Not spyware (for once) - missing boot device on Acer Aspire D150

Hi,
Got an Acer Aspire with a failed WD HD. I got a replacement drive and ran into problems installing Windows Xp from a retail disk so I ordered the recovery CDs from Acer.

When I received them I went through the three CD set without apparent difficulty but when I rebooted on conclusion I got "missing boot device."

To verify nothing arcane was wrong with the drive I put it into a Dell laptop and installed Xp without difficulty. But when I tried to boot the Acer from that drive, same problem - missing boot disk.

Back to Acer support where they directed me to a proprietary disk formatter in an ISO download. I DLed and burned it. It booted, formatted the drive and went through the three other recovery CDs once again, same result.

I now have the WD hard drive removed and contained in an external drive bay where I can see all the files easily. It appears all the recovered Windows files are as they should be, but I may be missing something.

Any suggestions?

 

After a bit of searching, I think the hd in your netbook is a SATA. Since XP doesn't include drivers for SATA drives, the driver needs to be loaded before windows is installed.

Contact Acer and tell them you need SATA drivers to be able to install XP and get the drive seen. If the drivers are slipstreamed into the three recovery CDs, then I'm not sure what the problem is.

 

Thanks for your response. It is indeed a SATA drive. It is exactly the model and capacity of the failed drive.

Is there any way for me to inject a SATA driver into the disk image as it is now?I can address any part of the new drive C from my desktop. But if I restart the recovery process on the Acer, my changes will be lost.

I wonder if they have this problem every time some one buys a recovery CD from them...

 

Thanks for your response. It is indeed a SATA drive. It is exactly the model and capacity of the failed drive.

Is there any way for me to inject a SATA driver into the disk image as it is now?I can address any part of the new drive C from my desktop. But if I restart the recovery process on the Acer, my changes will be lost.

I wonder if they have this problem every time some one buys a recovery CD from them...

I called WD to ask them about SATA drivers - they blew me off - sent me to Microsoft.

 

There is a way to slipstream drivers into an XP install. I've never slipstreamed anything so I can't tell you how to do that.

Someone may be able to point you to the SATA drivers and then you can make a bootable CD to load the driver.

So either find out how to slipstream or make a bootable CD with the SATA driver on it. Perhaps start a new topic, so someone else who knows how to do this will see it and offer assistance.

 

I never heard the word 'slipstream' used in this context before. Thanks. I'll see what I can find.

I WILL get this problem straightened out.