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I imaged windows XP to another workstation, setup the BIOS to emulate IDE (SATA was crashing the OS on boot). The system does not boot, not even in safe mode. I think this might happen because the new workstation has a CPU from a newer generation.

We've done it with another workstation where the CPU changed from Pentium D to Core 2 Duo and it booted.

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Windows hardly ever boots when you image if there are significant hardware changes. If you have the same motherboard (or at a stretch, same chipset and storage controller) it can usually boot without problems.

What I recommend you do is try to get the Sysprep tool which is located on your original Windows disk (you need the exact correct edition).

Then, run sysprep /generalize - this will "wipe" the hardware ties between your current installation and the hardware it runs on. You can then image and upon Windows running for the first time, it will rebuild the hardware ties.

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  • I will try that in the lab and post back the result
    – Dean
    Sep 2, 2011 at 8:52
  • William, is this an alternative to slipstreaming - Where someone could just make disk images and then run sysprep to load on any current hardware configuration? Sep 2, 2011 at 9:14
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    @Matth1a3 - I wrote loads then I re-read what you wrote... ehh... in some situations yes... Windows XP not so much - if you have a domain environment, you will get weird problems due to the SID not changing ( There was a tool called NewSid but it isn't offered now, just this article - blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2009/11/03/… ) ... using sysprep /generalize on Windows Vista/7 will give a new SID and I have used it before for cloning, but, now, I actually prefer using MDT - microsoft.com/download/en/… Sep 2, 2011 at 9:49
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What kind of error do you get?

My guess is it bluescreens before it even gets to safe mode. When moving images from one motherboard to another, the most common error I've seen in XP is the ol HAL errors.

You either need to use SYSPREP to generalize the image or reinstall.

As far as your experience on another machine, I wouldn't necessarily bank on the fact that it was a Pentium D to Core 2. Different motherboards will cause far more havoc than different processors. Post Hoc.

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  • Yes it is the BSOD if I choose to disable the reset, otherwise it will loop boot to infinity.
    – Dean
    Sep 2, 2011 at 8:53
  • Sysprep it is, I will post the results.
    – Dean
    Sep 2, 2011 at 8:54

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