Installing a SATA hard drive on xp...

[Aηdy]

hey. i have just got a maxtor SATA2 hard disk and i managed to install the drivers for the sata contorlloer (still using the old hdd) but xp wont recognise the drive, inclufing in setup, i press F6 and load the drivers but it still doesnt recognise. i have tried google and the software from maxtor but it wont work. any ideas?

[Kiros]

Ok, first, let's check if it's the hardware rather than the software. Boot up into CMOS Setup and look in all the options to see if the drive is recognized. If it's not, that little 7-pin cable might not be in the right controller (maybe in one that's only used for RAID). Also, check to see if you are giving it power correctly. Most SATA drives will offer the new SATA power connection (not really new, but you know) and the legacy (molex) power connection. If both are offered, and your PSU has a connection for the SATA power, only use that connection. If your PSU doesn't have the SATA connector, use the molex. In any case, do not use both. I expect you to know this already, but threads like this are very good study cases for other users ;)

Oh yes, if the SATA drive is showing up in the CMOS Setup, then it's software related. In this case, make sure the drivers are properly loaded onto the floppy disk you are using. Also, if any instructions come with the drivers, read them.

[Just...Will]

Kiros? What if the drive isn't formatted yet?

I had this same problem a while ago while trying to install my 250 gb one. Open up Computer Management (search for it), expand Storage, and click on Disk Management. Assuming you have two hard drives, there should be two hard drives in the pane. One named Disk 0 with a black bar on top, and one named Disk 1 with a darkish-blue bar on top. Right-click in the space that says "Unallocated" and click "Create New Partition". Leave the sizes default, select a drive letter and name, be sure to have NTFS selected, and finish it off.

If the BIOS isn't recognizing it, then all of the above won't work.

[Kiros]

Well said, except the first suggestion. If the disk isn't formatted, even if it's not partitioned yet, the Windows installation will still be able to recognize the drive and partition and format it. This is no different from SATA drives, with the exception that third party drivers are sometimes needed.

[Aηdy]

thanks for the replys guys, i firstly put it into the raid controller by accident at first but now its in the correct socked and vios does regocnise it, i went on the maxtor website and got some software to burn onto a bootable cd, and i went into that, still with the old and new hard disk attached. ant that software recognised it (running in dos) and its formatted and coping the foiles to the new drive as i type this. but when i run xp on the old hdd withe the new one plugged in, xp doesnt recognise it, the drivers and everything are installed. but i will see how it goes after its copied the files.. thanks guys :D

edit: xp is detectiong the drice now ( the controller was disabled in device manager) so im unisntalling sp2 so it will install xp through the exsisting xp

[Kiros]

Ok, sounds good, hope I helped a little :D
Oh, and if you have any problems with installing it correctly, try looking in the Disk Management (in Computer Management, which is is Administrative Tools, which can be found in Control Panel). In that application, you can create a dynamic partition so XP will recognize it in things like My Computer and then you can also format it through that. Personally, if you are going to reinstall XP on it, I'd recommend doing a completely full (not quick) format with compression enabled. After the partition is formatted, it will be completely compressed. Just go into My Computer, alternate click the partition, go to properties, and look around for an option to compress it (uncheck the option and apply to all subfolders and files).

[Aηdy]

all done :D i had to mess about with some drivers and put them on floppy for the xp setup, and after a couple of attempts it worked :D.. one small thing tho, ibacked up to my ipod but when i plug it in now the computer locks up, then when i unplug it its fine again, this happends on both computers, but im thinking (and hoping) its just the cable, it looks a bit damaged on the connector and it doesnt always connect, but apart from that its all fine, and very quick, shutdown timea about 4-7 seconds and startup (after post) about 10-15 seconds.. yeah so all ood really. thanks very muck for your help :D *gives rep*

edit: sorry kiros it wont let me give you rep :/

[Kiros]

Heh. It's a protection that is used. You can only give so many Rep Points to so many users per day. And you cannot give the same user anymore Rep Points until you give a certain amount of other users Rep Points. I think the limit per person is like 5, but I'm not entirely sure. I'll look it up later.

In any case, I'm not worried about my reputation; don't worry about it. I just appreciate the thanks :)

[Aηdy]

the files hace been compressed now and its been defraged, its very quick now.. the fastrest computer ive ever used :D

[Aηdy]

(sorry for the double post but it wont let me edit)

the ipod problem is no longer a problem, i just plugged it in and left it for a while because i could see taht the ipod was tarnsferring files, so all my files are going back on now and getting all back to normal :D