Unable to install new HDD.

Unable to install a Seagate SATA drive. Replaced old IDE one. I inabled the SATA in the bios, but when I look at the drives in bios it does not show. When I run windows XP install it says there is no disk. tried MP8 and it seems to work, but doesn't either. I have my boot starting with floppy then CD, then HDD. Any suggestions?

 

Windows XP does not have built-in native SATA support. This means that you'll need an "F6 floppy" with your motherboard SATA drivers on it, or you must format the new SATA drive first. Of course, you'll format the drive drive as an NTFS drive. You can do this a number of ways: boot to your old IDE drive and use the Windows Disk Management Console to format the drive, or use a utility like EaseUs Partition Manager. It's free and easy to use. Or, you can leave the IDE drive disconnected and use a bootable partition tool like Partition Logic or the Seagate Disc Wizard. Or you can download the "F6 floppy" drivers from your motherboard maker's web site, then boot to the Windows disc, and press F6 when you see the "Press F6 to install 3rd party SCSI or RAID driver" prompt at the bottom of the blue setup screen. Then insert the floppy when prompted, and follow the on screen prompts.

Yeah, I know.... it sounds MUCH worse than it actually is. If you need more help or have questions, feel free to post!

[dlb]
:-D

 

Tried all of that, now it does say that it is installed in the device manager, but does not show up on My computer.

 

:confused I'm confused. Is the SATA drive your boot drive (drive C: ) or are using it as a back up drive (like drive E: or F: or something)?

 

I want it to be my boot drive, but I can't even get it to show up, to partition it or format it.

 

I'm not trying to be an a-hole here, but if you have tried everything I mentioned, the drive should be formatted by now.

Somehow, I don't think you've tried this..... Boot to your old IDE drive so that you're at the XP desktop. Use this guide to format the SATA drive using the Windows Disk Management Console. Since it shows up in the Device Manager, there should be no problem formatting it. The drive doesn't show up in My Computer because it's not initialized, it's not partitioned, and it's not formatted.

[dlb]

 

Okay under the management I see the disk, but how do I format it from there?

 

Did you follow the directions in the link I posted above? It explains exactly how to format the drive step-by-step. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE LINK I POSTED ABOVE!

(the link is the underlined words "this guide" -OR- you can click HERE )

EDIT- the link appears to be down. Click HERE for the same guide in a different format.

 

Follow the steps in the link I posted above. If the link doesn't work, use this link: http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=188931

OR

Use the following steps:

1: Right click My Computer and select Manage
2: Click 'Disk Management' toward the bottom of the left pane.
3: Locate the drive you want to format when the right pane populates.
4: Right click the bold print where the drive is listed in the lower left section of the right pane; select 'Initialize'.
5: Right click in the blank area to the right of where you clicked in step 4; select 'New partition'.
6: Follow the on screen prompts.
THAT'S IT!

It is usually a good idea to use the 'Quick Format' option, otherwise, the format can take a LONG time.

Screen shot for reference:

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/2095/diskmgmtkl4.jpg

 

Okay, got it showing now, and made one partition, formatted. Now should I disconnect the other drive and make the new one C: and then create more partitions on it? I want to install the OS on this new drive as the old one is doing some light grinding noise. Also, I didn't see any place to format this with system files. BTW, thanks so far, and I really appreciate your help. Never worked with SATA before, didn't seem like it was that hard on IDE.

 

SATA can be a bit trickier with WinXP 'cuz XP doesn't have built-in native SATA support like Vista does. That's why all this was kind of nightmarish. There is no way to format NTFS with system files; it's not like FAT32 and Win98. If you want additional partitions, make them NOW before installing the OS. You can use the same basic directions I posted above, or use a partition tool like EaseUs Partition Manager which I mentioned above. Either way, create ALL the partitions first then power down, unplug the power cord, unplug the IDE drive, power up and set the BIOS to boot to the CD first, pop in the XP disc and boot to it. Now that the SATA drive is formatted, you should have no problems installing Windows to it. You will be provided with a list of available partitions during the XP install process, so set up the drive with the first partition being the one you want for C: (obviously). Then select that partition and you're on your way! If you need a step-by-step for installing XP, use this guide. It's easy to follow and is complete with screen shots....

Glad I can help!

[dlb]

(you will NOT need to press F6 at the start of the install, the drive is already formatted NTFS so the F6 floppy won't be needed)

 

Well my friend, did everything you said to do. Shows the HDD and all of its partitions in "My Computer" but, Windows XP install can not find the drive. I have never had a problem such as this before, built several puters, just never with SATA. Guess I am going to have to take it somewhere to have it installed. I sure hate to give up though, guess old age is getting to me, I get tired quicker, and don't have the fighting spirit anymore. I do thank you so very much for you help and patience with me.

 

This shows up as a SCSi disk, so do I set it up as SCSI instead of SATA?

 

What service pack are you using? I think SP1 (or SP0 which is pre-SP1) address SATA drives as SCSI. But I'm not sure what you mean by "this shows up as SCSI". What/where is saying the drive is SCSI? You may want to install the SATA F6 floppy drivers anyway since this doesn't seem to be going as smoothly as it should. I have installed dozens of SATA hard drives by formatting them NTFS using the methods I've described, then booting to an XP install CD, and then just installing Windows as usual w/o any problems with the install not seeing the drive correctly. Anyway, try the f6 floppy driver (download from the PC/MB maker's web site) and see if that helps, and please post exactly what is showing the drive as SCSI.
Good luck!

 

Thanks my friend, That is what did it F6 floppy, I found that out last evening. All is well now, just the tedious work of reinstalling everything, omitting some that I didn't need in the first place. Thanks again.