fresh xp install

[seamaster]

hi all my first post so be kind, and i am in the process of reading through to look for the answers but i keep getting sidetracked and fiddling with something totally unrelated.

ive just done a fresh xp install having totally deleted my hdd. i had no external dvd and figured the easiest way was to plug the hdd int my t60. this worked when i changed the bios sata to compatability mode.

my first problem is that i cant find the post telling me how to change it back, also im not sure if it really matters as it seems to be working, or am i getting a performance hit?

secondly when i tried to install rescue and recover i got a not enough room on boot sector error message. i am guessing that this is something that i should have done at the install stage? is it too late now and would a fresh install be required?

finally ive ordered my vista recovery disc,and now that xp is working i am wondering if it is worth installing vista or not, also im not sure if the hdd in other laptop method will work with vista? any opinions are welcome.

sorry in advance if it dont make much sense and thanks in advance for the replies

[mailxiaodan]

It will be more informative if you could explicitly post your machine type and hardware spec here. I guess it's a X series, and if I guess right: The only issue resulting from installing OS by putting HDD into another machine is possible driver mismatch. Since you can boot XP ok when you put the HDD back to your X machine, you should be ok ---- go to Device Manager and check if all drivers are properly installed (any yellow warning signs showing up in there). Doing a driver update with ThinkVantage System Update is also a good idea. Once all drivers are in place and if the OS seems working fine, I don't think there is anything to worry about (no particular "change it back to original machine" involved other than the above driver issue) XP vs Vista is a topic attracting tons of discussion (feel free google). So it really depends on what you want... In particular, if you have less than 1.5GB RAM, I won't suggest Vista. Good luck getting your system up and running smoothly.

[seamaster]

yea its an x61s inside i assume. its actually a reserve edition one. i asked the support line for a recovery disc on thursday but they still havent delivered.

snooping around and from personal experience i suppose vista is the wise choice, security being of utmost importance.

plan is to remove hdd from this and put it in my t60 to install vista.

not really sure what to do about the rescue and recover, do i just install with a partition? or do you have to make sure your partition leaves a bit of unused room. or am i being stupid and rescue and recover goes on the external hdd? i must look at the readme when im done here.

hopefully the vista recovery disk has all the sata drivers integrated solving the achi/compatability problem. the original post may have been in another forum hence my inability to find it.

cheers