Recovery Console

[EvlD99]

Hello all,

I am upgrading my notebook at work and transferring my HD from one notebook to another.

To prep for the swap I:
1. Made a backup of my HD so I don't lose any of my data by accident.
2. Removed my motherboard and graphics drivers.

When I put the HD into the new laptop the computer blue screens while booting up (in safe mode as well). I have tried to use the Windows XP Cooperate CD to attempt using the Recovery console or the Repair installation method however neither of those options appear. It detects that their is a windows folder however it doesn't detect that their is a previous windows installation. I know the recovery console has a few commands to help out with this problem however the option to press "R" never displays. It's a catch 22.

The hard drive works fine when I put it back in the original computer.

If anyone knows of a way to force the recovery option to appear please let me know. Also any other work arounds would be appreciated as well.

Installing all the networked programs from scratch would take days.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: EvlD99
Hello all,

I am upgrading my notebook at work and transferring my HD from one notebook to another.

To prep for the swap I:
1. Made a backup of my HD so I don't lose any of my data by accident.
2. Removed my motherboard and graphics drivers.

When I put the HD into the new laptop the computer blue screens while booting up (in safe mode as well). I have tried to use the Windows XP Cooperate CD to attempt using the Recovery console or the Repair installation method however neither of those options appear. It detects that their is a windows folder however it doesn't detect that their is a previous windows installation. I know the recovery console has a few commands to help out with this problem however the option to press "R" never displays. It's a catch 22.

The hard drive works fine when I put it back in the original computer.

If anyone knows of a way to force the recovery option to appear please let me know. Also any other work arounds would be appreciated as well.

Installing all the networked programs from scratch would take days.

You don't want to remove MB drivers and graphics card drivers - you want to add IDE controller drivers for the new motherboard.

1. Make ghost backup of entire hard drive
2. Add IDE controller drivers for new motherboard
3. Swap hard drive, let us know what happens

You may need to revert to "Standard PCI IDE Controller" as the IDE controller for it to be bootable on the new notebook. In other words, make the change, then immediately shut down the notebook and move the drive.

Remember: Ghost backup first.

This assumes your HAL is compatible between the two models. If not, you're out of luck. If so, you should be fine.

You didn't mention it, but I assume the BSOD you're getting is Stop 7B, Disk Inaccessible

 

[dclive]

Oh, and re: recovery console, if you boot from an (any) XP CD, and hit F10 at that very first screen, you aren't presented with the ability to log into the R.C.?

What's the disk controller on the new notebook?

 

[EvlD99]

Thanks for your advice. I did not know about the F10 forcing the recovery console. All the instructions that I looked through just mentioned the "R" option at the initial setup screen. Thanks for your help!

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Both the notebooks use the intel centrino chipset with Pentium M processors.

 

[dclive]

That's the CPU chip. What's the motherboard chipset, and what's the hard disk controller?

There are two issues in moving a hard drive from PC to PC - HAL and hard disk controller. You can work around everything else easily.

 

[EvlD99]

I was under the impression that "Centrino" was an Intel chipset (Like Nforce being an Nvidia chipset). I assumed the driver package would be the same for both computers. If thats not the case, I have no idea. The gateway specs aren't much help for the M505XL. The two computers I have put it's HD into are the Samsung X25 and a Gateway M675.
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Gateway/M505/3501764nv.shtml
However it does mention the hard disk controller: Intel 82801 DBM Ultra ATA

Update: It seems to be working now. I messed around in the recovery console a little and I'm using a different XP disc. The original disk had SP2 slipstreamed into it but this one doesn't. Maybe the method of slipstreaming disabled the "Repair Install" option? Nevertheless everything looks good to go now. Thanks for all your help

 

[dclive]

Centrino means it has a Pentium M, Intel wireless NIC, and an Intel chipset. But we still don't know the Intel chipset. 855GME is one, 855GM is another, and another is 855PM. http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/index.htm discusses the chipsets available for the Centrino platform.

Glad it worked for you.