which "part" of a machine is deemed to be "the machine"?
I want to upgrade an old-ish Dell desktop machine which is grinding to a halt as the software has grown to the point of swamping it. I want to keep the Win XP which was installed by Dell (I have no doubt paid for it) but would really like to transfer it to a faster, bigger, new HDD. I also need to put in a faster processor and tons more ram, probably by swapping out the motherboard.
Dell have put the rescue disk as a partition on the existing HDD. So, if I put a new HDD in the machine, can the old partition copy of OS re-install the OS onto the new HDD? If it can't, can the old OS be reconfigured to allow it to boot the machine and then let all of my apps run from the new HDD?
No CDs were provided with the machine. I had the argument with DELL, when the machine turned up without my paid for licensed copy of Win XP but their stance is that if the HDD fails completely, so a restore cannot be performed, then it is tough.
It would seem that I break the license agreement as soon as I open the case of the machine. What upgrades are allowed?
How did MicroShaft get away with this for so long?
Help.
Rans6.....