It is more difficult but not impossible.  Drivers will be generic and the Compaq bloatware and keyboard shortcuts or features will not work.  Specific drivers are available at Compaq and other sites.  I have done a generic install of XP SP3 on a CompUSA PC using my OEM Windows XP from an HP Laptop.
David Thompson
      From: Vincent Winterling <[log in to unmask]>
 To: [log in to unmask] 
 Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2015 3:43 PM
 Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] Hard Drives (similar but not identical question)
   
If I am understanding what you wish to accomplish, what you appear to have missed is that you can’t move the operating system to the compaq. You may be looking at a repair install or a reinstall.
--
Vincent Winterling
Vineland, NJ









On 12/7/15, 7:01 PM, "[log in to unmask] on behalf of [log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask] on behalf of [log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
>  I have a "netbook" (small laptop) on which both the built-in ethernet
>controller and built-in wireless controller have failed.  I don't recall
>what happened to the original hard drive; the one that's installed now
>is 750GB and has been serving as an archival volume, so I'd like to
>connect it to a network...
>  The hard drive is set up to dual boot between Windows 7 Home Premium
>and Ubuntu Linux.  Because there weren't Linux drivers for the Ethernet
>controller chip, I've often used a USB-to-Ethernet adapter on this
>machine, and that still works for Linux but somewhere along the way,
>Win7 has forgotten how to use that dongle.  And for some reason the
>drivers for a USB-to-Wifi adapter don't seem to load properly...
>
>  I've found where an online merchant has off-lease Compaq laptops for
>about $120, including a 120GB hard drive with Win7.  So my plan is to
>put the 750GB drive in a USB enclosure, copy the drivers from the Compaq
>to it, pull the 120B drive and install the 750, and re-match the drivers
>with their devices, which I'm hoping will leave me with the 750GB drive
>usable in a new laptop slightly bigger and more powerful than the old
>netbook.
>  Am I overlooking anything major?
>
>David Gillett

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