XP won't boot up while in Virtual PC

I have made an image of the old drive I need to use files off of at home, installed an older version of Virtual PC that works for Vista, I start up VPC when xp attempts to start I get that DOS screen message telling me due to a possible hardware change recently windows cannot start. Got the option to start in safe mode, safe mode with networking etc, start windows normally...
Any of these options just cycles back to this message...windows xp just won't boot up..any thoughts appreciated.

The old hard drive that I got the image from is not corrupted, for it works fine on its own.

 

With XP, do a Windows over Windows repair. That will usually fix issues and keep your software intact.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

I was hoping this operation would have went smoothly for I haven't had an xp disc for years now. The old pc from my work, don't think they have the disc for that machine either, will find out tomorrow but not holding my breath.

 

First image the original machine, just in case none of this works.
Run CCleaner and clean the junk out, clean the registry. Defrag the drive.
Then boot the original system, remove any special drivers, SATA, SCSI, ect
Shut the system down and create the vhd image.
When creating the virtual machine choose IDE controller* for the hard drive, leave off all the unnecessary hardware, you can add it later.
See if she boots now.
Or try using VMWorkstation and VMWare converter.

* note I haven't used Virtual PC in a long while, so I am speaking from VMWare experience.