can't boot Win2k when disk moved.

The good way is to put your HDD in the old computer save your data and after that perform a fresh install on new computer.
The new computer have a different hardware configuration and Win2000 know the old configuration.
If in the new computer the HDD don't have the same "position" master or slave then your boot.ini file can't start up your OS.
You can try a reinstall of the OS over existing instalation. This will preserv your data.

The disk is the same, but the rest of the hardware is different, which means different drive translation. You might be able to boot to it with a boot floppy (ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini), but you almost certainly will never boot to it on it'sown. Your best bet is to backup the data ahead of time, then perform a clean install after moving it to a new computer and restoring the data.

Interesting Problem,

First check the bios in the machine you put the W2K HDD in. Check to see if it is configured properly; detecting the new drive and the right kind of drive in terms of size and type. Just a precaution really.

Next, I would suggest you try to use advanced boot options by pressing the F8 Key when you get the option presented on the boot up screen, and try starting in Safe Mode only. If you can get in, you can view and if need be, remove any drivers from the old systemthat are still on the HDD and part of the startup process (which it could be hanging up on), but are no longer present on the new computer.

Once the drivers for devices you no longer have are removed, reboot. If windows 2000 gets thru the loading screen, then it will detect new hardware devices and install what is needed to get up and running. You can upgrade or install drivers from disks as you go.

If you can't get even that far, try starting the new computer with the W2K CD, and go thru the repair process prompts. Make sure booting from a CD-ROM drive is enable in the bios, and set it to the first boot device, before or ahead of the HDD. If you don't have CD, you are kinda stuck.

You should not need to reformat the drive anddo a fresh install. It would be nice though, as there are many benefits to reinstalling. Just make sure you have copies of the application you will need to reinstall, and backup your data, write down your login ids and passwords for any thing requiring them, etc.

Hope this helps some!
Please rate my reply and let me know if it helps

You didn't mention if you other computer has a second drive on it or what kind it is.

wrong HAL. end of story.

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