Okay, I?ll try to keep it simple?
I needed to make a new HDD image onto a PATA HD so we can just ghost the image onto every new PC we setup (the new PCs use SATA). I quick-formatted the current ghost, installed a brand new OEM copy WinXP Home SP2, installed all necessary drivers/software from the CDs, then brought the thing to an internet connection to download Windows updates. Also decided to copy the i386 folder from the Windows CD onto the HDD just for the hell of it (I don?t think that makes any difference though). So anyway, the HDD is now ready to be ghosted.
Since we have an external USB 2.0 DVD drive, co-worker decides we?ll put it on a DVD (it?s like 4 gigs), so he takes the HDD and makes an image onto a DVD. I get it back, take it to the first computer, I use Ghost to boot, then copy the image from the DVD. It copies fine, but after POST, computer reboots ? ?windows loading? screen doesn?t even come up. POST again, now the ?your windows didn?t shut down blah blah blah? so I try it in safe mode ? same thing, no windows loading and a reboot. Safe mode w/command prompt ? nada. Seeing as it?s stuck in eternal reboot I go back to co-worker, he makes a new image onto a DVD and I get that one and try it again ? same thing starts happening. I tell co-worker, he doesn?t know why? maybe there?s some connectivity issues in the USB somewhere that?s making the image screw up when it copies.
So we both figure just gonna have to do it drive-to-drive since the DVD method?s not working, it?ll take longer but at this point I?m like fine whatever. Connect the hard drives, copy the image from the PATA drive to SATA drive, unplug the PATA and let it boot. Boots okay. Windows comes up ?Your hardware has changed significantly since you first activated Windows, and now you must activate Windows again within 3 days to continue using it. Activate Windows now?? So I connect it online and try to register it again, ?according to our records you have exceeded the # of times you can activate this product. Use a new CD key.? But I only activated it once on the PATA drive? So I ignore it and start doin research about it.
As far as using a new CD key, I can just call Microsoft and tell them over the phone and it should be okay. The one that?s really confusing me & the co-worker is that message ?your hardware has significantly changed blah blah.? No, it hasn?t? it?s the same brand mobo in every PC, same brand & amount & speed memory, same video card, same HDD (some are 160GB, some are 250GB, all same brand), same PCI card though some are in slot 4, some in slot 5, etc. but that shouldn?t trigger Windows to need to reactivate. There?s only 2 things I can think that would trigger this ? a different CPU (like a Northwood vs. a Prescott), or possibly different revisions of the motherboard, but I have two boards in front of me that were doin that, and they?re the same revision.
First, we thought maybe it has something to do with the fact that the original image is on a PATA drive and since Windows is only finding a SATA drive, that could be the culprit. Co-worker thought that it might be diff. motherboard versions; he noticed on the driver CD that there are two different sets of drivers for the onboard audio/LAN. He was thinking maybe the older versions use one set of drivers and the newer versions use the second set of drivers. Somehow he ruled out that it?s the motherboards and he suspects it?s the CPUs, maybe some are Northwoods and maybe some are Prescotts. At this point I?m stumped so I just smile and nod and try to let him fix it. So we build a whole new rig only this time we don?t use the PATA drive, we grab a PATA optical drive and use the SATA HDD to load everything. Fresh copy of OEM XP SP2, load all drivers, software, etc. Then we ghost that onto a fresh 250GB SATA HDD, I take that one back and plug it in to test it ? windows is loading, I think I?m okay. Then windows loads ? kinda. You know how when XP logs on, it says ?welcome? then goes to desktop? Well, the blue screen (not BSOD, the XP ?welcome? blue screen) comes on, but I get no Welcome, I get a Microsoft Windows XP logo and it stays stuck like that. USB worked in BIOS but the USB keyboard/mouse isn?t working now, so I trade it for PS/2, try it again. Windows gets ?stuck? again, keyboard/mouse is working cuz the cursor moves, but no keyboard commands are registering.
So now he?s sure it has to be the CPU, how he arrived at that I have no idea. I was thinking about it last night after I got off work? I said somewhere earlier I have two in front of me, right? Both of those use the exact same CPU, whether it?s Northwood or Prescott (I think it?s Northwood? difference is the internal architecture and the cache, right?) and they SHOULD be the same CPU b/c the two I used came from the same vendor in the same order, I?m the one who placed the order for them (check out resellerratings.com for PartsPC.com, they?re some shady folks). Sure we could get around this problem by just calling Microsoft every time I hook up one of the hard drives, but that?s the easy way out and we?re trying to find out WTF is causing this. Anybody have any ideas? Lemme throw out the config:
Hardware specs:
Mobo: Asus P4P800-SE
CPU: Pentium4 3.2GHz (socket478), 800MHz FSB, 512KB L2 cache
Mem: Crucial 1GB DDR-400 (2x512MB modules in Dual-Channel)
Video: PNY GeForce 6600 256MB (AGP 8x)
PCI: Euresys Grablink EXPERT 2
On a closing note? I?ve already checked the motherboard versions, they?re all the same. I haven?t distinguished which chip on the mainboard is the sound controller, but from the two I have here the chip that controls the LAN is the same ? Marvell 88E8001. I haven?t checked the BIOS versions but I very highly doubt that it could be solved by simply flashing the BIOS ? besides, floppies are so outdated we don?t even have a drive or even disks around here. Any ideas/suggestions/solutions? If you need more info I?ll be glad to provide.
