Accidently left a secondary hard drive in while installing Windows 8

About two weeks ago I was installing windows 8 64 bit on a desktop previously running win 7 64. I wanted a clean start so I checked the "Keep nothing" box (later I discovered this would not reformat my HDD but move everything into a windows.old folder). I took out the HDD from an HP Compaq6710b laptop that is used for work (I do not technically own it) and then proceeded to back up anything I wanted to keep. I did not set any preferences in the desktop's BIOS as to what to do with the secondary drive; I just plugged it in. After that was complete I started installing windows 8 on the desktop and during one of its stages I forgot that I left the laptop drive in and unplugged its SATA cable from my exposed motherboard. Whether I should have just left it in to finish and fix later or unplugging right then and there didn't really come across my mind. Nonetheless windows 8 installed just fine on the desktop.

Upon plugging it back into my work laptop, nothing unusual popped up before the login screen. Now my appropriate username was still saved but when I tried logging in with my usual password it tells me it's incorrect. The OS on the laptop is XP Professional with the latest service pack (I'm assuming). I tried typing in old passwords, pressing ctr-alt-del twice, and even my username and password for my desktop but nothing works. After plugging it back in to the desktop to possibly restore it I received a couple messages from the windows 8 OS informing me that the installation of windows 8 is incomplete on this (the laptop) hard drive. Now I was hoping for some help before having to take it into the IT department and informing my boss. Thanks for the help in advance and let me know if there's any more information you need.

- Jordan
 
Well, you said that you backed up the important stuff on the work laptop didn't you? Have IT re-load Windows. Isn't it time to ditch XP anyway?
 
I backed up my important stuff from my desktop onto my laptop when installing windows 8. The laptop is the one that is not loading up correctly and ditching XP isn't up to me, that's still the OS my company uses; I have no say in that. I'm assuming the only way would be to insert an XP Professional disk into the laptop in order to recover it, correct?
 
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