Custom WMC Build

[iiamsiincere]

Hello. I'm very new to Windows XP and MCE under the hood. I have imaged a few computers in the past with both, so I have a foundational understanding but there is an issue I'm encountering that I'm hoping to get help with. 

I purchased a used HTPC from the early 2000s from HP. After a few months, I was finally able to find the official Recovery Disc for it. I noticed that if I reimage the desktop with the original HDD, I get no issues. But the minute I try to use a WD Black drive or an SSD, I get a warning that the disc can't be used with that drive. 

One thing I was thinking was to dive into the files, so see if I could figure out a workaround. I opened up a few of the config/ini files with notepad++ and found some bits and pieces of information but nothing in regards to the Disc looking for the HDD ID in order to know what drive is installed. I'm sure HP did this on purpose. I can install another MCE or Windows XP installation ISO/USB with another drive, but I would like to use the recovery disc that installs all of the software associated with this specific computer. 

Would anyone know what I should look for and how I might be able to go about changing the config file so that I can image the recovery onto an SSD or at the very least a faster HDD?

My machine is the HP z557 Digital Entertainment Center but the recovery disc for any of the z500 series should be similar (some models have different GPUs but mostly all the same). I did change the RAM and CPU, so I have the feeling that the HDD is the only thing it checks for.