xp restarting

[starcraftmaster]

hey a freind gave me a hard drive

he said that theres windows xp on it and does not know if it works or not

it dosent work lol

every time i plug it in to my computer and start the computer its go's past the bios sceen and then it trys to start windows xp But i see a blue sceen for about 1 secend and then the hole computer restarts again

i tryed safe mode but no luck does some thing as normal

[luke.mccormick]

If the hard drive didn't come out of a computer with the same hardware as what yours is, you have to do a fresh install. This is because of the HAL differences. Google it, it's a VERY widely known issue.

[Tripredacus]

If the hard drive didn't come out of a computer with the same hardware as what yours is, you have to do a fresh install. This is because of the HAL differences. Google it, it's a VERY widely known issue.

Well it isn't always because of the HAL. XP will usually work with the incorrect HAL loaded. What it probably is the mass storage controller, but no one can say for sure unless the exit code on the BSOD is posted.

Your best bet, starcraftmaster, is to use that drive as a data drive.

[jaclaz]

Just for the record:

in some cases it is possible to do a Repair install

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

the procedure is tricky, so it is not recommended unless there is a reason.

Usually the BSOD flashes and then the computer restarts because of a badly configured (MS setting by default ) Registry key.

By default XP is set that in case of Error it should re-boot.

This setting can be changed through the GUI on a fully booted XP, in a case like yours the fix is changing a key in the Registry:

http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/229/

You will need a PE of some kind to boot from and change the Registry key value in order to see the BSOD and know which is the specuific STOP ERROR it gives, most probably the 0x0000007b connected to a missing/wrong mass storage device driver as Tripredacus hinted.

jaclaz

[starcraftmaster]

is there a registry editor u can get in dos

like put it on a floppy