OS will not start with new slave HD

[huh?]

I recently bought an 80GB HD to function as a backup for my current HD. THe HD is formatted Fat32. With jumper set to "slave", I plugged it in and turn on the computer. The computer does not boot into windows, instead it displays "Press any key to reboot" and sits there. However, if I insert a windows boot disk and boot up the computer, I can see the HD in DOS and able to access the files on it. What is keeping windows from booting? I have made sure that my primary HD is "active" on C: partition. I was able to backup all the files i needed using "xcopy" command in DOS. However, all the long names i had for my files have been truncated with tildas "~". If I unplug the HD, I can boot up windows fine. This is really a pain and i have no idea how to solve this problem. Does it have anything to do with my motherboard being "RAID"? Please help!

By the way, this is the config of my machine:
AMD 1GHz
Abit KT7A-RAID Via KT133A
512MB SD-RAM
GForce4 MX420
Plextor 12x10x24 CD writer
DVD/CDROM Drive
30GB primary HD
80GB slave HD

[Budfred]

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

What is the jumper setting on your primary drive? If it is set to Master, you might want to try it on Cable Select. If it is set for CS, try Master.

Also, what are your BIOS settings? Is your system set to boot to the primary drive? Are you set to autodetect drives? And what OS are you using?

Budfred

[huh?]

The primary HD jumper is set to Master.
Bios is set to boot from primary HD and auto detect. I'm running windows ME.

Alright, i know windows ME sucks and i should prolly install win 2k. But i have a problem when running win 2k or XP and i have no idea how to solve it. My CD burner gives a Blue Screen of Death whenever i try to burn a CD. But that's another story. But if someone can show me how to fix the CD burner problem, and switching to win 2k would help the HD problem then that's 2 birds with one stone!

My CD burner is Plextor 12x10x24
I've tried using Easy CD creator 5 platinum, Nero to burn.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[Budfred]

Ok, have you tried the drives on Cable Select? I would try both and then each separately if both don't work. Make sure the primary is on the end of the cable and the slave is on the middle. You could also try the second hd on the secondary IDE as the Master.

As for using WinME, I use it and don't have any real problems with it, but I keep it stripped down and clean.

As for the CDRW problem, we may be able to help, but you are going to have to provide a lot more detail about what the problem is, the history of what you have done to try to fix it and more specs for your system if we are going to be able to give you any suggestions.

Budfred

[Sylvander]

This problem is, I believe, caused by the fact that:
Your new HDD does not have its “File Allocation Table” [FAT] in the “Primary Partition” [which, horror of horrors may also be set as “active”] “CHAINED” into the FAT in the “Active Primary Partition” on the “Master” drive on the “Primary IDE Channel” [Primary Master].

This kind of problem would normally not occur when BOTH drives are partitioned as a pair at the same time.

There might be more than one way out of this problem.
I won’t make any suggestions just yet.

We could do with some details of the partitioning history of both drives.

[huh?]

I'll be frank with you. I have very little idea of what you just said. But here is the partition info of the two HDD i have.

The 30GB one (my primary which is currently set as active in partition c:)
- 3 partitions, 10GB, 15GB and 5GB (all FAT32)

The new 80GB one
- not partitioned, formatted FAT32

BIOS can see the new HDD. If i boot with windows startup disk into DOS, i can see the drive and can copy files to and from it. What i really don't understand is that my current active partition is C: (which is what it has always been) but i can't boot into windows. I've double checked the BIOS to verify that my boot order is Floppy/CDRom/HDD-1 which is correct right?

I really appreciate all the feed back. :)

[Budfred]

I would set boot order to floppy, HDD-0 (if you have that option) and then CD. HDD-1 is likely to be your new hard drive and obviously won't boot because it isn't set up to do so. Usually the boot drive is HDD-0.

Budfred

[Paul Komski]

If the two HDDs are on the same cable, is the slave on the middle grey connector jumpered as slave? .. and the master on the end connector jumpered as master (or as master w/slave on some HDDs).

Does the new slave have a single primary or a logical partition. If you are not going to be installing an OS on it, it can be helpful to make it into a logical partiton, since it won't then alter the Drive Letters on the original partition; (once you get it seen in windows that is).

You could also re-aarrange so that both channels have the HDDs as masters and have the two opticals as slaves. It certainly seems that whatever way things are set at the moment that the drives are recognised OK but that the slave is being seen as the master. If this is the case, then it should be seen as the C: drive from the boot disk, and your original C: drive would now be the D: drive.

Things would work from the boot disk because your OS would be from the boot disk; without the boot disk there would be no installed OS on the C: drive and thereby nothing to boot into.

[Sylvander]

You need to have these two drives properly partitioned as a pair so that DOS does not get confused when it tries to boot from… [the “active” Primary Partition on the Master drive on the Primary IDE channel].

Go to the manufacturer’s website for the “old” HDD and download their software to make a diagnostic floppy.
This can be used to check that both HDD’s are physically ok.
Then they might supply a program to check that your BIOS can handle “large” HDD’s.
If it cannot they probably supply free “drive overlay” software.
They will probably have another prog to move the contents of your old drive to the new drive.
The prog will correctly partition and format the drives and mark the Primary Partition on the new drive as “active” [and therefore to be the one from which it should boot] and the Primary Partition on the old drive as non-active.
This requires that you switch off the PC afterwards and swap jumpers to make the new the Master on the Primary IDE channel.
I would make the old the Slave on the Primary IDE channel [fast drive not being held back by a slow on same controller].
So now you have a Primary Master HDD with an “active” Primary Partition [with the O/S on it], and
a Primary Slave HDD with a non-active Primary Partition [no O/S on it].
In addition you could have an extended partition on each drive with logical partitions in each of these.

Once the swap has taken place you need to download the software [if haven’t already] from the NEW HDD manufacturers website if you wish to work with the drives.
For example, you must convert the drive overlay software to the version supplied by the new.
The old will refuse to test etc when their HDD is not the master.

See the following for a more in-depth explanation of the topic:
http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/comp/hdd/fail.htm
at "The Hard Disk will not boot..."
Then
"Set the boot partition active" takes you here
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/struct_Active.htm