Ghosting a WinXP boot drive (was: AMD vs. Intel)

[Dan <dan27649@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 6/16/06, Jones, John (US) <John.Jones@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Try this: Buy the notebook ($700), the faster drive ($130), backup or
> disk imaging software like Norton Ghost ($26 for 100% legal OEM version:
> http://www.buycheapsoftware.com/details.asp?productID=1795 ), and a 2.5"
> USB-powered external drive enclosure (maybe $25).  Install the fast
> drive in the enclosure & connect to the notebook.  Clone the slow drive
> to the fast drive & then swap the disks (or simply reinstall on the fast
> drive).  Ending config: slow in enclosure, fast in notebook.  Now use
> the slow drive to back up the fast drive periodically or as a general
> purpose external USB-attached/USB-powered portable drive.

I've got a similar situation I'm trying to address, although for different
reasons.  My previous employer was getting rid of all of their old PC
equipment by letting employees take them.  Me being a cheapwad and all that,
plus having three kids who do homework at the same time, blah, blah, blah, I
took home a couple of them.

This one PC has Windows XP Pro loaded but the HD has only a 6GB capacity
(you read right: six gigabytes).  I have no idea what they were thinking
when they installed this; the PC easily predates the XP OS (I think it's a
266MHz w/ 128MB ram).  I was going to turn this box into a ipCop appliance,
but didn't want to "waste" the XP Pro install.

Ideally, it'd be nice to ghost this drive, and "paste" it to a new drive.
Preferably a new drive on a new machine.  But where does Windows Activation
puke, if at all?  I could probably retrieve the Windows product key using a
free keyfinder utility.  Based on the age of the machine, this install of
WinXP Pro could not possibly be an OEM install, but rather a retail
upgrade.  Presuming that, should I be able to "legally" move the OS to
another machine?

What thinkest thou?

TIA,
Dan