I needed to make a new HDD image onto a PATA HD so we can just ghost the image onto every new PC we setup (the new PCs use SATA). I quick-formatted the current ghost, installed a brand new OEM copy WinXP Home SP2, installed all necessary drivers/software from the CDs, then brought the thing to an internet connection to download Windows updates. Also decided to copy the i386 folder from the Windows CD onto the HDD just for the hell of it (I don?t think that makes any difference though). So anyway, the HDD is now ready to be ghosted.
Since we have an external USB 2.0 DVD drive, co-worker decides we?ll put it on a DVD (it?s like 4 gigs), so he takes the HDD and makes an image onto a DVD. I get it back, take it to the first computer, I use Ghost to boot, then copy the image from the DVD. It copies fine, but after POST, computer reboots ? ?windows loading? screen doesn?t even come up. POST again, now the ?your windows didn?t shut down blah blah blah? so I try it in safe mode ? same thing, no windows loading and a reboot. Safe mode w/command prompt ? nada. Seeing as it?s stuck in eternal reboot I go back to co-worker, he makes a new image onto a DVD and I get that one and try it again ? same thing starts happening. I tell co-worker, he doesn?t know why? maybe there?s some connectivity issues in the USB somewhere that?s making the image screw up when it copies.
So we both figure just gonna have to do it drive-to-drive since the DVD method?s not working, it?ll take longer but at this point I?m like fine whatever. Connect the hard drives, copy the image from the PATA drive to SATA drive, unplug the PATA and let it boot. Boots okay. Windows comes up ?Your hardware has changed significantly since you first activated Windows, and now you must activate Windows again within 3 days to continue using it. Activate Windows now?? So I connect it online and try to register it again, ?according to our records you have exceeded the # of times you can activate this product. Use a new CD key.? But I only activated it once on the PATA drive? So I ignore it and start doin research about it.
As far as using a new CD key, I can just call Microsoft and tell them over the phone and it should be okay. The one that?s really confusing me & the co-worker is that message ?your hardware has significantly changed blah blah.? No, it hasn?t? it?s the same brand mobo in every PC, same brand & amount & speed memory, same video card, same HDD (some are 160GB, some are 250GB, all same brand), same PCI card though some are in slot 4, some in slot 5, etc. but that shouldn?t trigger Windows to need to reactivate. There?s only 2 things I can think that would trigger this ? a different CPU (like a Northwood vs. a Prescott), or possibly different revisions of the motherboard, but I have two boards in front of me that were doin that, and they?re the same revision.
First, we thought maybe it has something to do with the fact that the original image is on a PATA drive and since Windows is only finding a SATA drive, that could be the culprit. Co-worker thought that it might be diff. motherboard versions; he noticed on the driver CD that there are two different sets of drivers for the onboard audio/LAN. He was thinking maybe the older versions use one set of drivers and the newer versions use the second set of drivers. Somehow he ruled out that it?s the motherboards and he suspects it?s the CPUs, maybe some are Northwoods and maybe some are Prescotts. At this point I?m stumped so I just smile and nod and try to let him fix it. So we build a whole new rig only this time we don?t use the PATA drive, we grab a PATA optical drive and use the SATA HDD to load everything. Fresh copy of OEM XP SP2, load all drivers, software, etc. Then we ghost that onto a fresh 250GB SATA HDD, I take that one back and plug it in to test it ? windows is loading, I think I?m okay. Then windows loads ? kinda. You know how when XP logs on, it says ?welcome? then goes to desktop? Well, the blue screen (not BSOD, the XP ?welcome? blue screen) comes on, but I get no Welcome, I get a Microsoft Windows XP logo and it stays stuck like that. USB worked in BIOS but the USB keyboard/mouse isn?t working now, so I trade it for PS/2, try it again. Windows gets ?stuck? again, keyboard/mouse is working cuz the cursor moves, but no keyboard commands are registering.
So now he?s sure it has to be the CPU, how he arrived at that I have no idea. I was thinking about it last night after I got off work? I said somewhere earlier I have two in front of me, right? Both of those use the exact same CPU, whether it?s Northwood or Prescott (I think it?s Northwood? difference is the internal architecture and the cache, right?) and they SHOULD be the same CPU b/c the two I used came from the same vendor in the same order, I?m the one who placed the order for them (check out resellerratings.com for PartsPC.com, they?re some shady folks). Sure we could get around this problem by just calling Microsoft every time I hook up one of the hard drives, but that?s the easy way out and we?re trying to find out WTF is causing this. Anybody have any ideas? Lemme throw out the config:
Hardware specs:
Mobo: Asus P4P800-SE
CPU: Pentium4 3.2GHz (socket478), 800MHz FSB, 512KB L2 cache
Mem: Crucial 1GB DDR-400 (2x512MB modules in Dual-Channel)
Video: PNY GeForce 6600 256MB (AGP 8x)
PCI: Euresys Grablink EXPERT 2
On a closing note? I?ve already checked the motherboard versions, they?re all the same. I haven?t distinguished which chip on the mainboard is the sound controller, but from the two I have here the chip that controls the LAN is the same ? Marvell 88E8001. I haven?t checked the BIOS versions but I very highly doubt that it could be solved by simply flashing the BIOS ? besides, floppies are so outdated we don?t even have a drive or even disks around here. Any ideas/suggestions/solutions? If you need more info I?ll be glad to provide.
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