Can't boot from slave drive

[AdamJ]

Hello,

Last week my desktops motherboard went bad. I decided to build a new computer and ordered a case, MB, and 2 harddrives.

I cloned the old HD using acronis true image 10 and did a fresh windows and drivers install for the new HD.

I have bios set to boot from the new HD and all is well with it. My problem is that whenever I boot from the slave drive the computer reboots within 15-20 seconds. I have a ton of software and files on the old harddrive, and I can access most of them after the new Harddrive boots. Unfortunately, a lot of the software will not open and I'd really like to be able to boot from the old one anyway.

I'm sure I need to install the drivers for the new Motherboard on the slaved drive. Do I need to remove the old MB drivers first? FYI - both MB's were manufactured by ASUS.

After installing the new MB drivers on the slaved drive; will I be able to do a full Windows boot from it?

I'd really appreciate any help.

Thanks,

Adam

 

[StrangleHold]

See if the old drive will boot in Safe Mode. If so, go into add and remove and uninstall the drivers. Then try to boot to it in regular mode. If it boots, then install the new board drivers.

 

[AdamJ]

See if the old drive will boot in Safe Mode. If so, go into add and remove and uninstall the drivers. Then try to boot to it in regular mode. If it boots, then install the new board drivers.

Thanks for the reply. I tried booting in safe mode, but after choosing safe mode the drivers start loading then the screen freezes after a couple seconds of loading.

Something I failed to mention in earlier post. When choosing Boot Device Priority only the main harddrive is listed.

1st boot device CDROM
2nd boot device WD500 harddrive
3rd boot device [Removable Media]

However, when choosing Hard Disk Drives, both hard drives are listed. I can change the order of the disk drives here in order to get the computer to attempt to boot from the slave drive.

Ideas?

 

[johnb35]

You most likely won't be able to boot to the slave drive without doing a repair install of the operating system. You have different hardware on the new motherboard and the drive won't boot because its looking for other hardware that isn't there so it reboots on you. At this point, the only thing you can do is use the old drive as data drive. All programs would have to be reinstalled anyway.

 

[AdamJ]

You most likely won't be able to boot to the slave drive without doing a repair install of the operating system. You have different hardware on the new motherboard and the drive won't boot because its looking for other hardware that isn't there so it reboots on you. At this point, the only thing you can do is use the old drive as data drive. All programs would have to be reinstalled anyway.

Thanks John. I'm curious, why would all the programs have to be reinstalled? I don't understand why they are not fully functional now?

Thx,

Adam

 

[johnb35]

There are only a few programs that can run standalone. When you install programs most of the time they write entries to the registry and files to the system32 folder in order for the program to work correctly. So whenever you do a fresh install of windows on a separate drive or like say in a dual boot situation, programs have to be installed on both operating systems.

 

[AdamJ]

Ah, now it makes sense. I may get another motherboard to replace the old one and reinstall the old harddrive so I can have access to the programs from the old computer. I have tons of software.

I really appreciate the help John.

Adam

 

[johnb35]

If you get a new motherboard, you will need to do a fresh install of windows and then you may have an issue getting the install activated. All depends on the type of install disc it is. Is it OEM, upgrade, full retail?

 

[AdamJ]

If you get a new motherboard, you will need to do a fresh install of windows and then you may have an issue getting the install activated. All depends on the type of install disc it is. Is it OEM, upgrade, full retail?

Hmmm, didn't think of that. I've already loaded the OEM (Windows XP Pro) onto the new computer. Guess I could upgrade the new computer and reload the old (original windows software) on the old one.??

 

[johnb35]

The OEM can't be reactivated on the new machine. OEM is tied to the original motherboard that it was installed on. Retail version can be installed on as many pc's as you want but can only be installed on one at a time and must be uninstalled from the previous machine.

 

[AdamJ]

The OEM can't be reactivated on the new machine. OEM is tied to the original motherboard that it was installed on. Retail version can be installed on as many pc's as you want but can only be installed on one at a time and must be uninstalled from the previous machine.

Ok, I just went and got the software. It's in a retail type container, and it must be retail since I loaded it on the new computer and activated it without problems.

So, would it be possible to upgrade windows on the new computer and reload the original retailed windows on the old. Or will this not work, even though I would upgrade the version on the new computer?

 

[S.T.A.R.S.]

You most likely won't be able to boot to the slave drive without doing a repair install of the operating system. You have different hardware on the new motherboard and the drive won't boot because its looking for other hardware that isn't there so it reboots on you.

True!John you are one of the rare people I know who knows these things very well as I do lol.Most of the people I know would say "WTF" lol.Anyway I agree with you completely.

AdamJ here is what you should do in order to use your OLD drive and boot it in your new computer:

-open the computer case
-set the jumpers on your NEW disk to be as a SLAVE disk.Then set the jumpers on your OLD disk to be as a master disk.
NOTE: If your new disk is SATA then jumpers won't help here.So what you can do is to go into BIOS and set your OLD drive to be the first hard drive to boot from and your NEW drive to be as a second drive to boot from.Of course ALSO set your CD/DVD-ROM drive to be the FIRST device to boot from because you will need that now in the future steps!!!
-So if your OLD drive is PATA and your new drive is ALSO PATA,then simply set the jumpers on your NEW disk to be as a SLAVE disk.Then set the jumpers on your OLD disk to be as a master disk.
If your NEW disk is SATA,still set the jumpers of your OLD drive to be as a master disk and then go into BIOS and put your OLD drive to be the FIRST drive to boot from and your NEW drive as a second drive to boot from...
If BOTH drives are SATA,then simply in the BIOS set your OLD SATA drive to be the FIRST drive to boot from and your NEW SATA drive to be as a second drive to boot from.
-Also one more time...do not forget to set your CD/DVD-ROM drive to be the FIRST device to boot from.So here is the order of how you should set your devices in the BIOS BOOT order section:
--->First device: CD/DVD-ROM drive
--->Second device: OLD hard disk drive
--->Third device: NEW hard disk drive

-After all this,open the CD/DVD-ROM drive tray and put in the disk which contains the SAME operating system which is on your OLD drive!
NOTE: Make sure that the disk also contains the SAME or NEWER service pack version of the operating system which is on your OLD drive!
-Now close the CD/DVD-ROM drive tray,save your BIOS changes and restart the computer...
-Boot from the disk...
-I will assume that the operating system on your OLD drive is XP so once you get to the repair section,be sure to SELECT the proper operating system which is on your OLD drive then hit R button on your keyboard to start the REPAIR process.Here is how the repair section looks like:

NOTE: The list will probably be different to you,but don't worry.Just select the PROPER item and click the R button on your keyboard to start the repair process.
-Follow the instructions to finish the repair process...
NOTE: While performing the repair of an operating system which you want to make working on a different computer,during the repair process you might get few errors that a certain file(s) cannot be copied.Here is the image:

So if this happens,don't worry.Just click the "Cancel" button and if you are asked do you want to continue the setup without copying the file,just click YES...
-After the repair is finished,you are done.Now your operating system works on your new computer together with ALL installed programs and games...
-One last thing you should do is to install the drivers for that new PC on that OLD drive in order to make everything working better such as graphics,sound and so on blablabla...
-The End




Cheers!




UAC - User Access Commands

 

[AdamJ]

WOW S.T.A.R.S.! I really appreciate the great post. I'll try to find time this weekend to give it a shot.

Adam