Need more info.
Was there a HDD in the first place that you replaced with the old HDD?
Is the bios recognizing the HDD correctly?
You may have to poke around in the HDD properties section
(I gather you are using some version of windows).
Have a look at the ATA controllers section under Device Manager.
Right click, select properties.
Select the Advanced Settings tab.
Ensure the device is working correctly.
If no error msg's, then make sure DMA is enabled for the ATA channels that control the problem HDD. You may need to reboot if DMA setting was enabled by you.
If that's not the problem, there might be an issue with the Chipset and/or MB HDD controller, or the HDD is not being accessed at full duplex. That would cause the HDD access to stop the system until it's finished.
You could try uninstalling the chipset drivers, and then restart the PC. Then re-install the chipset drivers that came with your motherboard again. This is only in the assumption that they may have become corrupted somehow, or defaulted to undesirable settings when the HDD was installed.
If that fails, you may need to download an updated set of chipset drivers from the MB manufacturer and reinstall the drivers again.
There are other more in depth setting you can check however it's fairly complicated and needs extensive diagnosis.