Moving HDDs from Old Server to Newer without reinstalling OS

[Scorpio_1]

Hi Folks,
Any thoughts on moving HDDs from the old server to the G3 server. We have updated the patches and all the rompaqs and ready for the move.

TIA

David

[Sunil Jerath · Accepted solution]

Hello David,

First of all moving a hard drive with NT or Windows 2000 installed from one computer to another computer without reinstalling the NOS is not supported. The reason is that NT and Windows 2000 makes a lot of registry entries that are hardware specific, of which an unspecified number cannot be changed. Some drivers can also be problematic, even if they are upgraded before moving the hard drive. For argument sake, the documentation for upgrading from the Proliant 7000 Pentium Pro to the Proliant 7000 Xeon states that NT 4.0 has to be reinstalled, even though it is the same family of server.
Although a number of people have been able to successfully move hard drives from one server to another, the more different the processors, boards, and options in the unit are, the less likely the server is going to escape problems. Some tinckering oriented people may find this an acceptible risk in desktop environments, but in server environments, it should be avoided as the stability of the server cannot be verified without it having been in production for some time. Unfortunately, this may not be a good news for you but this is the truth.

Regards,