eMachines 5250 re-install Windows XP

Hey,

A friend asked me to wipe their hard drive clean and re-install windows XP.

However having re-formatted the hard drive when I go to reinstall windows the Hard Drive no longer shows up therefore I cannot re-partion it then select the hard drive to install windows onto.

I have had a play around in the BIOS and the Hard Drive shows up in there however I am clueless now as to how to fix the issue.

Can you guys shed any light onto how to get the hard drive to display in the windows XP installation?

Cheers

Elliot

 

Are you sure you have the correct model number? Could it be T5052? Check the white tag on the back of the machine.

Most likely you have a SATA HD and WinXP installation needs the SATA drivers. You need the correct model number to get the drivers from emachine site. And then slipstream them into an XP installation disc.

Another option may be to switch SATA modes in BIOS to emulate an IDE drive. Do you see an option for SATA Operation or something similar in BIOS?

 

Is this computer a European model? According to the Emachine upgraders site you have an Intel D915GVWB motherboard.

http://www.e4allupgraders.info/dir1/support/europ_motherboards.shtml

http://www.e4allupgraders.info/dir1/motherboards/socket775/D915GVWB.shtml

 

Hey,

It's definately a eMachines 5250, I am in the UK so yes a European Machine.

Thanks for the links tgell but how can I go about using this in combination with my Windows XP disc in order to get windows to recognise my hard drive?

Thanks

Elliot

 

It's pretty easy if the computer has a floppy disk. Does the computer have a floppy drive? If not you have to slipstream the mass storage drivers into the XP install disk with Nlite or go into BIOS and see if there in an IDE mode as sach2 posted. The options would be something like enhanced or AHCI mode and IDE mode.

I will have to find the mass storage drivers if you want to slipstream with Nlite.

 

The PC does not have a floppy disk drive so that is out of the question. Could we put it on a USB memory stick and use that perhaps?

I have been playing around in the BIOS a fair bit and not come across that particular options but I am not that savy with it so I may have missed it, is there any chance you can provide more details as to where it would be located?

Alternatively the mass storage drivers being added into the CD is probably the only option. I have the .ISO file as I had to re-obtain it as my mate lost it, then I will activate it with the key on the side of the machine, anyhow so I am assuming it shouldn't be too difficult?

 

You will need to slipstream the drivers into an XP install CD as you will not be able to load the drivers via USB or CD. Only Vista and Windows 7 can do that.

Nlite requires .NET framework 2 in order to run. Here is a guide on its use. You will need to copy the contents of the XP install CD to a folder on your hard drive. You do not need the XP iso file, just a XP install CD is fine. Step 11 of the guide is where you copied the contents of the XP install disk.

Here are the mass storage drivers for your chipset. If you have 32bit XP then download 10.8_f6flpy-x86.zip. Unzip to a folder. When nlite asks for the driver file select iaAHCI.inf from the folder.

http://majorgeeks.com/nLite_d4324.html

 

I forgot to mention, before you slipstream the SATA drivers, can you confirm if you indeed have a SATA drive. It should say something in BIOS that the hard drive is detected on the SATA 0 channel.

If you open the computer, does the hard drive have a red data cable?

 

Hi tgell,

Thanks so much for your help but unfortunately, despite following the steps in the guide and re-creating the .ISO file with the drivers XP still failed to pick up a hard drive.

Yes I have a SATA drive, its currently in position 3, I have not changed this so assuming it is ok there?

Appreciate any extra help you can give.

Elliot

 

I always assumed that a bootable SATA drive should be on SATA channel 0. Maybe somebody on the board can confirm that. But, I am not sure why the drive is not being picked up.

One possible solution is to partition and format first with the bootable version of Partition Wizard and then see if XP can detect the drive. Then install with the slipstreamed install CD.

http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html

http://www.partitionwizard.com/download/pwhe7.iso

 

I could find nothing on using SATA channel 0 in the manual. Here is the pdf file of your motherboard for your reference.

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d915gvwb/sb/CS-015989.htm

 

I think theres a possibility that I am not 100% understanding what your saying about SATA channel 0. My original thoughts led me to believe you meant the port position on the motherboard IE SATA 1, SATA 2, SATA 3 or SATA 4, as there are 4 slots to plug into.

The hard drive is currently connected into SATA 3 port, is this what you mean?

When you talk about SATA channel 0 is this in the BIOS or on the motherboard?

If I go to "Standard CMOS Features" in the BIOS the hard drive is detected there at SATA 3 Master.

Sorry for any misunderstandings!

Elliot

 

There may be somebody here with a better understanding of SATA but I was under the impression that each SATA port had two channels and the boot drive was in SATA 0. If it is not too much trouble, with the computer powered off, try moving the sata cable from 3 to 1 and then see if XP can see the drive.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1011736

Did you try the partition and format with Partition Wizard?

 

Hi,

I have now re-partitioned the drive using Partition Wizard, which found the drive without any problems. However windows installation is still failing to find the hard drive.

When windows setup asks me to create or select a partition it says "Unknown Disk". If I press any key on the keyboard at this point I get the BSOD and have to reboot.

I have tried moving the connection to SATA 1 but this made no difference.

Starting to run out of ideas, none of it makes sense to me.

Any other ideas??

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

Elliot

 

I am not sure what the problem may be. I have found some additional info on your motherboard here.

http://dexplor.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7747553

Here is another guide with a little more detail on the info.
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=1630787&postcount=7

There may be one other driver that must be added in addition to the SATA driver via NLite and that is the chipset identification utility. But before downloading and going through nlite again, I would zero out the drive with the wipe utility of Partition Wizard and then try the install again.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...hipset+Software+Installation+Utility&lang=eng

In the readme.txt file see 8B
8B. Installing the Windows* XP INF Files Prior to OS Installation. You should be able to add the inf files via Nlite by selecting these drivers after the SATA driver. You may have to use the multiple folder option. Select the unzipped folder under the multiple folder option. Select all of the inf files and in the next window select all of the items. Even if XP does not need some of them, it will only use what is needed. See zipped file guide.

 

I was looking at the BIOS setting for an intel board similar to yours. Do you have a setting called Advanced > Drive Configuration Menu>ATA/IDE Configuration ?

Set it for legacy and see if XP will recognize the drive.

Edit: It could also be under something like

Configuration > SATA Drives>Chipset-SATA Mode

 

Sorry for the additional post but if you have an older chipset on this computer, you may have better luck with this storage driver.

f6flpy3289.zip

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...lname=Windows+XP++Professional*&lang=eng#help

Edit: There are other older matrix storage drivers on that page that may work for your controller.