How do I move Windows XP to a custom machine?

Question

I was using a Gateway (not my choice) which recently kicked the bucket. So I custom-built a new machine, but want to keep the same harddrive, including all the files and OS. When I boot, it brings up the XP load screen for a moment and then quits, starting the entire boot process over. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Your old hard drive contains a Windows system database called the Registry, which describes your old PC in detail. When you try and boot from it, Windows realizes that it is not in the right PC and will not boot.

The standard way to build a new Registry is to reinstall Windows. If you have the WinXP disk, get it and do the reinstall. If you only have a Gateway 'Recovery', you can try it but it probably will not work. You will probably lose all your data unless you have backup.

You might be able to save your data files if you get another harddrive to install Windows on, then install your old hard drive as a secondary data drive. But all programs will have to be reinstalled.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Yup, you get the ubiquitous BSOD and a condescending message informing you that in an effort to protect your machine from damage, Windows has terminated the boot process.
Of course it is not really protecting your machine from damage but in fact the check sum has failed to verify that the hardware is the same configuration as the machine that it was originally installed on.
In other words, it thinks that you are trying to install a duplicate copy on a separate machine.
If your origional machine is dead then there is only one realistic solution to the problem and that is to backup your important files (hopefully they are not in a personal folder or they will not be accessible) and reinstall Windows.
~BTW~ you will need to do a complete install because a repair will not work.
At least it is not even close to being as much of a pain as Vista.
Cheers!