Swapped hard drive - wont boot 1

[llsp2]

I'm trying to swap out a hd on a computer I put together. The computer works fine with one hd, but when I put in the other hd (the one I want to use!!), it wont boot. The second hd is fully functional on my old computer. When I put it in my new computer, it keeps cycling thru a boot process... gets as far as the boot menu ... "safe mode, safe mode w/command prompt, etc" then restarts. I've tried changing the jumper settings, and changing location on the cable, (just for ha-ha's). No luck. Any suggestions? I am working on the new computer w/the old drive, as we speak, so obvioulsy it is working otherwise. Thanks in advance!
Lisa

 

[happydownloader]

Did the new hdd already have an OS on it or did you ghost it from your other hdd
Try doing a recover from your cd if you can and see if that helps

 

[Lemon13]

you connected it as master on the primary ide from your new pc, and when you try to boot it wont!?
what os is on, i.e. w2k/xp dont like when they are installed on one mb and now shall boot with another mb.(different chipset drivers and so).

 

[llsp2]

The hd is 120 gig, and has XP on it. Not ghosted. It is the hd from my previous computer. If at all possible, it's the one that I REALLY want to use, as-is, because I have SOOOOOO much installed on it. I don't want to have to reinstall the world again.

Lemon, you mention chipset drivers. I considered installing them while the hd is in my old computer, then putting the drive in the new computer. Do you have any thoughts on this? I'm leary, because like I said, I have alot of on the drive, and don't want to render it useless. Right now I can still put it in my old comp. and do what I need to do. Thanks again.

 

[happydownloader]

ok now that you said it came out of another computer now your starting to give some details
What is probably happening is it's loading drivers and looking for hardware that was on your other system.
If you do a recovery install on it you should be ok as it will reset that hardware and drivers you are now using and not use the ones that it's looking for from your other system
good luck!

 

[llsp2]

If I do a recovery install, will all of my programs still be intact? I have so much software purchased and downloaded... no hard copy, that will make reinstalls a major pain in the you know what!

 

[Freestone]

Here's a couple of links you may want to review before proceeding any further:

Move Current Hard Drive to a New Windows XP System

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install

 

[llsp2]

Thank you all for your help, but I've decided to take the chicken (safe) way out. Got a 160 gig WD for $70 (after rebates) and think I'll just run both systems until I have everything safely transferred over. The $70 is money well spent for peace of mind alone! Thanks again!

 

[Lemon13]

a wise decision, to install the new chipset drivers on the ols system most probably would not work.
do you have xp sp1? you will need that to be able to access the hdd over 137gb.

 

[llsp2]

So I discovered! My cd is not SP1. I'll have to start out w/137, then install the s.p., then get the rest of my drive back. What a pain. You'd think as os's got smarter, this kind of thing would get easier, not harder. I remember the good ole days of W98. Pop a drive out of one, pop it into another. You're done! Oh well....

 

[Freestone]

You can always try creating a slipstreamed CD:

Create A Bootable Windows XP Installation CD Slipstreamed with SP1

 

[sixstrings4]

Here's an idea too. Put the old drive back into the old system and create a partition on it. Now move data that you want to keep over to the partition and format the original portion with the OS loaded. Then when you want to put that old drive in your new system you should have no problems.