Put hard drive into different laptop; now Windows XP won't boot

  • Thread starter Thread starter JR
  • Start date Start date
J

JR

I put a hard drive with Windows XP into an almost
identical laptop and now Windows will not boot. The hard
drive still boots fine in the old laptop (I took it back
out to check). However, on the new one, it goes through
POST, then I get a blinking cursor. I know that the hard
drive is recognized. I've tried doing repair and
CHKDISK /R and nothing seems to be working. This is for
someone else and reinstalling XP is not an option right
now. I know that XP has issues with "new" hardware. Any
ideas?
 
JR said:
I put a hard drive with Windows XP into an almost
identical laptop and now Windows will not boot. The hard
drive still boots fine in the old laptop (I took it back
out to check). However, on the new one, it goes through
POST, then I get a blinking cursor. I know that the hard
drive is recognized. I've tried doing repair and
CHKDISK /R and nothing seems to be working. This is for
someone else and reinstalling XP is not an option right
now. I know that XP has issues with "new" hardware. Any
ideas?
Click to expand...

WinXP (and Win2000!) is "married" to the hardware it's
installed on. Check this link if you wish to run it on
different hardware:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q315341
 
Greetings --

What do you mean by "almost identical?"

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations
and licenses are not transferable to a new motherboard), unless the
new motherboard is virtually identical (same chipset, same IDE
controllers, same BIOS version, etc.) to the one on which the WinXP
installation was originally performed, you'll need to perform a repair
(a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation, at the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also require re-activation, unless you have a Volume
Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. If it's been more than 120
days since you last activated that specific Product Key, you'll most
likely be able to activate via the internet without problem. If it's
been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone call.


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH
 
Greetings --

What do you mean by "almost identical?"

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations
and licenses are not transferable to a new motherboard), unless the
new motherboard is virtually identical (same chipset, same IDE
controllers, same BIOS version, etc.) to the one on which the WinXP
installation was originally performed, you'll need to perform a repair
(a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation, at the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also require re-activation, unless you have a Volume
Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. If it's been more than 120
days since you last activated that specific Product Key, you'll most
likely be able to activate via the internet without problem. If it's
been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone call.


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH
 
WinXP (and Win2000!) is "married" to the hardware it's
installed on. Check this link if you wish to run it on
different hardware:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q315341
Click to expand...

Only if it's an OEM version of the software...and the OP didn't make
it clear if it's OEM or not.

More likely the case is that the "nearly identical" laptop is not as
nearly identical as he/she thinks. Laptops/notebooks are very
propietary and moving the HD from one to another without doing a
repair install is a recipe for disaster.
 
It's the same laptop, just one version earlier. It has
some slightly different hardware. I knew that XP does
not "transfer" well--was just looking to see if anyone had
any fixes I didn't know about it since it wouldn't do safe
mode, wouldn't do a repair install, etc. Long story, just
didn't have the luxury of reinstalling Windows on this
person's laptop at that point. Have since convinced them
this is best thing, so have reinstalled and am okay now.
Thanks!
 
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