Boots, but wont load OS

[Maskwind]

Hello,
my mobo is a ASrock extreme3 gen 3, the hdd works on another pre built rig. it boots, goes into the UEFI bios screen i set the boot sequence to hd then dvd drive... and it boots like.. once, resets, boots again... then a black screen comes up saying that i need to run a startup repair thing because the computer wont start the OS. after i run the startup repair thing... like 5 minutes later... it says that it has fixed the problem and it restarts.... then back to stage one with the boot loop. any help on this issue will be helpful... this build is a (bit late) x-mas present for my sister.

 

[Rockdpm]

did u recently change any components?

 

[Maskwind]

well its a brand new rig... except the hdd and the dvd drive. i just recycled them from an old build because my sister didnt want to have to reinstall all of her games and files and crap. i installed the hdd into the new build... and it wont get past the bios splash screen unless it wants me to attempt to run a startup repair. but when i install the hdd into the old rig i got it from... starts up no problems.

 

[thespieler]

well its a brand new rig... except the hdd and the dvd drive. i just recycled them from an old build because my sister didnt want to have to reinstall all of her games and files and crap. i installed the hdd into the new build... and it wont get past the bios splash screen unless it wants me to attempt to run a startup repair. but when i install the hdd into the old rig i got it from... starts up no problems.

Thats your problem right there. you cant just transplant the HDD and expect the system to work, you need new drivers, new bios settings in order for that HDD to boot with the new specs.

 

[Maskwind]

and how would i go about changing the bios settings and getting the new drivers?... plug it back into the old system, back up everything on an external, and then what? because i would like to have files, games, etc. all backed up before i have to possibly reformat, or purchase a new OS, she has vista. SP1 i believe.

 

[thespieler]

You just cant do this.. Even if you did somehow manage to get windows to load, it will be asking you for a SOA, and the one which shipped with your sisters original pc will be Invalid. You would need to purchase a new copy of windows. Every way you look at it it just doesnt work.

 

[Maskwind]

i am fully aware of the fact that i would probably have to a purchase a new OS, i was going to upgrade her to windows 7 home. but she wants the files that are on the old hdd. pretty decent sized games that would take hours to re download. as well as personal files and such.

 

[thespieler]

Heres your solution, plug your HDD into the old computer, pull off all of the files you need onto a disk or flash drive, then do a fresh install of windows 7 on the new pc with the old HDD. you cant make the games work without copying registry files over, and this process gets even more messy when your going from vista to 7. Just redownload the games, it will save you ALOT more time than tweaking the registry.

 

[Maskwind]

yes, but what would i do after i copy and save over all of the files, would i just highlight the C drive and click delete? or what, i've never had to reformat a hdd before. i'm good at building them,,, but like tweaking stuff and formatting i'm still kinda new at.

 

[Crush3d]

You can reformat it during Windows installation I believe.. You just have to set the BIOS to boot from CD/DVD and have the Windows installation disk in when it restarts. It will give you an option a few menus in (when it asks where you want to install windows) to "delete" (reformat) the drive.

 

[Maskwind]

oh allright, thank you very much. i'm off to go buy the new windows 7 OS then. thank you

 

[Maskwind]

Best answer selected by Maskwind.

 

[Crush3d]

Found this with a google search.. I'm sure you can find lots of hits if you google how to reformat a hard drive.

Reformatting a Hard Drive with the Windows Installation Disk

1.First and foremost, backup all the data from the hard drive partitions to be formatted. For example, users may want to backup their ‘Documents and Settings’ folder so that they can use it on a new Windows installation. Also remember to backup other important items like the Internet browser bookmarks.

2.Restart the PC and enter the BIOS setup by pressing the ‘Delete’ key. Once in the setup, ensure that the boot configuration is set to allow the CD/DVD drive to boot first.

3.Insert the Windows installation disk in the drive and then exit the setup after saving the changes.

4.As the machine restarts, the user will be prompted to press any key to boot from the disk. It is important to boot from the disk because the system partition cannot be formatted from the operating system itself.

5.The Windows installation screen should take the user through several steps before he/she is allowed to format an existing drive.

6.Reformat existing partitions, delete existing partitions, or create new partitions in unpartitioned space. Choose the required amount of space by specifying a number denoting the formatted area in megabytes.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey