Can't start Windows after replacing hard drive with one with OS on it.

My desktop hard drive died. I'm trying to replace it with one from a laptop that has a bad graphics processor. But after the swap, the desktop reached the "Windows is Starting" screen but then went to a blue screen. Upon restarting, I was able to launch Startup Repair. But it was unable to resolve the problem automatically. It said, "Unspecified changes to system configuration might have caused the problem." And elsewhere, it provided the following list,

"Problem Signature:
Problem Even Name: StarupRepairOffline
Problem Signature 01: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 02: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 03: unknown
Problem Signature 04: 451
Problem Signature 05: AutoFailover
Problem Signature 06: 1
Problem Signature 07: NoRootCause
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033"


The laptop is a Dell Inspiron N5010.
The OS on the laptop hard drive is Windows 7.

I'm looking at the System Recovery Options. And I think my best options are either System Image Recovery (I created a system image before the HDD died) and Command Prompt (if I need to wipe the drive and do a fresh install). I don't have a proper installation disk, though, but I do have a USB drive that is supposed to have the installation files, but I've never used them before. I also have a repair disk if I need to launch System Recovery Options again after wiping the hard drive.

What should I do?

Thank you!

Could be because the hardware is so different from the laptop.

The system image you made should work.

If you need any files from the laptop disk copy them off before restoring the system image.

Ok. I thought maybe wiping the drive and doing a fresh install (assuming the installation files I have work) would be the quickest and easiest way but perhaps not. So if you think recovering the system image is the way I should go, then I guess I'll proceed with that later tonight. Hopefully, I'll have results to report by tomorrow evening.

Thank you again!

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Unfortunately, I got an error message saying, "The system image restore failed. No disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found." And I understand why now. I forgot that the capacity of the destination drive is only about half of the system image. So I tried doing a system restore using the last restore point on the system image. It claimed the restore was successful, but I still get a blue screen after the "Windows is Starting" screen. I can't believe this is that big of an issue. It can obviously read something on that drive to be able to load "System Recovery Options" and detect that the OS is Windows 7. So the hardware can't be all that incompatible. Is it worth bothering trying to wipe the drive and do a fresh install? Can that even be done with the installation files on a USB drive instead of an installation disk?

The startup repair problem details are the same as before except the entry for problem signature 04 is 21197942 and the entry for problem signature 06 is 3.

Is it worth bothering trying to wipe the drive and do a fresh install?

If there is nothing on the disk you want to keep and you dont mind starting afresh.

Can that even be done with the installation files on a USB drive instead of an installation disk?

That is the way most people do it nowadays, dvd drives are going out of fashion.

The last official ms installation media includes SP1. If yours is ancient you might want to download the last official media.

the HP Compaq 8200 Elite SFF would almost certainly have come with win7 x64 Professional

search the internet for

X17-59186.iso
or
en_windows_7_professional_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_676939.iso

SHA1: 0BCFC54019EA175B1EE51F6D2B207A3D14DD2B58

machine specific drivers can be easily found on the hp site.

https://support.hp.com/ee-en/drivers...tor-pc/5037931

Is the bios mode the same if the disk is uefi and the pc legacy it wont work you will have to change bios option

I downloaded the iso file you suggested. Copied and pasted it to the flash drive. The flash drive is formatted as NTFS. But I can't seem to get the computer to boot from the flash drive, even after moving "USB floppy/CD" to the top position in the boot order under both EFI Boot Sources and Legacy Boot Sources. Am I doing something wrong? I haven't yet tried wiping the hard drive. I was hoping that was an unnecessary step.

ADDENDUM: I've also tried selecting "USB" under Hard Drive under Legacy Boot Sources in the boot menu.

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Oh! To samuria, my apologies, I didn't see your post before submitting mine. But I can't quite make out what you're asking.

Copied and pasted it to the flash drive.

extract the iso contents to the usb stick

Usb7ice.zip

that is the hash value for anybody that wants to check the file.

there is probably a key on a sticker on the machine somewhere. Those business machines usually have the sticker, though if the machine was bought second hand for pennies or rescued from landfill it might not be easy to read.

There will be a slic table in the bios which entitles the machine to win 7

you can just skip entering the key for the time being and get it installed

untick the box that says automatically activate online and then click next