How NOT to install a new harddrive

Ubergrendle · Dec 13, 2004, 06:40 PM

Intent: Upgrade 40gb drive to 160gb drive

Plan: Reconfigure EIDE 40gb drive to slave, install 160gb as master. Disable slave in BIOS so that the system does not recognise the drive. Boot WinXP Professional CD and install on 160gb drive. Then copy relevant files from 40gb drive to 160gb, and reformat 40gb drive as a 'backup' drive.

Execution:
- Reconfigure drives on EIDE cable - check
- Reconfigure BIOS to disable slave on IDE0 - check
- Boot off of DVD-ROM on IDE1 and install WinXP - check

Problem:
- WinXP installs on drive F: (WTF???), 40gb drive is listed as drive 'C:' even though disabled.

After extensive research, I learned about the following WinXP behaviour:
- During the install, WinXP does a drive search to look for existing bootable partitions. This apparently can override BIOS settings.
- If a bootable partition is discovered, it AUTOMATICALLY maps it as 'drive c:', with subsequent drive as 'drive d:', etc.
- However, WinXP is a responsible program and will install the OS to the drive designated by the user at the start; if this drive has a pre-existing bootable partition WinXP will blow this away (I expected this behaviour). In this case it configured the 160gb master drive to "drive F:".
- PROBLEM: Once WinXP installs onto a bootable partition, YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE DRIVE DESIGNATION, otherwise WinXP will break. This is documented in the MS Knowledge Base. I was, however, able to remap C: drive (non-boot) to G: drive, so that my primary boot drive is the lowest lettered drive (F

.

Having WinXP's boot drive on a non-C: drive has caused me grief already...I cannot install the Doom3 demo as it presumes a C: boot.

How to avoid this problem in future:
- Leave the slave drive disconnected until after WinXP has been installed, then reconnect at a later date.

Its a minor, niggly behaviour of WinXP, but caused me alot of grief.

YAYitsAndrew · Dec 13, 2004, 07:50 PM

I had the same problem when I was upgrading from a 80gb ide to 160gb sata. Ended up formatting again because it drove me NUTS. I just unplugged the hard drive. Let's see windows detect something that's not connected to the mother board or the power supply.

ha, HA!

MiDKnYtE · Dec 13, 2004, 08:13 PM

why didn't you just ghost the old drive onto the new drive?

you would also see this problem if you have a media card reader installed, like on some of the HPs or Sonys.

El Kapitano · Dec 13, 2004, 08:32 PM

Oh, it's not just me has been through this then?

Ubergrendle · Dec 13, 2004, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiDKnYtE

why didn't you just ghost the old drive onto the new drive?

you would also see this problem if you have a media card reader installed, like on some of the HPs or Sonys.

I considered this and disregarded... I'd need ghost software for one, and I also wanted a 'clean' WinXP install. My current installation had been running for 2+ years, with all the driver/temp file/orphaned registry files that comes with a lengthy WinOS installation.

As for file moves, I figured this was a straight forward, no-nonsense approach. Didn't expect this hang-up. I will always try to brute-force a solution via hardware than software if possible.

YAYitsAndrew · Dec 13, 2004, 09:09 PM

I didn't ghost for pretty much the same reason. Why settle for ghosting sp1 with sp2 installed on top when you can install from a fresh slipstreamed sp2?

I was also concurrently updating 4 other pieces of hardware in my machine so formatting pretty much gave me the illusion of a brand new pc (as opposed to upgrading 5 parts).

Ubergrendle · Dec 13, 2004, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YAYitsAndrew

I didn't ghost for pretty much the same reason. Why settle for ghosting sp1 with sp2 installed on top when you can install from a fresh slipstreamed sp2?

I was also concurrently updating 4 other pieces of hardware in my machine so formatting pretty much gave me the illusion of a brand new pc (as opposed to upgrading 5 parts).

On an unrelated note, every time I read your user name my brain mistakenly translates it to "YAYTITSANDREW". It took me a few weeks before I realised how it was really spelled out.

I think I need to reinstall my wetware... Brain 2.0 without the 'purile' linguistics pack.

PangingJr · Dec 13, 2004, 09:47 PM

don't have to disable the slave in BIOS, nor disconnect the 40 GB drive.
use a 3rd party partitioning software to hide the old XP primary partition, at the same time create a new primary partition on the new boot drive for your new XP setup, then set active to this new created partition... XP setup program then will give drive C to the new XP.

merlinxi · Dec 14, 2004, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ubergrendle

Intent: Upgrade 40gb drive to 160gb drive

Plan: Reconfigure EIDE 40gb drive to slave, install 160gb as master. Disable slave in BIOS so that the system does not recognise the drive. Boot WinXP Professional CD and install on 160gb drive. Then copy relevant files from 40gb drive to 160gb, and reformat 40gb drive as a 'backup' drive.

Execution:
- Reconfigure drives on EIDE cable - check
- Reconfigure BIOS to disable slave on IDE0 - check
- Boot off of DVD-ROM on IDE1 and install WinXP - check

Problem:
- WinXP installs on drive F: (WTF???), 40gb drive is listed as drive 'C:' even though disabled.

