Moving hard drive to another motherboard

[Guest]

My motherboard died and I am trying to move my hard drive to another
computer. When I boot the system, it comes up in safe mode. The drivers
start loading and the last driver to display on the screen is the MUP.SYS
file, then the system hangs. Can anyone help me get around this problem?

 

[Ken Blake]

My motherboard died and I am trying to move my hard drive to another
computer. When I boot the system, it comes up in safe mode. The drivers
start loading and the last driver to display on the screen is the MUP.SYS
file, then the system hangs. Can anyone help me get around this problem?

You can almost never simply move it to another system. At the very least,
you need to do a repair installation. Most of the time that works, but
sometimes that isn't sufficient, and you need to do a clean reinstallation.

 

[Malke]

My motherboard died and I am trying to move my hard drive to another
computer. When I boot the system, it comes up in safe mode. The drivers
start loading and the last driver to display on the screen is the MUP.SYS
file, then the system hangs. Can anyone help me get around this problem?

You need to do a Repair Install.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm - Repair Install
How-To


Malke

 

[Guest]

All I have is the original restore CD from E-machines.

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

That restore disk will only work on the eMachine. You can't use it to do a
Repair Install. In fact, I'm not sure you can use a normal XP CD to do a
Repair of that system. You need to get a retail copy of Windows XP and do a
clean install, preferably onto a new HD and saving the one you have for
storage and to prevent the loss of your personal files.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

My motherboard died and I am trying to move my hard drive to another
computer. When I boot the system, it comes up in safe mode. The drivers
start loading and the last driver to display on the screen is the MUP.SYS
file, then the system hangs. Can anyone help me get around this problem?

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many factory-installed OEM
installations are BIOS-locked to a specific chipset and therefore are
*not* transferable to a new motherboard - check yours before starting),
unless the new motherboard is virtually identical (same chipset, same
IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.) to the one on which the WinXP
installation was originally performed, you'll need to perform a repair
(a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation, at the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with WinXP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

The "why" is quite simple, really, and has nothing to do with
licensing issues, per se; it's a purely technical matter, at this point.
You've pulled the proverbial hardware rug out from under the OS. (If
you don't like -- or get -- the rug analogy, think of it as picking up a
Cape Cod style home and then setting it down onto a Ranch style
foundation. It just isn't going to fit.) WinXP, like Win2K before it,
is not nearly as "promiscuous" as Win9x when it comes to accepting any
old hardware configuration you throw at it. On installation it
"tailors" itself to the specific hardware found. This is one of the
reasons that the entire WinNT/2K/XP OS family is so much more stable
than the Win9x group.

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also probably require re-activation, unless you have a
Volume Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. If it's been more than
120 days since you last activated that specific Product Key, you'll most
likely be able to activate via the Internet without problem. If it's
been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone call.




--

Bruce Chambers

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