Boot up OS after Replacing HD

[jonathonoss]

I have a Compaq (linux), Dell(W2k), and HP(W2k) machines.

If I take the Compaq HD and replace the Dell or HP HD and turn on the Dell or HP computer, now with Compaq's original HD, Linux starts up normally. No problem.

But when I replace the Dell HD with the HP HD (and vice versa), I need a W2K boot disk (with boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect) in order to get start W2K! If I don't use a floppy disk to boot, the monitor shows a blinking cursor at the top-left part of the monitor after running POST -- obviously unable to load the OS. I can access the CMOS settings (BIOS) at all times on the Dell and HP, and CMOS always detects the HD's correctly. I have tried running W2K Recovery Console and run FIXMBR to see if it needed a new MBR, but that didn't help.

Why will a Linux HD boot up normally when placed in another machine, but a W2K hard drive can not get NTLDR to start the boot process for W2K when placed in another machine? Am I missing something?

All the machines are around 2 years old if it matters.

Thanks in advance,

Jon

 

[tlcscousin]

W2K takes care of all hardware.When you take a hard drive from one machine to another, there are hardware changes, and W2K does not like that. You would need to repair or reinstall if you want to switch drives. Sometimes and I stress SOMETIMES a switch from a PC to an identical PC will work. You are going from an HP to a DELL not even close to identical.