This is my first post so please excuse my tech knowledge.My son;s computer is running a rather small hard drive (15 gigs) so I decided to replace it with a 40gig hard drive (seagate brand) I re-formatted the drive that went ok. The computer rebooted and prepared to start the window XP install.The Windows logo screen appeared then dissappeared and a blue screen appeared telling me that to prevent damage to the computer it would now shut down.I re-tried the procedure a few more times with the same result.I then installed the same hard drive on my personal computer went through the same formatting procedure and it then proceded to instal windows XP without a problem. I tested the windows install by playing windows games (such as solitaire) opening different screens all without a problem.I then re-installed the drive in my son's computer,it looked like it would start up but it just reverted back to the start up screen over and over.Can any one out there have any ideas. I am using a genunine copy of windows XP.

Did your son's computer have XP on it the first time? it sounds like there is some hardware on that computer that XP does not like. or is defective.

Previous XP

Yes his small 15gig hard drive has windows XP installed on it and works just fine.While I was attempting to format and install XP on the larger hard drive I disconnected the smaller one completely. At the moment he is still using the small hard drive until I can get the larger one working.Thanks for taking the time to reply if you have any ideas or want more info.please reply.

it sounds like your sons computer is pretty old. does the Mobo have the latest available bios ? can you tell us about the hardware on it? mobo, ram, CPU, etc?

How can I determine the correct setting for the jumper?

The motherboard is ASROCK GE-PROM2. Approx half a gig of ram ,CPU Socket 478.Pentium 4 Celeron processor,chipset sis 533/533 650gx bios.

If It's Not Broke....Don't Fix It......

If the 15GB HDD in the computer is working correctly, (Windows and all), Why not consider installing the second drive as volume storage. This assumes you have an available mounting slot in the case for it. That way, if the system drive goes belly up, all you need do is replace that drive, and your files will all be safe on the 40 GB drive. That install woud be jumpered as a slave drive, and plugged into the center connection of the IDE (ribbon) cable. This would actually be a safer course of action since in an emergency (or not), you can always plug a volume drive into another computer and transfer the files.
There's a whole lot more peace of mind in knowing that should anything happen to the system drive which necessitates a reformat, all your information files would be safe somewhere else.

So........?

At the probable speed of the rest of this machine is the speed of the new drive that much of a factor?
If the 15 failed with the OS on it, when? Simply repost.
Since this comp is reaching the end of it's service life, with perhaps a hand-me-down of dad's current computer in the wind, I'll stick with my modus operandi.
At the end of the day, the files are worth more than this box.

I'm not disputing the jumper or BIOS issue, you're probably right on target.

Thanks for the input,I checked the jumper pin setting there ok.Accordind to the lable on the drive the pin is placed so that it acts as the single drive.Is it a fact that the windows operating system must be installed using the computer it is to be used on?

The reason for that is that when windows installs it creates the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) that is specific tot he hardware that is present when widows installs. that is why if you take a hard drive that was in another machine and stick it in another machine that has significantly different chipset. your likely going to get a BSOD when you try to boot up.