new mobo and XP, Please help

[Bill C.]

My childrens computer (Compaq with WinXP home) had a
motherboard problem, so I bought a new mobo processer
combo and reused the hard drive,memory,cd-rw,and floppy
drive. After putting it all together and starting up, POST
went fine and all devices found. But I got a message
saying 'operating system not found'. I used a windows boot
disk and was able to run command.com. Then I ran chkdsk /r
and tried to reboot. This time I got an error saying 'cant
load operating system'. I was wanting to use the hard
drive as it was (not reformat) to keep all programs and
settings. Can someone please help.If you have a help
please e-mail me.

Thanks, Bill C.

 

[Michael Stevens]

A "repair install" will likely be required.

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]


--
Nicholas


Thanks for supplying my repair install link, but the one on "Moving XP to
New Hardware" is a better reference.
Click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into the address box
if using the web based newsgroup.
Move XP to new hardware.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Michael Stevens]

My childrens computer (Compaq with WinXP home) had a
motherboard problem, so I bought a new mobo processer
combo and reused the hard drive,memory,cd-rw,and floppy
drive. After putting it all together and starting up, POST
went fine and all devices found. But I got a message
saying 'operating system not found'. I used a windows boot
disk and was able to run command.com. Then I ran chkdsk /r
and tried to reboot. This time I got an error saying 'cant
load operating system'. I was wanting to use the hard
drive as it was (not reformat) to keep all programs and
settings. Can someone please help.If you have a help
please e-mail me.

Thanks, Bill C.

Bill,
You have a few issues against you here. Unless you replaced the motherboard
with a Compaq factory replacement it is unlikely you will be able to resolve
your problem. Compaq computers shipped with XP did not come with an XP CD;
or in most cases even restore CD's. They came with a restore procedure that
uses a hidden partition located on the hard drive and will only restore to
original shipped configuration. It will not restore to other than a factory
replacement motherboard.

If you have important data on the hard drive, you will need to obtain a
factory replacement hard drive, or install the hard drive into a system
running XP or Win 2000 configured as a slave drive.
With the factory replacement MB, XP should boot right up, but I would cover
my butt and get the data you can't replace of the hard drive before trying.

Your other option is to purchase a full version of XP unless you have a Win
95/98/98se/Me/2000 CD and license not currently installed on another
computer. If you have a qualifying CD, you can use the upgrade version.
You will also not have any way to install any applications that were bundled
as originally purchased.
Click on or copy and paste the link below into your web browser address box.
Move XP to new hardware.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html
OEM clarification.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/oemeula.htm

--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Bob Day]

Bill,
You have a few issues against you here. Unless you replaced the motherboard
with a Compaq factory replacement it is unlikely you will be able to resolve
your problem. Compaq computers shipped with XP did not come with an XP CD;
or in most cases even restore CD's. They came with a restore procedure that
uses a hidden partition located on the hard drive and will only restore to
original shipped configuration. It will not restore to other than a factory
replacement motherboard.

If you have important data on the hard drive, you will need to obtain a
factory replacement hard drive, or install the hard drive into a system
running XP or Win 2000 configured as a slave drive.
With the factory replacement MB, XP should boot right up, but I would cover
my butt and get the data you can't replace of the hard drive before trying.

Your other option is to purchase a full version of XP unless you have a Win
95/98/98se/Me/2000 CD and license not currently installed on another
computer. If you have a qualifying CD, you can use the upgrade version.
You will also not have any way to install any applications that were bundled
as originally purchased.

If you go that route and purchase an XP CD, you could
try the "repair install" option, which would preserve your
current applications. However, there are no guarantees
about repair installs. They usually work, but sometimes
don't.

-- Bob Day