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I have an IDE hard disk and want to move it to a new computer. However, that computer only supports SATA and I doubt it will boot from a PCI IDE card. Using a connect that converts the IDE to SATA, the bios (ClickBiosII) doesn't detect it. If I connect a different one, to convert it to USB instead, it does get detected but Windows XP bluescreens halfway through boot. What options do I have for booting this disk on a new computer?

Motherboard: FM2-A85XA-G65
APU: AMD A8-660K (3.9Ghz)
HD: WDC WD1200JB-00GVA0

Previous Motherboard: Dell(Optiplex gx270)(not the first motherboard the disk has been in though) Previous CPU: Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott 2.8Ghz)

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  • We need more information. Please provide motherboard model, IDE disk model, connector model, and any other kind of data you deem useful. Oct 7, 2013 at 21:43
  • What is your motherboard model? This info is useful. Also I don't think you can just move the disk through computers and get it to boot correctly, but this is based upon experience.
    – ranieri
    Oct 7, 2013 at 21:44
  • the blue screen would occur even if you managed to boot it when plugged into the inside with an adapter, just as it occurred when you managed to successfully boot it from USB. Don't you realise you managed to boot it from USB.. But Windows wouldn't start. Because unlike with Win 9X, you can't transfer a HDD with Win NT(e.g. XP/7) from one computer to another(whose MBRD has a different chipset), except when windows has been specially prepared(apparently acronis can make that preparation). But even then i'm not sure you can do it afterwards. Nothing to do with IDE/SATA. See NikolaD's answer.
    – barlop
    Oct 7, 2013 at 22:47
  • You can't boot and run XP from USB without some very strange hacks. XP actively prohibits it. Dec 23, 2018 at 1:42

5 Answers 5

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I don't think that you have an issue with HDD being connected via USB. The problem is that your Windows installation on that HDD has all the drivers and hardware configuration for your old motherboard and it won`t work with the new one.

If you`re really lucky, a Windows repair might work, but it could be the long shoot. I strongly advise you to backup your important data and do a clean Windows install

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  • Windows XP doesn't install nicely to USB hard drives, does it?
    – John Lyon
    Oct 8, 2013 at 4:55
  • yup. There's a massive hack to get windows XP to run off an USB drive though. I'm guessing if he's running off IDE, sysprep, and running it on a legacy mode would help. On the other hand, He dosen't want to be using the IDE drive, as your answer says.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Oct 8, 2013 at 6:08
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Don't.

  • using an IDE to SATA cable is a hack and I would never trust it as a long-term solution. What if it's unreliable in some subtle way and your important data becomes corrupted?
  • Your hard drive is around 8 years old now. Its reliability will soon become questionable. I would never use a drive this old in a new build. (Also, I assume you have backed up all of your important data? Consider yourself reminded)
  • This drive is likely to be significantly slower than current models, particularly a similarly sized SSD or a "hybrid" drive with a cache. I'm not even counting SATA-IDE converters here.
  • You will need to do a "Repair Install" on your existing XP installation. There is no guarantee that this will detect all of your brand new hardware correctly, and may leave you with an unbootable drive.
  • I'd strongly urge you to consider a more modern Operating System, as support for XP ends in April 2014.

In summary, I would buy a new, fast drive to go with your new, fast computer. I would install a more modern operating system, and then transfer any files I wanted to keep from the old drive, where the old drive is connected as an external USB drive or secondary drive.

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  • This. Also, when copying the data, make extra copies as a backup. Oct 8, 2013 at 9:18
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There are many brands of IDE-to-SATA adapters; that way, you won't suffer the performance loss of going via USB external enclosure.

However, there's no reason to not use a PCI IDE card, other than bother; the system should have no problem booting from it, provided you set the BIOS to do so.

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As Debra said, a PCI-IDE card should work. Another step you should perform to minimize the chance of blue-screening is to run sysprep while the HD is booted on the old computer. Next time you will boot from this HD , XP will boot to a point about halfway through the installation process and will re-install whatever system specific drivers that are needed on the new computer (Installed programs and data will remain on the disk).

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  • A PCI-IDE card won't make the IDE hard drive bootable unless it has a "BIOS extension ROM" onboard. Most PCI IDE cards don't have that. Dec 23, 2018 at 1:34
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This is likely the result of a difference in motherboard technologies (chipset changes and IO APIC). You may find it easier to just P2V (Physical to Virtual) the old system drive and run it on your new computer as a VM. For instructions on how to P2V, see my answer here:

Migrate to Virtual

How to P2V

In your case, you'd want to attach the drive to your computer by a USB adapter temporarily while the Disk2VHD tool takes an image copy. Pay attention to the "Volumes to include" section if you decide to use this process as you only want to take an image of the external drive. If you can't boot into the system, disregard what I wrote about the prereqs.

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