Put old hard drive in new system..

[sdsumike619]

I just built a new computer and took my old system drive (with windows xp on it) and put it into the new system. The new system isn't booting to windows. It brings up that "we apologize for the inconvenience, but windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this..."

Am I not allowed to just put the old drive in a new system? I figured windows would auto detect the changes.. Help!

[drjtech]

In order to boot the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) must be the same, or very nearly the same, as the original. A new motherboard implies a different processor, support chipset, front bus, etc. The "A recent hardware change..." message is saying that your new motherboard has too many differences to boot the system. The system must be well into the boot sequence before plug and play can start autodetecting the hardware.

If you simply replace a defective motherboard with a new motherboard of the same type it is reasonable to expect that the disk will boot, and you will just need to re-authenticate your Windows with Microsoft.

If you upgrade with a new, more powerful motherboard you should expect that you will need to install the OS from scratch.

-drj

[ozymango]

Um ... well, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Depends on whether your different computers have the same HAL or ACPI layers. And it appeas as if yours, don't.

If you still have your old computer and can put the drive back in it, there may be some tricks we could walk you through to make this work on your new computer, but frankly it's a bit of a lengthy process that while not that difficult, is kind of a pain in the butt. So it's probably easier just to rebuild the computer from "scratch," so to speak. This assumes you either have another hard drive to put into the box, or can boot this drive back up, recover all the data you want to keep from it onto CD and/or DVD, and then format it in the new PC.

None of this is exactly a picnic, I know. Are you wanting to just drop your new drive in because you're lazy (like me!), or is there stuff on there you just don't know how to recover? Let us know and we can probably help out more!

[sdsumike619]

totally brand new system, changed from AMD system to Intel Core 2 Duo...

It boots to the CD, the blue "Windows Setup" screen comes up along with the "setup is loading files (.....)

It gets through that whole process, then some screen flashes and a not-so-bright blue screen comes up that says:

"a problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restasrt your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable bios memory options such as caching or shadowing. ......."

? ? ?

[JohnnyMalaria]

totally brand new system, changed from AMD system to Intel Core 2 Duo...

Ah - I knew you were going to say that!

Re the HAL mentioned before, the fact that you have changed from a single processor to a dual processor means that a completely different set of files are needed.

Trying booting in safe mode....

If that doesn't help, try repairing your installation with the original CD-ROM.

Re the authentication, you probably won't run into that little gem until you get past the boot problem.

But - most likely - as the others have said, you'll be better of reinstalling the OS. Now, you can transfer your personal and application settings from the old system using the utility provided by Microsoft, but make sure you install all the apps first...

[sdsumike619]

I went ahead and put the drive back into the old machiine and I'm backing all the important stuff up through the ethernet. After I back up everything on this drive, I assume I need to format the drive so when I put it into the new system, it will be fresh and ready for windows. Question is, how do I format my system drive if I'm using it? Or can I just delete certain files so that when it goes into the new system again, it won't have any virtual memory issues or whatever is going on?

[zoobie]

More often than not, it's the bios settings.

Disable bios memory options such as caching or shadowing.

[edit]Too late now I guess[/edit]

[JohnnyMalaria]

Question is, how do I format my system drive if I'm using it?

The installation program will, at some point, ask what kind of installation do you want to do (e.g., upgrade or new) and where to install it. At that point (or there abouts), you'll get an option to reformat the existing hard drive...or you can choose to install a second copy of the OS on the same drive. That will leave all your data intact.

But if you want to transfer your personal info etc (like emails, application settings) from the old system, run that Microsoft utility first. You'll need something to store the information on, too!

[sdsumike619]

No no, that error came up before it let me into the setup options for Windows.. It happend right after it finished loading all the files it loads at the beginning. I couldn't get to the point where I'd select to make a partition and format it, etc. I called the mobo maker and they said that there's conflicts with the old virtual memory file or something... So apparently I need to get the drive clean and then try again. So I need to know how to get rid of whatever is causing that problem when it's in the new system.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Hmm. If it is the virtual memory file, you could try this:

1. Boot to Windows on your old system (that still works with the drive, doesn't it?)
2. Turn off the virtual memory (so that you can do step 4) (Control Panel/System/Advanced/(Performance) Settings/Advanced/(Virtual Memory) Change/(.) No paging file - Set (phew! that's buried d-e-e-p and for good reason!)
3. Reboot.
4. Delete the virtual memory paging file if it is still on the drive (typically c:\pagefile.sys)

If you get a similar error again, it may be the hibernation file (c:\hiberfil.sys)...

[drewzor]

I know this is a little late but for interest sake:

you can change hdd to different pc configurations however you need to change all your drivers to "generic", that means unistalling your soundcard, video card and everything else. I have done it 4 times since 2001 and only recently did a complete reload.

Go to your hardware profile under "system" in control panel and uninstall everything, what you can't uninstall change to a "standard or generic driver" then switch it to your new pc and let it update the drivers.

its worked for me so far?

[sdsumike619]

well I made a boot cd with diff utilities on it, then I wiped the drive clean, re installed it into the new system and I'm still having a lot of trouble... I'm having trouble booting to the CD. Then sometimes it works and setup starts and then in the middle of it, it says something about an I/O error. This system has been a disaster since the get go, 4pm YESTERDAY =(

I don't know what to do

[TBoneit]

Most likely you have a bad part in the new system, It Happens!

Unhook every hard disc drive and see if you can boot from the cdrom and get to the point where setup starts windows and then complains there is no drive for windows. If it crashes before you get that far you got a bad motherboard or a bad memory or ... well take your pick. Did you try less memory? pr a different Windows CD? BTW you are sure your motherboard supports your new processor? Maybe a bios update could help?

OK I just remembered where I saw the same sort of behavior before, Using a hard drive without wiping it clean.

You coould also try downloading the drive makers utilities and writing zeros (low level format) depending on whose drive it is. I'm guessing Maxtor?

[sdsumike619]

We must have been on the same wavelength... after I posted the "i dunno what to do", I turned it off and disconnected the two storage hard drives so all I had was the dvd drive and the system drive. It booted to the CD without a problem and I have winxp installed! Now I have to re-connect the drives and see what happens..

[greymalkin]

mmmmmmm...core 2 duo.....

[redwudz]

I've ran into that on occasion when I have several hard drives hooked up. It seems like the OS doesn't know where to start installing the files to. You should be able to set up the other drives now with no problems. If it locks up with the other drives plugged in, then recheck your cables and your drive jumper settings. If still no, you may have a bad drive. But good luck.

Hope you get everything up and running.

[TBoneit]

Yup, I always disconnect everything but the boot drive most of the time. It save headaches and oopsies. The only exception to that would be dual boot systems where I do the OS on C: first and then the OS on D:

Sometimes it is even a dual boot of the same OS, One kept lean and clean for encoding and the other for internet and such. This would be at home of course. Norton ticked me off trying to get the NIS 2006 activated in the other copy of Xp on the same machine when their phone drone kept telling me I needed to buy a second copy of NIS for the other drive. I may be wrong but i believe a person should be able to run one licensed copy legally on more than one OS in the same computer. Also I believe a LAptop and a desktop should be licensed together as one unit as long as the don't run at the same time.

Obviously the S/W vendors are pushing for something different. More or less like the content providers want us to buy again when the VHS or DVD goes bad.