XP pro INSTALL PROBLEM, PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!

[FJM005]

I have got 2 new computers. both are amd x2 4200+ with 2 gigs ram. x800gto video card. asus motherboard. I have 2 sata hard drives in each computer. I CAN'T GET XP INSTALLED ON EITHER OF THEM. I try to install xp, but it won't let me boot from cd, it freezes. when I use the floppys to get to the setup, it says that my harddrives aren't set up properly!!! I KNOW i have installed the hard drive right, because they both show up in the bios. what can i possibly do???!!!!

[azzey]

Use the hard drive manufacturer's utility to format them (pick one to be your boot drive and unplug the other). Try installing again.

[pangea33]

When you begin the installation process, you'll most likely need to use the driver disks so that Windows can recognize the SATA drives. I believe they are like SCSI in this regard. There is a keystroke that allows you to insert the driver disks at the beginning of this process. I think it's F6, but there should be an onscreen note too I believe.

[FJM005]

the hard drive didn't come with disks......http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1596836

when it asks to create a partition, it doesn't even start, and it tells me that hard drive is not installed or connected properly.

[pangea33]

Oops, sorry. The driver would come with the SATA controller, not the HD itself. Presumeably that would be an ASUS driver with the motherboard, or from their site.

[FJM005]

I have a driver cd that came with the motherboard. would i hit f6 to install the drivers then insert the cd?

[pangea33]

I found the following at this thread (http://www.experts-exchange.com/Storage/Q_21572352.html) hopefully it's useful? I've never installed SATA personally.

You have to specifically indicate to boot from SATA/SCSI. Some of the newer MOBOs have controller selections. Set it up to SATA always on and IDE/ATA keep alive too. These things have to be set up BEFORE you run a fresh install of XP. The HAL error (Hardware acquisition layer) indicates that you may need to use the F6 function during installation to manually add your MOBO/SATA drivers during the installation. Ideally, if you've got two CD/DVD drives, just put the MOBO CD in one, the XP CD in the other, and boot. When the screen comes up asking about controllers, hit F6 and change the path to the other drive.

[FJM005]

do i need two drives? cause only ONE of my cd drives are working right now. (I have to install drivers for the other one)

[pangea33]

I pretty much positive that dual drives aren't necessary, they just maximize convenience. I'm sure that you could also transfer the SATA drivers to floppy if you're having difficulties.

[Paul Komski]

I try to install xp, but it won't let me boot from cd, it freezes.
Is it still freezing and if so at what point and are there any messages?

Is the CDROM before the HDD in the boot order in the BIOS setup?

Can you access any CDROM from a Win9X boot floppy diskette with CDROM support?

If the installation begins from the CD (text mode blue and white screens) look at the very bottom bar for a message about pressing F6 to install SCSI/RAID drivers. You would definitely need them for RAID but not always for SATAs not assigned to a RAID - particularly on a recently produced mobo.

Having pressed F6 at that point you should later get another prompt to insert a FLOPPY DISKETTE (a CDROM with the drivers on it wont work at this point) to install the relevant drivers. There is a way of creating your own installation CD with the drivers added to it (to avoid using a floppy) but that is fairly complicated to do.

I don't know your particular board's BIOS but do have a good look around and ensure that you have either not enabled RAID or that neither SATA is assigned to a RAID (unless RAID is what you want of course). Also check that the relevant SATA is included in the boot order for booting to a HDD.

Closely read the mobo's manual about setting up SATA and installing an OS onto them.

when it asks to create a partition, it doesn't even start, and it tells me that hard drive is not installed or connected properly.You shouldnt need the maker's diagnostics to partition the drive since WinXP will do all the partitioning as part of its installation process. However this message indicates that the drive may have a loose connection or bad cable or, possibly more likely given everything else, that the drive although recognised in the BIOS is not properly enabled in there.

[FJM005]

I may have plugged the sata drives into my raid on the motherboard by accident. I plugged it into the black on the mobo, I think it's supposed to be in the red, check it out.....http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1647577&CatId=2019

would that be the reason for my problem, if the system was freezing because my hard drives were hooked up to the raid spot?

also. I was talking about windows xp partitioning it for me. when I go to tdo that, It tells me that the drive is not connected properly. which makes me think that I should plug it into the sata on the mobo, instead of the sata raid.

[rajanswain]

Are you trying to instal XP 64?

The following link may be of help. Look at the question on SATA drive.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/64bit/russel_x64faq.mspx


Even if you are not installing XP 64, the tip (copying the SATA drivers from your motherboard CD to a floppy disk and using it with F6) should help. Some mobos have a combined RAID and SATA controller and you need to install the drivers for this first before your hard disk can be recognized. Also check where you have connected the SATA cable. If the BIOS has an option to disable the RAID controller, then you can do that too.

[FJM005]

is x64 edition really worth all of the trouble of finding new drivers? is there a HUGE performance inrease?

[Paul Komski]

The Asus A8N (and not the AOpen AK77 in your sig) supports four SATA drives. You can use any of the four SATA channels for RAID or for non-RAID - there are two steps in the BIOS if you want to enable RAID. First RAID itself needs to be enabled and having done that you would need to assign the drives on any of the channels (not just the ones in black in some of the pics in your link) to a RAID array. If you wish to install WinXP to the RAID you will need to use F6 and add the RAID BIOS. If you are not using RAID WinXP should be able to be installed without the F6 drivers. If you dont wish to install RAID I would suggest you just attach one SATA with a data cable and a power cable and see if you can install Windows to the single drive.

[rajanswain]

is x64 edition really worth all of the trouble of finding new drivers? is there a HUGE performance inrease?

No. Not yet, anyway.

We need to have mainstream 64-bit applications (like Office suite, graphics programs, games etc.) and 64-bit drivers for ALL hardware to experience the enhanced performance of a 64-bit OS. Even then, the performance gain (which may be only 25-50% compared to the 32-bit version) maybe initially offset by driver incompatibility, application bugs, OS instability and what not. We need to go quite some way before we shift completely to 64-bit computing.