"Error loading OS"

[Tom Snyder]

I just replaced my 15 GB HDD with a new 80 GB. I used
Norton's Ghost to copy the partition from the old to the
new one but I get "Error loading OS" message. I tried
using the XP Home OEM CD (bought via Ebay) to repair the
installation and reactiveate but it will not go through
that sequence. Does anyone have any solutions. Seems like
MS made allowance for replacing the HD on a PC.

 

[William Gower]

Yes it's called being the retail version.

 

[al engle]

In my experience with Ghost, it works best when the
original HDD is master on primary ide and the new one is
master on the secondary ide. As far as using Install and
then the Repair option with XP, it works best when you
uninstall the anti-virus programs. However, it does seem
as though you have a defective chipset on the mainboard.

 

[Tom Snyder]

Maybe, but does that mean that OEM users of XP Home can't
easily replace a HD with a larger one? Seems like there
has to be a better solution than to repurchase XP in
order to replace a HDD and save the applications intact>

 

[Mike]

Tom -

I just went through the exact same thing. Here's what
finally worked:

1. Remove the old HDD completely and install the new drive
as the master.

2. Boot up from a Win98 boot floppy.

3. Run the command: "fdisk /mbr".

4. Remove the floppy and reboot from the new HDD. PLease
note that this command is similar to the WinXP "fixmbr"
command that can be run from the Windows repair console.
It's important to use the Win9x version.

5. Let me know if this works - good luck!