Two Questions...Please

[JayPeterman]

Good Morning,

My first problem is kind of strange. I wanted to install a copy of XP
Pro to a freshly formatted hard drive for another computer. My main
computer already had XP Pro on it. I installed the other hard drive,
started XP and formatted it. Then I booted from the XP CD and
installed another copy on the newly formatted hard drive.

After that I removed the hard drive with new XP on it and installed it
into the other computer. It tells me that the NTLDR cannot be found.
My problem is my main computer does not have a floppy (if Icould find
the NTLDR file on the Internet) to copy to a floppy.

I can access the BIOS on the older computer but it will not let me
change the boot order. I wanted to do this so I could run the repair
from the XP CD. Is there a work around for this?

The other problem is a minor one but irritating. I now have the option
to boot to two copies of XP. I then have to select one. All this
really does is slow down the boot process so it's a mino problem.
How can I get rid of that screen/option?

Thanks for any help.

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

What you're seeing is perfectly normal, if the motherboards in the
two PCs are not identical.

Unless the new motherboard is virtually identical to the old one
(same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.), 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

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

This will also require re-activation. 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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"JayPeterman" > wrote in message
...
> Good Morning,
>
> My first problem is kind of strange. I wanted to install a copy of
XP
> Pro to a freshly formatted hard drive for another computer. My main
> computer already had XP Pro on it. I installed the other hard drive,
> started XP and formatted it. Then I booted from the XP CD and
> installed another copy on the newly formatted hard drive.
>
> After that I removed the hard drive with new XP on it and installed
it
> into the other computer. It tells me that the NTLDR cannot be found.
> My problem is my main computer does not have a floppy (if Icould
find
> the NTLDR file on the Internet) to copy to a floppy.
>
> I can access the BIOS on the older computer but it will not let me
> change the boot order. I wanted to do this so I could run the repair
> from the XP CD. Is there a work around for this?
>
> The other problem is a minor one but irritating. I now have the
option
> to boot to two copies of XP. I then have to select one. All this
> really does is slow down the boot process so it's a mino problem.
> How can I get rid of that screen/option?
>
> Thanks for any help.

[JayPeterman]

On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 20:52:47 -0600, "Bruce Chambers"
> wrote:

>Greetings --
>
> What you're seeing is perfectly normal, if the motherboards in the
>two PCs are not identical.
>
> Unless the new motherboard is virtually identical to the old one
>(same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.), 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
>
> As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
>important data before starting.
>
> This will also require re-activation. 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

Thanks for the help Bruce. My problem is that I cannot boot from the
installation CD. Therefore all the bumps on my forehead. I think that
I will stick the hard drive back into the newer computer and format
it. After that I will try to do a fresh install AFTER I install the
hard drive in the older computer.

Thanks again.