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My problem is I am trying to replace a SATA boot drive in a WIN XP SP 2 machine. I tried the same thing which works in IDE drives, namely, I copied all the files from old drive to new, then just swapped the drive out. BUT the problem is that apparently because the new drive is a different model than the prior, some new SATA driver needs to be installed FROM WITHIN WINDOWS in order for windows to recognize the drive, which I cannot do until it boots - ARGH. And YES, I also tried changing my BIOS mode from NORMAL SATA to compatibility mode, still did not work. Is there a way around this problem which does NOT require me reinstalling everything from ground up?

THANK YOU

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  • First: Copying all the files is not supposed to be enough. The new drive also needs the right boot code. Secondly: No, in order to use XP with AHCI (the normal SATA mode) you need to add drivers. You do that by a clean install and pressing F6 during the first part to load those from a floppy. Setting your SATA controller to ancient legacy compatability mode should just work though you will be lacking new features.
    – Hennes
    Nov 11, 2014 at 13:33
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    One more thing: XP is end-of-life. Please do not connect a computer running windows XP to the Internet. If you do need to connect to the outside world, choose at least win7 (or a linux or ...). At which point you need to do a clean install anyways.
    – Hennes
    Nov 11, 2014 at 13:35

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As Hennes says in his comments, copying files is not enough. You need to perform a complete disc copy, sector-by-sector. Only in this way will you get all the files copied, including those that are locked during normal Windows operation, and ensure that the 8.3 file names are the same in the copy, since some registry settings unaccountably use these names and not the normal, long file names.

There are many programs to do this, including back-up and restore programs from Norton, Paragon and other companies. There are also free tools on Hiren's Boot CD, which also includes tools to resize the partitions on the new disc if the two discs are of different sizes. Note that if the new disc is smaller the procedure will be more complicated, as you will need to copy and resize in a single operation.

If the new disc doesn't boot in compatibility mode, try IDE mode if your BIOS supports it: I needed to use this after a copy similar to yours.

As for the end-of-life issue, you don't need to worry too much if you are using a decent internet security suite, which will continue to be updated even though XP isn't being maintained.

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