Hard Drive Recognition Problems

[Dr_Seuss]

I have a problem....i will try to explain the best i can.

i recently had a computer die on me due to a power surge so i bought a new one and replaced the new hard drive with the old one so i didnt lose any of my data...it works perfectly.
my wife has a computer which has recently had a virus which has left it in a bad way..so i decided to switch her hard drive with the one i got with the new computer (preloaded with Windows XP) and transfer her documents and stuff across.
THE PROBLEM: her computer starts to load windows from the new hard drive then crashes. despite the new hard drive working perfectly (i tested it in my new machine)

is there something im overlooking...some small setting which is making me slowly lose my mind???

please can anyone help? feel free to ask if you need any more information and i will try to supply it the best i can

 

[Hedon]

I think your wife's computer hardware is not compatible with the windows version on your harddrive. i might be wrong (as i am new to most of this) but i came across a similar error. I rebooted XP and did a recovery. This might work or might not but you need to backup any important data before you try.

hope this helps

 

[cerivera]

Im a little confused, did you reinstall windows on her machine w the new drive or used the existing windows(preloaded )and just connected it to her system...if you did the latter the machine would crash,,....unless the 2 pcs had the same components/drivers (ie. chips, etc)....From my experience you have to either reinstall windows or repair windows so that the correct drivers are installed.

Good Luck

 

[kimsland]

You must run a Repair on Windows if changing hardware (like the whole computer)
But this must also be in line with MS Authentication and legitimacy ie OEM cannot be transferred