Windows XP hard drive to Windows ME computer

[Guest]

Have a Compaq Presario 7151 WM. Originally came with Windows ME operating system. Hard drive is gone, for whatever reason (privacy most likely). The rest of the computer is intact. I have a hard drive from another Compaq (dont recall the model#), but it has/had Windows XP os. This hard drive has/had lots of info pictures etc. that i'd like to access again IF it will work on this replacement computer. I installed the hard drive and the system will turn on and allows me to click on F2 to enter the setup. If i dont press F2 the screen will eventually say "Drive not ready -System Halted". When i press F2 i can enter the setup screen with lots of options...but i have no idea where to go from there to make this hard drive work. I have no disks (floppy or cd) that came with this computer. Any help to get this going would be much appreciated.

 

[megamanx00]

Well, you can go buy an OS for one. Unless the Hard drive came from a computer exactly like the one you're putting it in, or one very simular, there will be all sorts of drive conflicts and it probably won't start at all without re-installing an OS. For now, you can try downloading and burning a Linux Live CD so that you can transfer your files off that Hard Drive and onto a flash drive or other computer though a network.