Why do I get a BSOD when I moved my hard drive from one machine to another?
- Run a Repair installation to make Windows reinstall on its hardware.
- Find a new motherboard that contains a chipset from the same manufacturer.
- Run the following cool procedure…. :))
Thankfully, there’s a working workaround straight from Microsoft’s Knowledgebase (KB314082). What we will basically do is to tell Windows that it already “knows” all of the generic IDE types from all vendors. that way, when it will boot up, it will only install the new hardware and not refuse to boot because it is missing the old one.
The procedure described in the article takes you through extracting some drivers from the I386 and importing some registry data from a text file to the system.
But as you all already knows- I like Automation!!
1. Run the script while the disk is still installed on the original machine.
2. Shutdown, Relocate the disk to the new system & boot.
3. Windows will do it’s hardware recognition magic and you’re up & running :)
1. we’ll connect the drive as a secondary disk on a working machine (so it will appear as drive “D” for example….)
2. we will have to make the file copying manually. according to your Windows version (2K/XP), copy & rename these 4 files as follows:
- atapi.xp –> d:\windows\system32\driver\atapi.sys
- pciide.xp –> d:\windows\system32\driver\pciide.sys
- pciidex.xp –> d:\windows\system32\driver\pciidex.sys
- intelide.xp –> d:\windows\system32\driver\intelide.sys
* The d: stands for the drive letter as it appears on your system.
3. Using RegEdit, we will load the System hive of the drive we’ve connected, and we will import the registry data to it.
a. open RegEdit, stand on Local Machine.
b. in the File menu choose “Load Hive”. now browse and select the file:
d:\windows\system32\config\system.name it as “OldSys”. it will now appear as another hive in Regedit.
c. to import the registry data found in the file Merge.xp (or merge.2k) we will first need to update it to fit the new situation:
Open the file Merge.xp using Notepad. Run a Find & Replace from “\SYSTEM\” to “\OldSys\”
Now save the file as: Merge.reg
Double-click on it to make the actual import process.
d. when finished, stand on the “OldSys” hive and choose “Unload Hive” from the File menu.
That’s it! now replace the drive into your new system and boot to victory!Note: if you’re changing your system from and old IDE drive to a brand new SATA drive, this procedure can only work if your Bios can turn off the “SATA Native mode” and emulate it to be recognized as an IDE.
Cheers,


October 8, 2007 - 1:13 pm
Very nice! I was thinking of relocating my drive to a ‘newer’ machine which is an intel processor(mine is AMD) so it will have different stuff going on.
Thanks Karl.
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October 8, 2007 - 2:25 pm
Very nice article. Great tip, I know I am going to be using that this week actually. I am switching out a server HD to a new chassis from a different manufacturer.
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October 8, 2007 - 10:25 am
Very nice article. Great tip, I know I am going to be using that this week actually. I am switching out a server HD to a new chassis from a different manufacturer.
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October 8, 2007 - 7:13 pm
This is a great tip and a very useful tool. thanks :)
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October 8, 2007 - 7:53 pm
This is why I read AtA. amazing tip Yaron keep them coming.
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October 8, 2007 - 3:13 pm
This is a great tip and a very useful tool. thanks :)
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October 8, 2007 - 3:53 pm
This is why I read AtA. amazing tip Yaron keep them coming.
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October 8, 2007 - 11:23 pm
As I sit here typing, I can tell you that this script worked wonders!
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October 9, 2007 - 12:45 am
Couldn’t you do this using Sysprep?
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October 8, 2007 - 7:23 pm
As I sit here typing, I can tell you that this script worked wonders!
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October 9, 2007 - 3:07 am
pd – it takes a lot more work though.
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October 8, 2007 - 11:07 pm
pd – it takes a lot more work though.
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October 9, 2007 - 1:31 pm
This thing was a piece of cake man…seriously. That is an AWESOME little script.
Just execute the VBS script and it tells you it is done. Down the box, swap the HD to the new box, boot it up and it is like nothing ever happened.
I figured I’d run into a few snags….I was totally wrong.
Again, very good job Karl.
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February 29, 2008 - 10:25 pm
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March 1, 2008 - 1:01 am
I've cited this before as a sign that Windows is stupid. At one point I dd'd my hard drive to an external one (block-by-block copied) and booted a bunch of different computers around campus and at work from it. Linux handles switching around like that just fine. The worst problem you're gonna get is that X isn't automatically working if the video cards have different manufacturers. That just takes a "sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg" (it asks which pre-installed driver and which resolution to use) to fix. With the next Ubuntu release, it won't even take that. Xorg.conf is going out of commission. Right now, I just type "xrandr –auto" and it autodetects my screen's max resolution and goes to that. It doesn't even have to restart X anymore. The screen blinks and everything's fine.
A kernel panic from switching boxes, though? You'd have to be trying to go from x86 to PowerPC….and hell…I'd like to see Windows try to run on PowerPC at all.
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March 1, 2008 - 2:33 pm
Nice Tom Way to spam the site with your web packages. I hope you send AtA a cut! If you are going to spam you should @ least say something a little more meaningful than
"Nice Post"
Thanks schmucko
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March 18, 2008 - 3:12 am
This article kicks ass!
I love you guys!
It allowed me to transfer windows 2000 server to new and better computer hardware.
Thanks alot.
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March 18, 2008 - 5:25 am
Glad we could help out Josh! Help us spread the AskTheAdmin.com word. Blog about us, submit some of your favorite AtA content to sites like Stumble Upon, Delicious or Technorati or my personal favorite run through the streets screaming
" I LOVE ASKTHEADMIN.COM"
Incidentally if the cops snatch you up we will have to lie about knowing you – wouldn't want people thinking it was a publicity stunt or something :)!!
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