transfering hard drives

hey i was wondering because im building my own computer but i need an os and am short on money is it possible that i could take the harddrive from a previous computer of mine running windows xp sp2 and just put that into the computer im building???will it work???and if not why not????



gracias

 

It might, it might not.

If you are able to get around the drive even working due to any differences in the video or IDE drivers, you will still be faced with the problem of never being able to get updates because the Windows validation tool may fail due to the hardware changes.

 

alrighty hopefully it works thanks what if i take out the drivers from the old computers everything that you mentioned in your post and put that into the one im making???

 

Most likely will not work, you probably won't get passed the HAL

 

Where is the original operating system install disc from the computer whose hard drive you want to use.

 

If you have lost your product key, there are programs available that will get your winzode key.