Hard Drive swap into new machine...

[SoCalHoosier]

This post isn't so much about a hard drive as it is about machine/system recognition.

I have two identical systems made by the same manufacturer. One of the system's power supply failed. That was the system used most often. Therefore I swapped internal hard drives, thinking that it should run fine since they were on the same XP operating system.

Here's the problem...
After running for awhile the swapped out machine will crash. It happens after about an hour or two of use. But it happens repeatedly. Are there items in the system folder that need to recognize the hardware address itself? If so what are they?

[dcc]

Do both motherboard the same, more specifically do they have the same chipset? If not then you may have a problem as the hdd will already be set to recognize the chipset of the old motherboard and will get confused by seeing the new chipset. This could be fatal to the OS and require reinstalling.

[SoCalHoosier]

Everything about the original machines is exactly the same. (same motherboard, graphics card, etc) The only thing different is there are two hard drives in one vs the other, and the amount of RAM is a bit higher.

[dcc]

You are sure that both motherboards are the same version, exact same chip set?

One other possibility would be that your having a over heating issue. Is the heat sink and fan assembly for the CPU free of dust, are the intake louvers clean? Are all of you fans running properly?

Just curious here, why didn't you just install the second hdd as a slave drive?

[RueB2sDe]

Hard Drives don't normally need the same chip set on the Motherboard for it to work. Normally, to my knowledge, it just needs to be the right connector. Such as IDE/SATA. Jumpers have to be set for Primary and Secondary (sorry don't like the term Master and Slave but it is sometime listed like that too in the BIOS)

So it runs for a bit and then it shuts down?

Does it give you an error message when it shuts down?

Whats the O/S on it?
Do you have two hard drives hooked up?
Is it an Internal or external Hard Drive?

[SoCalHoosier]

Two commercially sold identical HP systems were bought off the shelf at the same time. Same motherboard, etc.

The primary and secondary (master/slave) drives were removed from one machine over to the second machine. The pin configurations were fine otherwise they wouldn't have worked on the original machine. Same exact system on both, XP Home.

I thought the same thing about the heating issue. I will look into it however it was vacuumed internally before the hard drives were swapped.

[RueB2sDe]

Ok so the jumpers are ok on the Hard Drive it sounds like. What about the motherboard? I probably is set right and enabled if it boots to the OS. Actually if it is posting then more then likely the jumpers are set correctly on the motherboard too, however you might want to check. Usually on the towers, inside the case it will show you the jumper settings for the IDE connections.

So you didn't say anything about error messages. Does it give you errors?

RueB 2s De

[dcc]

Hard Drives don't normally need the same chip set on the Motherboard for it to work. Normally, to my knowledge, it just needs to be the right connector.

It isn't the hdd that has the problem seeing the different chip set, it is the operating system.

[RueB2sDe]

DCC,
I don't agree. The chip set may help sending information to the hard drive quicker however the Hard drive does not include a chipset included unless it is an external drive.

SoCalHoosier, What I would try doing is first make sure that you have SP2 installed on the windows xp system. Shuts downs are typical if have not installed the Security patches.

Next remove the IDE ATA/ATAPI controller from the device manager. This will reinstall the driver for the HDD in the OS. You might have a duplicate driver for your IDE HDD drive.

Try this:
When system is starting boot to safe mode by tapping F8
Choose the safe mode option without networking.
Go to Control panal, Hardware, Device manager.
Click on the plus sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Removed any PCI Bus master controllers under this catagory. Do not remove the Primary IDE channel or Secondary IDE channel

Then restart your system. It will automaticly find the devices. Do not close the found new hardware wizard. Once it reinstalls it will ask to restart your system.

This might work. Also have you double checked the IDE Cable? Make sure it is seated properly, on the right master connection. If the above fails try replacing the IDE cable.

Let me know if you have any questions.

RueB 2s DE

[dcc]

RueB, I get the feeling that you I are not talking about the same thing. What I'm referring to is the problem that occurs when you introduce a hdd to a different motherboard chip set. This usually will at best cause stability problems in the OS, it can also corrupt the OS to the point that it will need to be reinstalled.

[caperjack]

RueB, I get the feeling that you I are not talking about the same thing. What I'm referring to is the problem that occurs when you introduce a hdd to a different motherboard chip set. This usually will at best cause stability problems in the OS, it can also corrupt the OS to the point that it will need to be reinstalled.

Agree!
did you go to control panel ,admin tools ,event viewer /system ,and check for an errors