I changed my hard disc 8months ago, using Copy Commander to transfer the info from the old disc to the new disc. It all went very well at first, then I tried to update Windows and found that a number of updates wouldn't take then problems started in other programs, every solution offered involves updating to Windows service pack 2, however, I can't get SP2 to install, when I try the coputer locks up and I am forced down the road of starting in Safe Mode followed by a restore to previous point.

The original hard drive was formatted FAT32 file system but I formatted the new hard drive as NTFS file system. Is this likely to have caused a problem when Copy Commander transfer the info from one disc to the other? I have noted that I have FAT32 items on my system and wonder if they should be there.

How can I reslove this if it is a problem.

I would suggest reinstalling XP. You could try a Repair Install that would retain your data and settings and programs but a Clean Install would be best for overall performance.

There is a good guide to both options here:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/index.html

Can I fit a new Sata hard disc, initially as a second drive, while leaving the existing IDE disc in place allowing me to setup the operating system, XP, on the new drive and transfer data across as and when I'm ready?

If you are talking about cloning the IDE drive to the SATA this is possible with third party software. Most likely your hard drive setup software will have this option. However it is not advised for the best running system.

It would be best to do a Clean Install of XP onto the SATA drive and then access your data on the IDE as a slave. You will need to reinstall your programs. You can also use the F.A.S.T. tool within XP to transfer that data as seen here:

http://aumha.org/win5/a/fast.php

Because of an operating system problem I installed a new hard drive, formatted 10Gb for the operating system the remainder of the 250Gb drive is for programs. My intention being to clean install Windows XP, which I've done by slipstream thanks to jephree. All seems well but when I try to to load my bios driver at the 10Gb partition all I get is a shortcut to the original HDD and I am unable to change the drive letters so the original HDD is still 'C'. I don't want to transfer everything, with FASTW, because it destroys the idea of a clean install. Any offers of help would be appreciated

I merged your previous threads as I thought it added clarity to the present issue.

Just trying to clarify: now you have two drives with a copy of XP on both?

One is SATA and the other is ATA?

Are you sure you know which one you are booting into?

In general your C: drive will be your Operating System.

There can be some strange issues mixing SATA and ATA drives especially if they both contain XP.

All this should be clear in the Disk Management section:

start Run... diskmgmt.msc

Also a 10GB partition for XP SP2 can be quite limiting in the future (especially since you have so much space).

Hope I haven't completely missed your point.