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So I was dumb first off by not noticing that I had 2 SATA cords in my Mobo box (first time building a computer from scratch) so I hooked my New internal hard drive into my old computer to install windows 7 onto it then move it back to the original case.

Before I moved it back I made sure to install the drivers for my graphics card also. So I know the OS is fine in one case, but won't work in the other.

I made sure that everything was in it's correct spot and secured. Unfortunately I keep getting a startup problem. Everytime I turn the tower on, it shows my Graphics Card screen like normal. Then suggest that I run Startup Repair. Starting windows normally just brings me back too the same screen. While attempting to repair it suggests I do a system restore, but it does nothing.

This process just keeps repeating itself. My System specs are below.

Graphics Card:XFX Radeon HD 6950 2GB

Case:Rosewill BLACKHAWK

Internal HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB

RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (x2)

CPU: Intel core i7 2600

Power Supply: Diablotek UL Series PSUL675 675W ATX

Mobo: ASRock z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel z68

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    Seems like the clean, simple solution is to just redo the Win install with the proper motherboard and HDD. "Installing Windows" does not mean that you're just coping stuff from the DVD to the hard drive. The installation is also determining & saving the system configuration. If you have a System Builder/OEM version of Win7, then hopefully you didn't activate your copy yet.
    – sawdust
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 0:23
  • Well I didn't copy it, but I think I understand what you're saying. Edit: So I tried reinstalling the OS again but it's just stuck going to Startup Repair.
    – Alex Helfery
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 0:41
  • WHERE did you reinstall the OS? With the hard drive in the new computer for the installation? Or did you just repeat the steps you performed the first time? What he was saying, is that without following some specific steps, you cannot just install Windows 7 on a hard drive on one computer, and then just swap the drive into another computer and expect it to work.
    – Bon Gart
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 0:58
  • Try deleting any partitions. Sometimes I resort to zeroing out the first couple of cylinders using a Seagate or WD utility.
    – sawdust
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 0:59

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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If you want to insist on having the hard drive in one computer to install Windows on it, and then move the hard drive to another computer to use the installation, you will have to use the Windows tool called Sysprep.

After you install Windows with the drive in the old computer, follow these steps BEFORE you pull the drive out.

  1. Run Command Prompt as administrator
  2. Type to Command Prompt: %windir%\System32\Sysprep\Sysprep.exe, and hit Enter
  3. In sysprep dialog that opens, choose System Cleanup Action as Enter System Out-of-Box-Experience (OOBE), select Generalize, select Shutdown Options Shutdown. Click OK
  4. Sysprep generalizes now your Windows 7 setup and shuts down your computer.

At this point, remove the drive from the first computer, and put it in the second one.

  1. Boot the PC from sysprep generalized hard disk. You will notice Windows booting as if it was the first boot after installation, installing default and updating registry. One or two reboots are needed, depending on your system specifications
  2. When Windows finally boots up, you will need to enter all information as if this really was a new, fresh installation

That should work just fine.

Otherwise, put the hard drive in the new computer, and install Windows 7 fresh on the drive from there.

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  • Thanks I'll try that in a little bit Bon. Been trying different options on other forums for 7 hours. So I need a break first.
    – Alex Helfery
    Commented May 9, 2012 at 3:07

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