Hi all

I have build another pc and i think i have made a mistake I had an idea that i could take out my old hard drive and install it in the new computer as slave and transfer all the files of mine and the other users, who have password protected their sections, onto the new h\d but the problem is it will not allow me access user says "access is denied". I then took out the h\d and put it back into old computer but the computer only boots up as far as " start windows normal" and closes down i have changed jumpers back etc. I have gone to the microsoft site so that I could change passwords for each user. but i am not getting the right tabs to clear passwords. I was wondering if it would be possible to reinstall the h\d back into the old computer. I did try this but the boot sequence only goes as far as the windows xp logo with the blue line at bottom of this logo and hangs. i have changed jumpers to master and cable select then tried but to no avail. Have I lost all files etc.?


new computer specs
asus mobo
1024mb ram
200h\d
amd pros

old computer
mobo unknown
512mb ram
40 gig h\d
amd proc

thanks in advance

enjoy day

but the computer only boots up as far as "start windows normal"
Hi Dougie. Have you tried seeing if you can boot into Safe Mode? There must have been some glitch or improper shutdown when the drive was slaved elsewhere otherwise it should have restarted OK when back "at home". Is there any possibility that the computer was set as master in the other computer and there was either a successful or unsuccessful boot up to it; that could have screwed the registry.

The other thing worth trying is a Repair installation http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm though on occasions this can render user data inaccessible. If any of the data is really valuable then backup the drive from the other pc by making an image of the whole drive (problematic as it actually is now) or try running recovery software such as GetDataBack from http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm on it beforehand (from the other PC).