help getting new system to boot

garymcq23 · 18 Jun 2016 at 21:02

hi just looking to see if anyone would be able to help me out. i just built a new system for work as the old pc was around 10 years old maybe even older so i decided to upgrade it to a i5 2500 with a asrock h61m dgs mother board

the problem i am having is that i cloned the old hard drive using Macrium Reflect and when i try to boot with with the new drive in the new pc i get stuck on a error screen saying the pc wasnt turned of properly the last time it was used this message keeps coming back after hitting enter so its stuck in a loop.

if i put the new drive in the old pc everything works fine so im guessing that some of the old drivers is conflicting with my new hardware is there anyway round this? as their is a lot of very important information on the drive ie business invoices and accounts that i need also the business program called quickbooks which i also need transferred onto the new ssd.

the os is windows xp if this helps

PapaLazaru · 18 Jun 2016 at 21:33

You have changed so much hardware that it is not really a surprise it won't boot. I would copy off everything you need then reinstall the OS fresh.

tres_kun · 18 Jun 2016 at 21:33

First what platform was the old system ?
As swapping the platform can be difficult
And i do not believe that you will be able to use all of the software even if it is doable

garymcq23 · 18 Jun 2016 at 21:39

the old system is xp and it was a amd chip

PapaLazaru · 18 Jun 2016 at 22:19

You are going to have to reinstall the OS.

Cern · 18 Jun 2016 at 22:28

Changing hardware in a major way will always cause problems for a Windows install, especially with older versions like XP. Migrating between AMD and Intel just adds an extra layer of difficulty.

The Windows System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) might be able to come to your aid. This allows you to make a driver-free image of your Windows install. I used this myself to successfully migrate a Win 7 install to totally new hardware (Intel to Intel) and then subsequently upgrade that to Win 10. It went well enough that I didn't need to do a fresh install of Windows and all my apps are still working.

However, whilst Windows XP does have the Sysprep tool, I'm not sure if it works in quite the same way for XP as it does with Win 7, but it might be worth a try.

Note that using this tool will reset your Windows activation. But totally changing your hardware is going to do this anyway (so hopefully you have a retail version, not OEM).

Also, before attempting anything like this, fully back up all your important data.

garymcq23 · 19 Jun 2016 at 12:47

i would do a clean install but the problem is i dont have another copy of quick books and i cant seem to find out what version of quick books is on the old pc