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Built new comp for old HDD. Get "repair windows" messages

K

krazykilroy

Member
I just built a new comp for BF4 coming up, and when I tried to migrate my HDD over, I couldn't start up windows. It went to the option of "Start windows normally/Start Windows repair". When I put it back into the old comp, it worked just fine.

Does anyone else have this issue? Should I try to invest in an imaging program?

Thanks.

guy who hasn't been on Anandtech in ages......
 
Boot to the Windows disk and run the repair option. It is not quiteready for use in the new machine. That is confirmed by the fact that it still boots in the old machine. Normally, the OS will not work in one machine to another unless it is identical.

Migration from old to new is normally done with a new drive in the new machine and it is linked to the old machine. Migration is then from old to new.

If the Repair option works, consider yourself very lucky. Imaging would not help in this case.
 
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Ok, I had done that, and that didn't work either. Is there a way to get it to force it to work?

Or do I have to get an imaging program?
 
Place the HDD back into the old computer and boot it up normally. Open device manager and uninstall everything under the IDE / Storage controller category. Then shut down and transfer the drive. Also, enter the bios of your old machine and check to see if the SATA is in AHCI mode. If it is in AHCI mode then your new machine bios has to also be set for AHCI.
 
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Imaging won't solve your problem. The issue is that the windows install on the drive has all th motherboard and adapter drivers for the old machine and when booting it up on the new machine it gets confused because it can't talk to anything. The repair install not working points to windows not having default drivers that work on the machine you just built. Put the drive back in the old machine, boot it and install all the drivers for your new machine on it first, then swap it.
 
I thought, any given installation of Windows will only work in the original system in which it was installed. Something MS made sure to put in place from jump, no?

We can migrate everything within the same system, but not system to system.

Is some part of that wrong?
 
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It is possible to put an existing Windows installation in a new machine and have it work, but that is the exception, not the rule. If a Windows Repair and deleting the IDE drivers doesn't let it work, then you're probably not going to get it to work at all and a new installation of Windows on the new hardware is the next step.
 
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