One feature that was useful in Windows versions prior to XP was you could simply take out a hard drive that has Windows installed and connect it up to another computer. When it boots it up, it’ll start to detect and install all device drivers again. When you change the motherboard or move your hard drive that has Windows XP installed to another computer, be prepared to get endless looping reboots or the famous blue screen of death (BSOD). The error will usually be a STOP 7B error which is related to a problem with the hard drive controller.
This problem is often simply due to the fact that the storage controller used by Windows XP requires a different driver depending on what type of hard drive controller is on the motherboard. If the old controller uses one driver and the new controller requires a different driver, XP is trying to boot with the old driver and throws up the blue screen because the wrong driver is trying to load. The recovery console or even Safe Mode isn’t usable because Windows can’t boot anything without the correct software for the controller. The only real hope you have of this problem not occurring is to use a motherboard with exactly the same chipset for the hard drive controller.
After all these years since the release of Windows XP, it’s still not a straightforward task to move a Windows XP hard drive and partition to another computer without getting a blue screen. There are some easier ways to do it although they cost a fair amount of money. Amazingly, a large proportion of websites on the internet (including Microsoft) will tell you the only solution is to perform a Repair Install or even completely wipe your XP install with a format and re-install.
Thankfully there are ways around the issue. You can firstly avoid this problem before moving XP to the new computer or motherboard if you know what to do, and secondly the problem is still fixable even after you have moved XP to the new hardware configuration. Here’s how to do it.
Before Moving the Hard Drive or Removing the Old Motherboard
This is obviously the much more preferable method because it will stop you getting the problems after moving to the new hardware and requires the usage of no extra software.
1. Go to Control Panel and open System.
2. Click the Hardware tab and then click the Device Manager button.
3. In Device Manager expand “IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers” by clicking the + sign.
4. Right click on the FIRST controller in the list and select Update Driver, it should be the one with a manufacturer name, such as VIA or Intel etc.
5. Select “No, not this time” when asked “Can Windows connect to Windows Update to search for software?” and click Next.
6. Select “Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)” and click Next.
7. Select “Don’t search. I will choose the driver to install” and click Next.
8. Select “Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller” and click Next.
9. Click No when ask to restart. Now shutdown the computer, remove the hard drive and install it on another computer, or replace the old motherboard. As you’ve probably worked out, this solution simply reverts the driver back to the standard Microsoft controller driver you would have on a clean install. Do note this method won’t help if you’re trying to use the XP drive on an AHCI enabled target system. You need to make sure the BIOS is set to IDE or standard SATA mode.
On Page 2 we’ll show you the solution if you’ve already connected the XP hard drive to the target motherboard/system.
I’ve had a Windows XP SP3 installation running on a Athlon 64 3000+ era system for a long time. With Seagate SSHD drives dropping to $99 for 500GB, I thought I’d move that install from a mechanical drive to the SSHD. Despite the install being less than pristine in state, using this method of switching the hard drive controller’s driver, then Parted Magic’s clone tool, I successfully migrated the install! Thanks for this help. It is astonishing, and also a credit to you, that this simple technique is only available on your blog.
However, can you top this by suggesting why, after getting the install to boot fine, I can’t then go and update the HDC drivers back to the appropriate nVidia nForce 430 drivers as supplied by the motherboard’s website, without a repeat of the STOP 7B BSOD? I was under the (perhaps misguided) impression that the HDC only needed to be downgraded to the old generic Windows driver in order to get the system running again. Then the proper drivers could be re-installed. Would absolutely love your advice on this topic. I’m now seemingly stuck running a SATA3 SSHD in UDMA6 (133 MB/s) mode. I know my old motherboard can’t run the SSHD in it’s optimal SATA3 (600 MB/s) mode but I have it plugged into a SATA2 port so I’d hope SATA2 speeds of 300MB/s would be (theoretically) attainable.
The problem with trying to install drivers AFTER having XP in IDE mode is when you install the motherboard/chipset drivers while in IDE mode, the setup doesn’t see the SATA/RAID controller and so doesn’t install drivers for SATA. In other words, you’re still getting a BSOD because XP still doesn’t have any SATA drivers on there!
