BleepingComputer.com: death loop

Hello,
I have searched for this topic with no sucess.

My CPU will not boot. I have some information I need to retrieve before I format and reistall windows xp. I removed my hard drive and tried to slave it into another CPU to copy the info. when I did this the other CPU is now using the bad drive to attempt a boot. I have tried to slave the bad one in and had no luck.

My question- is how can I use a different CPU to boot from a working drive so I can then read the information and copy it.

History- the drive was working fine untill my fan fell off my graphic card and destroyed my card. I haven't been able to boot since. I removed the card but still get information on the screen.

Thank everyone that replies-

If the drive you are trying to slave in another computer is a IDE [uses the wide ribbon cable] did you set the jumper on the back to Slave or Cable Select ?
If not it is still set to master & that's why the computer is trying to boot from it.

The compter didn't have the wide ribbon to its drive it used the small one. I disconnected the CD to get a slot for my drive. The drive on other computer didnt have a slave/master jumper, it had a 1GBxs and a 3GBxs or something like that.

I did have my drive set to slave, the CPU still tried to boot from it so I set it to pm2- same problem.

I just need to be able to access the information. I tried the windows CD and kept getting to the format point.

Can the information be retrieved. I would rather do it my self then the over priced geek Sq

Thanks again

What you are describing is a SATA hdd, the 1.5Gb/s and 3.0Gb/s are transfer speeds, and the jumper set those speed. Some early motherboards using SATA hdds could only support the 1.5Gb/s transfer rate and the newer ones can support the 3.0Gb/s, this is what the jumper is for.

Just for clarification a CPU is the Central Processing Unit, I believe what you are looking for is a PC, Personal Computer.

Did you have a SATA hdd installed on this computer before this?

Thank you-...
yes the pc that has a sata has always had it but the drive that wont start is not.

my question still remains...how can I get this drive to read on a good working pc.

each time I attempt to slave it in it trys to boot rather then standby.

still hoping for some help!!!!!

A drive can only boot...if you have it set as a valid boot option and no other options precede it or are functional.

Louis