Hard drive access light keeps blinking...

[ntscuser]

I just transferred a hard drive with Windows XP Home SP2 and all apps from an old Hewlett-Packard PC to a new build PC. I did a dummy run with an old hard drive still running SP1 first to see if it could be done. Everything works fine except that the hard drive access LED blnks with monotonous regularity even when I'm not using the PC. It blinks more frantically when I type anything on the keyboard which is most distracting.

There is more than sufficient RAM (2 Gig) installed that page file access is not normally needed. The most frequently used Windows routines are loaded into RAM in any case. I've run the usual scan for keystroke loggers, spyware, etc and not found any. I've disabled system processes one at a time till I'm blue in the face and the light still keeps flashing.

Possibly related, when I restart the PC from the toolbar or otherwise reboot, the PC freezes on the bios settup screen. I have to physically press F1 on the keyboard to load Windows. Have checked bios to ensure that the correct boot sequence is selected, currently Hard Drive 0 (master) followed by CD-ROM and then Floppy. I have disabled Windows copy protection even though this is a fully licensed version.

The odd thing is that none of the above problems were present when I did the dummy run with the SP1 hard drive!

[ntscuser]

Okay, one problem solved. I tried "load optimized defaults" in BIOS settings and that cured the manual reboot problem. I am aware of the Windows XP repair install option but reluctant to use it except as a last resort in case I'm forced to do a full format for any reason.

Before moving the hard drive with all its apps I set up a network connection just in case I need to transfer some additional files from another PC. I no longer need the network connection but am unable to delete it. The "delete" option is greyed-out in the network settings menu.

There are hundreds of articles on the internet about how to create a network but hardly any on how to delete one.

[jagabo]

Try removing the NIC in Device Manager.

[ntscuser]

Try removing the NIC in Device Manager.

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried that before and the unwanted network disappeared for the rest of the session but at next boot-up XP reinstalled the card and I was back where I started from. The card is also integrated into the motherboard so I can't remove it physically. I have at least been able to "disable" the unwanted network so that it doesn't interact with other processes.

[jagabo]

You can probably disable the NIC via the BIOS.

[ntscuser]

You can probably disable the NIC via the BIOS.

Yes, thanks. I think you're right. Page 26 of the BIOS manual gives me two options:

VIA-3043 MC97 Onchip LAN
This option allows you to control the onboard LAN
The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

Onboard Lan Boot ROM
Decide whether to invoke the boot ROM of the onboard LAN chip.
The Choices: Enabled, Disabled (default).

[buttzilla]

Your problem is you took an OS disk from another system and put it in a new system without expecting problems. This will cause you nothing but problems. This is a No No. Why didn't you do a fresh install?

[ntscuser]

Your problem is you took an OS disk from another system and put it in a new system without expecting problems.

I did expect problems.

This will cause you nothing but problems. This is a No No. Why didn't you do a fresh install?

Because then I would have had to reinstall every single application, register them, then spend another two years tweaking them to get them working as well as they do now. The problems I've had so far have been very trivial compared to that.

[jagabo]

I usually use XP's repair install option (usually when replacing a motherobard).

[ntscuser]

I always use XP's repair install option (usually when replacing a motherobard).

Yes, I was ready to do that if the drive install had not gone as well as it did. On a previous occasion when I did a repair install the hard drive refused to boot afterards and I was forced to do a complete format with all the problems mentioned above so it is now very much a last resort.

[jagabo]

I always use XP's repair install option (usually when replacing a motherobard).

Yes, I was ready to do that if the drive install had not gone as well as it did. On a previous occasion when I did a repair install the hard drive refused to boot afterards and I was forced to do a complete format with all the problems mentioned above so it is now very much a last resort.

I usually have the opposite problem. The drive won't boot without doing the repair install. I'm usually swapping very different motherboards though. Like a Core 2 Duo for a Northwood P4. Or an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ for a Athlon XP 1700+.

[ntscuser]

I managed to disable the LAN in BIOS thanks. The light still blinks though