I have put a HDD with a well used-and-modified WinXP/SP3 system into another PC, and there run a Repair from the slipstreamed WinXP/SP3 installation disc. It will not boot unless from a NTLDRfix boot floppy. If I freshly install WinXP/SP3 onto an identical HDD in the same PC, can any parts of it be substituted into the HDD-that-wont-autoboot, to render it bootable (without the floppy) ? Basty

You can't repair a boot that way. Boot fdisk and make sure the primary partition is set to active. Boot to recovery console and run fixmbr and fixboot. Then run bootcfg /rebuild just to be sure your boot menu is correct. BTW a clean install on new hardware is the only way to go. Example of Oxymoron: Person who is pro life and anti sex education. Education is key to prevention. Prevent conception you prevent abortion. Abstinence training clearly isn't working.

I have seen advice about using FDisk before, but my experience of FDisk is that it is a repartitioning which requires reformating before the process is finalised. Reformat wipes all previous data. That is what I am trying to AVOID. Basty

I thought there might be an advantage in having the Recovery Console on the HDD, so that is where I put it. I ran fixmbr and fix boot; Now it boots to a screen with 4 options - 1. Help, 2. WinXP that 'works', 3. WinXP that says a hal.dll file is missing or corrupt, and 4. Recovery Console. Thanks a million for getting it to boot without a floppy disc or bootCD; I have edited the reference to the inoperable WinXP system to say WinME. It so happens that I want to multiboot from a WinMe system which I have CLONED into the second partition - how can I harness the POSITION of that second WinXP and somehow change it to the viable WinMe that is already in the second partition ? Basty