OK I AM MAKING A NEW TOPIC GO HERE AS I WILL SPECIFY EVERYTHING HERE:

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic95592.html




I have my laptop harddrive and I have connected it to a desktop computer via an adapter. The problem is it does not have the drivers. So I put in the recovery disk and got the the Windows Xp Recovery Console (here is a link to the commands)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654


So what do I do know to get the harddrive to work with the desktop? I know I have to install drivers, but how do I do it?

what kind of laptop is it -> make and model

It was a Compaq presario V2100 I beleive. The harddrive is a Fujitsu.

look on the service tag on the bottom of the notebook what is the Model number , not the product number. it should be on the bottom right hand portion of the tag

http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/computing/storage/hdd/support/utilities.html
There is a flash utility for download if you have one of those models of harddrive. Its suppose to do the hard part for you

Well I am not using the laptop, that was sold I am connecting it to a custom tower desktop. The HD is Model MHT2040AT PL.

You were not clear if the bios is able to detect the HDD.

The ability of the Recovery Console to introduce drivers from a floppy or a CD depends if the SET command accepts setting the four variable listed. I suspect this is also the case if you plan to move drivers between hard drives if so equipped.

set allowallpaths = true
This command is need to permit access to directories other than root and Windows.
set allowremovablemedia = true
This command permits access to FDD or CD.

I believe that the real stopper is that this capability is only available with XP PRO and it is tied to the group policy.

Well when I start up the desktop with the laptop HD connected to it, it says cannot boot from CD. So I put in the recovery disk that comes with new computers and that is where I am now. Would you suggest I do the above? And I beleive the bios is deteting the HD.

I am a cautious person - I dislike just blasting ahead.

I am somewhat confused - CD works in first post but a message indicates that the CD (media) is not bootable or is the CDROM drive not seen as a boot device?

Yes, you can experiment with the XP installation CD to run the Recovery Console to determine if the SET command works.

On this board in Guides & Solved Issues, there is a thread with instructions to reload Win XP (see first post in this long thread.

This is where caution comes in. I suggest that you wait for one of the experts here.

I do not have a complete understanding of your situation. In theory, re-installing XP should cause no problems. Read the post carefully so that you select the proper course that replaces XP and it is not the course that totally refreshes the drive (loss of data and applications).

[edit] I imagine that you are attempting to use the laptop HD as your boot drive and saving all its data and applications. [/edit]

Well when I take out the Cd it says cannot boot from C (I guess meaning that there are no drivers updated for that hard drive so it cannot read it).

And of course I want to get the information off the laptop since there are a few documents I didn't back up that I need.

Drivers for the HD are not the issue at this point. The laptop HD is just not a bootable drive.

If the laptop HD comes from a company that supplied an OEM version of XP, it will only boot in its native environment. It will function as the slave drive without any problems.

If the laptop HD was loaded with a licensed copy of the full installation of XP, then my explanation does not hold.

Yes it had pre-installed XP home edition. Well I have tried to use the laptop as a CD Rom and it did not read that as well.

Well I am done for today. Now when I go to the step you told me about setting up xp it tells me that it doesn't find any hard drive drivers installed on my pc. Before I was able to get into the repair console, now I cannot even do that.

I guess I can try again tomorow, but installing it as a CD drive as well did not read it. It could be that I was getting the Pin's wrong for the CD, but I don't know what I was doing wrong (a friend told me
Remember that you must align pin 1 cable to pin 1 hard drive. reverse only the cable connection to the HD. you may have pin 1 on pin40. I have done that many times.

I fear that my help has muddied the water. If an expert does not chime in soon, you should consider making a new post and restate you problem. No one needs to wade through information that does not connect with the problem.

Presently, the HD did not register during the Post. Back to basics – go to the Bios and relate what is reported.

At this time it would be helpful to review what is known. Please describe the adapter for the 2.5” HD by specifying its interface (ide, usb, pci, etc.). Also describe if you are trying to use this HD as the master or slave. Most new builds are using SATA HDDs. Does this factor in?

I experimented with a USB adapter for a 2.5” drive. Win XP contains all the drivers to control the USB adapter and to correctly identify the HD (Win98 vintage). The drive had been cleaned so there was only 1 folder to access.

The earlier suggestion to re-flash the laptop HD could be the real solution. However, my reading of the description would not encourage me to pursue this option.

The reason I thought to flash the drive is due to the error message that it doesn't find any hard drive drivers installed on my pc.

Here is my thinking on what you have done/should do. Leave your desktop HDD as the master, set the laptop HDD as slave. There may be a jumper on the back of the laptops drive that needs to be moved to set it as slave as well as bios settings. Your desktop shouldn't have drivers for the laptops drive, which should simply be installed, then go to control panel -> add hardware -> Have disk -> select the location that you downloaded the drivers to.

We do need to know how you are hooking up this drive though -> Did you put it on the IDE cable in place of your CD-ROM if so you may need to delete the drivers for your cd-rom prior to going to add hardware