What you have to do is insert the SATA driver manually so Windows will see it on boot, it’s not exactly easy, but not too difficult either. Have a look at the following nVidia community page for a guide on what to do.
forums.geforce.com/default/topic/419127/switching-to-ahci-nvidia-nforce-drivers/
Thanks!
I upgraded my motherboard/CPU and simply couldn’t fool Windows into booting without the wrong AHCI drivers. (Too late to go back to the old motherboard now and uninstall them!) This advice (Hiren’s boot cd method) got me into safe mode, where I can now update the motherboard drivers and (cross fingers) get into full proper windows again. Awesome!
Thank you. You have no idea how much time you saved me today.
Señor Raymondo,
Up until now, any method I knew of involved a Windows XP CD and was also quite time consuming. I imaged my hard drive with Macrium Reflect before moving it from an HP Pavillion to a Compaq Presario. I tried Solution a): OMG – Pure Genius!!! You are a true scholar in your profession. Thank you so much!
Excellent article, saved me rebuilding a machine i have had for four years.
Upgraded from an K7Neo to an K8N Neo 939 motherboard had the BSOD 7b boot device error, used option B here and it worked a charm!
Thank you so much!
Thank you, thank you, thank you……
Although it’s a bit of a mess around to do it, you have no idea how much time this will save me.
I bow down to your superior knowledge and may you get all the good Karma you deserve in one lump sum (maybe the lottery) :)
Again, thank you :)
worked for me…
Dead motherboard…
Replaced >booted >UBCD4win > followed directions…Had to go in safe mode a couple of boots :>found and installed other drivers automatically…running good
I can’t believe I actually found an answer to this problem. A virus took out some system files, so I did a in-place upgrade of Windows with a custom made XP disk with NLite to include the SATA drivers that I’d need. Unfortunately, the in-place upgrade fails to deploy those drivers, even though it uses them to detect the HDD during Setup. I’ve been searching for two days on how to install SATA drivers on an unbootable WinXP installation, and finally found your posting. Thank you very much.
Great post. I have a great deal to thank you for the timesaving fix,.. Because it was so effective with most machines i had to move hard drives, i now have a Hirens Boot CD on a usb drive. The latest version has a mini-xp boot o.s. that I use to run that registry cure. Again thanks a million
Thank you so much for posting this. I never knew about the UBCD4Win and the incredible “Fix-HDC” which performs the “MergeIDE.reg” automated!! I had an untimely and sudden death of a VIA chipset motherboard and had to switch WinXP over to a nVidia nForce2 motherboard, which obviously has a completely different IDE controller etc. Resulting in the infamous STOP 0x7B BSOD.
UBCD4Win (while not as simple as downloading an ISO and burning it) took about an hour to build & burn (by default it builds a >700MB ISO that won’t fit on a standard 650MB CD-R???).
But in the end it did the trick and it’s thanks to this blog for pointing me towards the solution!!
Awesome. Exactly what I was looking for. This was after trying five different methods that fail.
Thanks, you saved me a lot of re-build time.
i MUST say thanks again…i really appreciate the tip here…its people like u that make the internet worth while….ALL HAIL THIS GUY!!!!
THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS INFO HERE….MAGA LIFE SAVER…THANKS AGAIN!!!
Good post simplest I’ve seen yet. Thanks for the post.
great! you saved me from buying another copy of xp! everything got well, just reinstalled drivers from new mobo cd and video card!
really thanks a lot! ;)
thanks to ray for this method i always wondered what the problem was with that this will save a lot of cloning and formatting i run into this problem
Worked nicely, thanks.
Hi. I have 3 legal copies of win xp pro sp2.
I have moved them around all over and into new computers and never had to call microsoft or had any trouble booting.
Today I just installed my winxp pro hard drive into a new computer and it booted right up.
John Hansen
thanks for the post it worked great and saved me a butt load of time
ei raymond thanks! this is so nice and Great!
Beautiful article Ray!! BEAUTIFUL!! Thanx a million!!
Thanks
The above method is also a good way to repair a crashed windows installation. If it is a software problem you can use this method on the same hardware. But be sure you have the right CD and Product key.
With a hardware problem, for example some bad blocks, try to get a copy onto a new HDD and then repair using the install method.
Thanks Raymond
That was a great tips.