can't boot xp from old HDDs...

roast_beef

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so i just got some components off of my friend and decided to build up a computer. i pulled the HDDs out of my old computer and installed them in the new one, but i can't get xp to load. i'm able to enter the BIOS and set the boot priority to the master hard disk, but i come to the screen telling me the windows did not shut down properly and asks me if i want to boot into safe mode. here, however, i'm unable to select any options and i'm forced to let the timer run out to start windows normally. from there the screen goes blank. any suggestions? thanks in advance.
 
alright well now i'm having a different problem all together. i went and got some food and when i came and turned it on, the fans came to life for a second and then died. i pressed the power button again and nothing happened. when i pressed it a third time, the whole computer came on but now with no display. i can hear the graphics card's fan making a different noise too. i turned it back off and now it won't do anything.
 
alright well now i'm having a different problem all together. i went and got some food and when i came and turned it on, the fans came to life for a second and then died. i pressed the power button again and nothing happened. when i pressed it a third time, the whole computer came on but now with no display. i can hear the graphics card's fan making a different noise too. i turned it back off and now it won't do anything.
That is probably a power supply problem or a motherboard problem.
 
Check to make sure all cables, wires and periperals are firmly attached and seated. Make sure the CPU HSF fan is connected properly and working.
 
well as it turns out, a screw had found it's way underneath the mobo and was shorting it out. so i'm back to square one.

what i'm not understanding is how i can navigate through the BIOS but i can't select the option to start safe mode. additionally, if you let the timer run out without selecting any of the safe mode options, doesn't it start windows automatically?
 
The BIOS operation is independent of anything you have on your drive and safe mode is only an available option while Windows is starting up.

Since you swapped motherboards, XP doesn't want to boot because of the many difference between motherboards, which is why I suggest doing the repair install. That will leave all your files and programs intact. You'll only need to install your drivers and OS patches and updates.
 
For a major set of changes like that you would better off simply seeing a clean copy of Windows with a new registry as well as the new mbr entries and hardware profile created. The original installation is too well tied into the original build to begin with.

For seeing the short one of the standoffs touching is typical where you have to verify just where the correct holes are on the board before lowering it down inplace. Don't feel bad since you are far from the only one to see that.

Once you have a new disk to work with hopefully a full version you will see work out much better starting off fresh as long as the old drives themselves are still in good shape. You might want to download the manufacturer's diagnostics tools to see how those are.
 
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