Move HDD because of fried mother board

[Guest]

I have a hard drive with Windows XP Home OEM installed it. The computer it
was in had its mother board fried. We bought a replacement computer and are
trying to get the HDD working in the new system. I have read and tried
everything I can find online, but to no avail. The computer gives nothing
more than a cursor in the top left of the monitor. I have tested the HDD
from bios and it checks out. I have run chkdsk/p and chkdsk /r from repair
console and they are ok. I have run fixboot and fixmbr from repair console.
I have done in-place upgrade. Nothing gets me anything in the boot process,
yet I'm convinced the HDD is ok. Any ideas?

 

[GHalleck]

I have a hard drive with Windows XP Home OEM installed it. The computer it
was in had its mother board fried. We bought a replacement computer and are
trying to get the HDD working in the new system. I have read and tried
everything I can find online, but to no avail. The computer gives nothing
more than a cursor in the top left of the monitor. I have tested the HDD
from bios and it checks out. I have run chkdsk/p and chkdsk /r from repair
console and they are ok. I have run fixboot and fixmbr from repair console.
I have done in-place upgrade. Nothing gets me anything in the boot process,
yet I'm convinced the HDD is ok. Any ideas?

Unless the replacement motherboard is practically identical to the one it
has replaced, there will always be problems in starting Windows XP with the
new one. Notwithstanding the diagnostic tests that only confirm that the
hard drive is intact and functioning and that repair has only "repaired"
Windows XP, there may be other parts that remain mismatched, such as the
chipset drivers, for example. Furthermore, with an OEM version of Windows
XP, there is no guarantee that the original was not bios-locked to the
original motherboard which resulted in creating a boot sector that might
be considered to be "non-standard" due to proprietary bios tables being
used.

Do a clean install of Windows XP, if at all possible.

 

[BigJim]

this may work, the link will give you instructions on how to do a repair
install.


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

 

[Guest]

All the posts I've read suggest you get error or stop messages. If it is
bios locked will it give me an error message or nothing at all? My
frustration has been no feedback from the computer.

I read that Microsoft allows the OEM version to be transferred in the case
of a damaged motherboard. Can that get around the bios lock or that another
layer of inflexibility altogether?

The old and new computers are both P4 2.4GHz machines, but the new one (2nd
hand) is a Compact Evo which probably does carry bucket-loads of proprietory
stuff, including the bios.

 

[GHalleck]

All the posts I've read suggest you get error or stop messages. If it is
bios locked will it give me an error message or nothing at all? My
frustration has been no feedback from the computer.

Remember, the operating system must communicate with the hardware. If this
communication is non-existent in the first place, then there is going to be
no feedback. The original hard drive has been set up to operate under a
specific set of parameters for a different brand and/or model of motherboard
which no longer exists.

I read that Microsoft allows the OEM version to be transferred in the case
of a damaged motherboard. Can that get around the bios lock or that another
layer of inflexibility altogether?

While true, the understanding is that the OEM-builder is responsible for the
transfer as part of the warranty or guarantee agreement. The EULA limits the
OEM version to the specific computer in which it was first installed. The
OEM-builder can effect the "repair" because it has the resources to do so as
part of the requirements for any warranty or guarantee.

The old and new computers are both P4 2.4GHz machines, but the new one (2nd
hand) is a Compact Evo which probably does carry bucket-loads of proprietory
stuff, including the bios.

That says it all. Probably the most proprietary computers built are Compaq
units. The Compaq motherboard will need a Compaq bios-locked installation
disc or specific recovery disc or an off-the-shelf "generic" OEM XP version,
i.e., an unbranded one. (The first machine was not a Compaq, right?)

Good luck.

 

[Noncompliant]

How did you know the XP install was OEM?

 

[Guest]

"OEM product" is printed on the product sticker. The owner of the failed
computer only knew they had Windows XP Home, as would any average home
computer user.

I have learned a lot more about the implications of the OEM license during
this battle to transfer the drive. I own 2 separate OEM licenses (this one
is for a friend) and on no occasion has the implication of the license been
explained by the supplier, yet the supplier has accepted the eula during
pre-installation. I don't like the way this works at all, and given the
number of posts I've seen from people in the same situation, I know I'm in
good company.

 

[GHalleck]

"OEM product" is printed on the product sticker. The owner of the failed
computer only knew they had Windows XP Home, as would any average home
computer user.

I have learned a lot more about the implications of the OEM license during
this battle to transfer the drive. I own 2 separate OEM licenses (this one
is for a friend) and on no occasion has the implication of the license been
explained by the supplier, yet the supplier has accepted the eula during
pre-installation. I don't like the way this works at all, and given the
number of posts I've seen from people in the same situation, I know I'm in
good company.

There is a very fine line in the interpretation of the EULA. If you are
the owner of the OEM copy of Windows XP and it is not a branded or a bios-
locked version, then you are, in part, the "builder" when the computer
installer assembles the system of your design for you. If a particular
component of the computer needs to be replaced due to failure and if you
alone or with the installer did the replacement with a suitable one (i.e.,
"generic", or unbranded) , then you still remain, in effect, the system-
builder. All comes down to what was done and how.

 

[Guest]

I have read mention of "generic" OEM Windows XP, but in all the documentation
that comes with an installation even now I can't see anything that indicates
generic or non-generic. It says it can only be supplied with a new computer,
but nowhere does it indicate that it is locked to particular equipment,
particularly the motherboard or bios. The buyer remains ignorant unless they
already possess the knowledge. I don't like the "you aught to have known"
attitude when there really is no way to know unless you are an OEM builder.

Thanks for your posts.

 

[GHalleck]

I have read mention of "generic" OEM Windows XP, but in all the documentation
that comes with an installation even now I can't see anything that indicates
generic or non-generic. It says it can only be supplied with a new computer,
but nowhere does it indicate that it is locked to particular equipment,
particularly the motherboard or bios. The buyer remains ignorant unless they
already possess the knowledge. I don't like the "you aught to have known"
attitude when there really is no way to know unless you are an OEM builder.

Thanks for your posts.

And this is the reason why the uninitiated should always buy "retail".

 

[Noncompliant]

Some online vendors offer generic OEM XP installation CD w/product key for
much less than buying an entire computer. Generic OEM XP is generally used
by PC builders/assemblers that don't want it tied to specific PC hardware
and bios version/string prior to installation of XP. The builder/assembler
generally has to install software drivers after the installation of XP for
full effective operation of all hardware. The builder/assembler of the PC
is responsible for support of hardware and software operability.

With major PC makers, they're not generic. The installation is obviously
not pure XP at the desktop observation of junk.

Open control panel, open system, general tab. What does the bottom line of
"registered to" indicate?

 

[Guest]

I can't check anything. The old computer is extinct and the new computer is
completely non-responsive. The "new" computer is actually a 2nd hand P4
2.4GHz machine bought from the local hospital for AU$200 without HDD. For an
extra AU$100 a new HDD can be installed and XP (presumably again OEM version)
installed on it. It is the cheapest way out, but obviously requires
reinstallation of all software and work to salvage mail and other data files
from the other HDD. Trouble I was attempting to avoid. Oh well.