Boots from usb but not with hard drive attached

[Acerman]

Im just setting up a newer (p4 3.2) box with 8.0.2. Installed from cd to 4 gig usb stick no problem, no hard drives attached. Boots fine. When i attach a drive from the old server (6.9) it will not boot just a flashing cursor. Bios is set to boot from the usb stick as #1 boot device. Not sure why. disconnect hard drive, boots fine

 

[Acerman]

update

Ok so i put the old system (6.9) in the new box and it boots fine with hard drives attached so the problem is either the usb boot or 8.0.2 itself