xp won`t install

It's imposible for a HDD to move from PC to PC boot up with winXP. Xp don't allow user to switch computer by just moving the HDD to another computer. Whenever I do that, the BSOD appears. How did you manage to use your friend's HDD on your PC and boot up in winXP?

All I know is that he has the same motherboard as mine....
I made a mistake in what i said about his harddrive...what i meant to say was i used my hard drive on his machime and installed my xp and it installed..when i connected it back to my machine it booted up with no problems,,,i have no idea why it works that way, i my self thought it would not boot up, but it does!!!!

Wow! If that works, pirated XP will not need to be cracked anymore. Just get an XP copy which has been registered and ghost the OS and just put into any new HDD and we get a registered copy of winXP and no need to go through all the WPA stuff.

By the way, if half way through installation and it fails, what's the error? could it be your CDROM isn't responding?

Try copying the /i386 folder directly to your hard drive. Boot off a floppy first of course. Once that's done, cd to your c:/i386 directory and run winnt.exe

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

the error it comes up with says it just can`t copy file "blah blah"...even though i keep pressing on retry..the other choice i have is to skip file, but it warns me that the os might not work with out that file...

i have taken the motherboard and hard drive back to shop and had both replaced, but i still have the same problem..why is it that winme installs, but not xp pro......

ok silverpig i will give that a try...and let u know how i get on...thanks

I have the same problem a week ago when fresh install win XP Pro for my new system . What I did is reformatted that partition and reinstalled win XP and it should be fixed.

Just finishing up after the same problem.
XP started flaking out and then lost some system files.
Tried to do a repair from the cd but kept getting the 'unable to copy file' error.
I have 2 cd drives and 1 IDE HD and 2 SCSI HD. I tried both cd drives to install XP (different IDE channels) same problem.
I went for a new install on a different partition - same problem. 2 cd drives and 3 HD, lots of combinations - no luck. I thought maybe it was the XP cd. Got a copy from a buddy - no luck.
I decided it was a hardware problem other than the cd drives, hard drives, cables ...
Pulled all non esential items out of the case - all that was left was cpu, 1 stick of RAM, and video.
Anyway, not to get to long winded here. After the elimination process and finding XP loaded until ...... a bad stick of Crucial memory ! Not totaly hacked but enough to muck up info at times. A friend told me to try Memtest86 (free download, memtest86.com - copy ISO and make a bootable cd. Sorry, have a friend make a cd).
Ran this with my good memory in - no report. Swapped the good for the suspected - using same bank - and in 13.7 minutes Memtest had counted up 79,6000 test errors. I don't think this would pass Crucials Q.C. RMA time !

Try pulling all your memory but one and go through the install process. If it dumps, swap the memory and try again.
You might get lucky like I did.

Just reread your post. I also was able to load ME. I did this on a different partition, got it going and was able to get on line for info and to burn a Memtest cd.
Don't know why ME and not XP - XP more memory intense ?

I have seen this problem many times. Yes, XP is much harder on memory timing. Make sure that you have the latency set correctly in the bios. If you think it's still set right after you look at it.....just for grins....slow it down. I'm not familiar with your motherboard however, I do know that chipsets can be a little pissy with memory timings as well.....especially SIS chipsets. For DDR memory, try setting the CAS timing to 2.5. Depending on your motherboard there will also be some other settings. Slow those down as well. The higher the number the slow the speed.....only when referring to latency and timing though. See if that works.

Check the BIOS settings AGAIN. Find an option thats similar to "Restore Optimized Defaults". Or if there's an option that scans for a HD make sure it is set to "Auto". Or install replace the motherboard. It looks like a problem witth the motherboard if installing XP on a different machine works properly.

Please check the thread date before replying... after 7 years, it's likely the OP doesn't even have the computer in question any longer.

OK so I was Trying to install windows, but whenever i try, Setup says it cant copy drivers.cab, and reg edit...and finally the errors conclude to a final error that says that there isn't enough RAM. any ideas?

Wasn't this thread NECRO?