Installed windows 7 on Old HDD cant use my main OS because of "hardware changes"

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ii_DyNaMiCs_ii

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Apr 7, 2016
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Hi all , i have searched the forums and cant find what im about to ask.

So I have my Windows 7 Ultimate running from my SSD (Drive 1)
I have a second harddrive also for storage which also has some other different version of windows (possibly professional)

I am currently building a Pc for a friend and his PC has no DVD drive as of yet so I installed windows on his Hdd from my PC. (Drive 2)

I installed windows from his windows 7 professional disc while i was logged on my windows (drive 1).

I finished the installation and logged into windows on His HDD (drive 2) installed some LAN drivers etc and set it all up for him.

I disconnected the harddrive (drive 2) and restarted , Now when I boot up I get a Windows error message stating that windows failed to boot due to a hardware change.

Now i must also state that i have found a way to use my SSD windows 7 but it is very annoying and i will list the steps that i have been taking in order to boot up.

1. start PC
2. when option for BIOS shows up (F2 to enter bios) hold F8.
3. This brings up a Boot priority override , i have to select my second HDD .
4. I get prompted with 2 options , I hover over My SSD Windows Ultimate and press F8
5. Select start windows normally .

My samsung SSD is selected as first priority to Boot

My question is how can I fix this without the Windows 7 ultimate DVD as I bought the SSD with windows installed .

Important specs :
MOBO : Asus m5a97 EVO R2.0

Thank you
 
Solution
Ironsounds
Hello... 1) There is Repair registry and Boot tools on a install media... and at times fixes a Boot HD/OS problem.
2) You can install the harddrive first on another Computer... give permission to use it... and copy your personal files off of it first B )

Typically a "clean" install, on "Your" hardware, will get a HD/Win to boot right up B )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyvUQP86tp0
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Apr 16, 2015
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First off, you should always install the OS via the motherboard you intend to use it with - there's no guarantee a system will boot with an OS installed elsewhere.

You could've just created an ISO image of the W7 Disk for your friend & made a bootable USB..........install it that way.


You bought an SSD with Windows pre-installed? That's......odd to say the leadt.
Did you ever activate it with your motherboard? Or did it initially show up as "activated".
If it was pre-activated, there's a good chance this new OS install made it realize it wasn't actually a genuine copy of Windows. If you activated it with a key, you should be able to re-enter the key to re-activate.

As far as your boot options go, I'm not 100% sure, this is a pretty unique situation. I suspect you didn't have true genuine Windows to begin with and the new OS install you just performed on another drive brought it to light. If it is genuine, the fact you installed an OS to another attached drive may have messed with boot partitions/instructions. Since you can still boot the OS with a work around, have you ensured your SSD is set to boot priority #1 (essentially what you're doing on a one-off basis over-riding the boot priority).

If you have genuine Windows, and a product key, you can download an ISO of the appropriate Windows version from MS - you'll need to enter the key to access the ISO downloads though. Then you can make a bootable USB (or make a Windows 7 disk yourself I guess) and re-install to the appropriate drive.
 
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Math Geek

Math Geek

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you can't install windows to your pc and then expect it to work on another one. windows does not work that way.

if your friend's pc has no dvd drive, then use your pc to create a usb thumb drive to install from. his pc will boot from that and install away. you have to be using a different key however as you can not reuse your key on another pc. that's gonna cause issues as well such as the one you're seeing now.

you need to create a usb drive for your friend and install windows from there for him.


as for your situation, it sounds very fishy to me. you don't buy an ssd with windows installed on it. it comes blank and you install to it from your windows disk. it does not work the way you are saying. throw in the "second harddrive also for storage which also has some other different version of windows (possibly professional)" and i can't think of another reason you have all this except for some non legal things. can't help you with that end of things but will offer the help to your friend to create a usb drive from his dvd and then go from there.
 
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ii_DyNaMiCs_ii

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I bought the SSD from one of my friends at college who was upgrading , its only 120 GB and i think he was getting a 250 or higher.

I have my SSD as #1 priority in the BIOS and thats why I get an error message because it cannot load that windows .
Look even if i was to buy a brand new windows disc would i be able to fix this problem without losing all of my data ?
And would that work if the windows isnt genuine ? I presumed it was genuine , is there a way to firmly check as in the system properties it says "windows activated"

 
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