Windows XP and my hard drive

I had windows xp installed on my 40gb wd hard drive with
my 200gb maxtor running backup. This was on a ECS L4S8A2
motherboard. Windows was giving me problems and i tried
everything to fix it but it would not stop freezing. I
replaced almost everything even the motherboard. I took
the 40 and the 200 and transferred every peripherial i
had to the new motherboard (asus p4p800 deluxe). The 40
wasnt registering and neither was the 200. I assume that
the 200 wont be recognized without windows xp but what
about the 40? I had looked for information on this type
of problem but i didnt get any answers so i took out the
asus and put in the ecs again and now the hds are still
not being registered. I heard the the bios is altered
and recorded on the hd when you use windows xp. How do i
get these files back????