when they try and run Windows updates. The new Windows validation will kick in. It will check the license and quickly find out it`s already in use on several other machines.

The info I have given you is easily checked HERE.

With that in mind I`m am closing this thread before someone starts making comments that could put Techspot in shall we say a delicate position.

Thread closed.

Regards Howard