Transfer my old Linux installation to my new computer by transferring the hard disk?

[Daan]

Hi! I have a new (second hand) computer and would like to simply replace its hard disk with the hard disk from my old computer that has a Linux installation, so that I don't have to install my software again (and get the wireless working etc, takes quite a lot of work).

I guess it would have to update the GRUB menu, and fstab, and maybe some other things.

Do you think that's a good idea?

Regards,

Daan

[RobinVossen]

If Id were you Id just reinstall the entire box.
But backup the /etc folder.
The problem with when you do that. is that the wifi/graphic/eth options/chipsets are diffrent.

Just get that Gentoo cd out again and start from scratch. Then load your old home folder back.
And if should work ^^

[daark.child]

What distro are you using? What you are proposing to do can work, but be prepared to troubleshoot and fix any problems as well as to reconfigure the hardware if its different from that in the old machine. The last time I did something similar, kudzu in Fedora, detected the hardware changes and everything just worked.

[devils casper]

You dont have to edit grub conf or fstab files. Simply replace HD and boot up. You might face X Server and a few other problems but that easy to fix.

[Daan]

Thanks all for you answers. Looks like it's worth a try and I'll do it tonight (and tell you the result).

The two computers are similar, both have an AMD Athlon CPU. However, the "new" one has SDRAM in stead of DDR (what's it called again?) and only 192 MB instead of 512 MB.

daark.child: I'm using Debian Etch.

[oz]

If time is important to you, I think the fresh install is definitely the way to go. If learning about Linux is more important, then the transfer would be the best choice.

Have fun with Linux!

[rcgreen]

There is a possibility that the BIOS in the second computer
may have a different interpretation of the disk's geometry,
and therefore may think that partition boundaries are somewhere
other than what the first computer thought.

It will either work or it won't. Back up your data just in case.

[Daan]

Hey all,

I just transfered the disk, and it seems to work just fine, without any reconfiguring. I also transfered a second HD and my graphics card, they function as I am used too, as does my USB wireless adapter and DVD burner. My sound card not yet, though.

I don't think I'm going to bother trying the Windows XP installation that is also on the transfered disk.

With Linux, very little hassle and certainly a lot of fun!