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PC won't boot with transplanted HDD

By Tom_in_NJ ·
I recently tried changing a hard drive running Windows XP from a 500Mhz Celeron to a P4 2.26. Both computers have 512MB RAM.

When I fire up the P4 with the transplanted hard drive, it goes through POST and gets as far as the Windows splash screen, then I get a BSOD that flashes faster than can be read and the PC reboots and repeats the cycle.

One other clue: for an unknown reason the PC will boot up if the original XP disk is in the CD drawer.

Any suggestions?

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by dryflies In reply to PC won't boot with transp ...

Go into your BIOS and change the option that tells it to reboot on a failure. then you will be able to read the BSOD. That will help you troubleshoot the problem

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by Tom_in_NJ In reply to

Thanks, this should steer me in the right direction.

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by Ricky In reply to PC won't boot with transp ...

Re-detect the Hard drive (from the BIOS before boot-up - at POST) on the new system. Seems like it's reading the new drive with the wrong geometry.

HTH.

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by Tom_in_NJ In reply to

This answer may work, but I don't know how to redetect the hard drive during POST.

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by ghimpe-- In reply to PC won't boot with transp ...
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by Tom_in_NJ In reply to

No text with answer.

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by NormH3 In reply to PC won't boot with transp ...

Ok..maybe I am way off base here, but the Celeron has a different internal architecture than the P4 (ie..no L1 cache etc)..is it possible that moving the hardrive from a Celeron machine to a P4 machine just won't work??..I rally don't know..just thinking out loud here.

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by Tom_in_NJ In reply to

This answer isn't conclusive and will require additional research.

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by jkaras In reply to PC won't boot with transp ...

Hey Jersey,
this link shows that if the chipset is the same it should work without a hitch, if different well at least you can try. http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1755&page=5

If I were you I would get an old HDD load windows on it and boot to it, then slave your old one to extract whatever it is you need from it. Then I would wipe that bad boy for the new board. It will be a pain but if you need certain things you can determine how trouble it is worth to get the goodies. Since you went to all that trouble for a nice new board, start fresh, less hassel, then properly configure your pc for optimal settings.

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by Tom_in_NJ In reply to

This link provided additional details.

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