After extensive research, I learned about the following WinXP behaviour:
- During the install, WinXP does a drive search to look for existing bootable partitions. This apparently can override BIOS settings.
- If a bootable partition is discovered, it AUTOMATICALLY maps it as 'drive c:', with subsequent drive as 'drive d:', etc.
- However, WinXP is a responsible program and will install the OS to the drive designated by the user at the start; if this drive has a pre-existing bootable partition WinXP will blow this away (I expected this behaviour). In this case it configured the 160gb master drive to "drive F:".
- PROBLEM: Once WinXP installs onto a bootable partition, YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE DRIVE DESIGNATION, otherwise WinXP will break. This is documented in the MS Knowledge Base. I was, however, able to remap C: drive (non-boot) to G: drive, so that my primary boot drive is the lowest lettered drive (F

.

Having WinXP's boot drive on a non-C: drive has caused me grief already...I cannot install the Doom3 demo as it presumes a C: boot.

How to avoid this problem in future:
- Leave the slave drive disconnected until after WinXP has been installed, then reconnect at a later date.

Its a minor, niggly behaviour of WinXP, but caused me alot of grief.

Yup I had the same problem. That's why from now on, I don't connect any of my other hard drives until Windows XP is full yinstalled on the hard drive I want to be C.

YAYitsAndrew · Dec 14, 2004, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ubergrendle

On an unrelated note, every time I read your user name my brain mistakenly translates it to "YAYTITSANDREW". It took me a few weeks before I realised how it was really spelled out.

I think I need to reinstall my wetware... Brain 2.0 without the 'purile' linguistics pack.

Yeah I get YAYTITS a lot. Don't feel bad, most guys read it as that way when they first scan it. It's some disorder where TITS guys see TITS the word 'tits' randomly in senTITSes that they read.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Dec 15, 2004, 04:39 AM

Why not just back up your relivent files onto a cd or DVD and
Install from scrach like a normal person lol

other wise your subject to data loss

Ubergrendle · Dec 15, 2004, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Neon_Cowboy

Why not just back up your relivent files onto a cd or DVD and
Install from scrach like a normal person lol

other wise your subject to data loss

Wasn't an option since I only had a CDRW drive at the time, and I had 20+ gb of files I wanted to keep.* D2D (disk to disk) backups are becoming more commonplace, as disk-growth is growing faster than storage media capacity/speed.

Part of my system rebuild included the installation of a DVD-Rom dual layer burner, so that takes a bit of the pressure off...

* not pr0n
** okay, might contain a little bit of pr0n
*** okay, majority is not pr0n
****okay okay okay, not exclusively pr0n
***** alright...might, maybe contain a few non-pr0n files

gadabout · Dec 15, 2004, 08:59 PM

Whenever I upgrade to a larger HD that I want to be master, I first connect it as a slave drive. Go into Windows create a partition, but I don't format it. I then connect it as master and the other as slave. Boot off the Windows CD and for me, the drives will appear in the correct order.

Dec 13, 2004, 06:40 PM	#1
Ubergrendle Semper ubi sub ubi Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Toronto Posts: 702 Rep Power: 51	How NOT to install a new harddrive Intent: Upgrade 40gb drive to 160gb drive Plan: Reconfigure EIDE 40gb drive to slave, install 160gb as master. Disable slave in BIOS so that the system does not recognise the drive. Boot WinXP Professional CD and install on 160gb drive. Then copy relevant files from 40gb drive to 160gb, and reformat 40gb drive as a 'backup' drive. Execution: - Reconfigure drives on EIDE cable - check - Reconfigure BIOS to disable slave on IDE0 - check - Boot off of DVD-ROM on IDE1 and install WinXP - check Problem: - WinXP installs on drive F: (WTF???), 40gb drive is listed as drive 'C:' even though disabled. After extensive research, I learned about the following WinXP behaviour: - During the install, WinXP does a drive search to look for existing bootable partitions. This apparently can override BIOS settings. - If a bootable partition is discovered, it AUTOMATICALLY maps it as 'drive c:', with subsequent drive as 'drive d:', etc. - However, WinXP is a responsible program and will install the OS to the drive designated by the user at the start; if this drive has a pre-existing bootable partition WinXP will blow this away (I expected this behaviour). In this case it configured the 160gb master drive to "drive F:". - PROBLEM: Once WinXP installs onto a bootable partition, YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE DRIVE DESIGNATION, otherwise WinXP will break. This is documented in the MS Knowledge Base. I was, however, able to remap C: drive (non-boot) to G: drive, so that my primary boot drive is the lowest lettered drive (F. Having WinXP's boot drive on a non-C: drive has caused me grief already...I cannot install the Doom3 demo as it presumes a C: boot. How to avoid this problem in future: - Leave the slave drive disconnected until after WinXP has been installed, then reconnect at a later date. Its a minor, niggly behaviour of WinXP, but caused me alot of grief. __________________ Veteran of the PC Microchannel / EISA wars of the late 1980s.

Dec 13, 2004, 07:50 PM	#2
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	I had the same problem when I was upgrading from a 80gb ide to 160gb sata. Ended up formatting again because it drove me NUTS. I just unplugged the hard drive. Let's see windows detect something that's not connected to the mother board or the power supply. ha, HA! __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Dec 13, 2004, 09:09 PM	#6
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	I didn't ghost for pretty much the same reason. Why settle for ghosting sp1 with sp2 installed on top when you can install from a fresh slipstreamed sp2? I was also concurrently updating 4 other pieces of hardware in my machine so formatting pretty much gave me the illusion of a brand new pc (as opposed to upgrading 5 parts). __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Dec 15, 2004, 04:39 AM	#11
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	Why not just back up your relivent files onto a cd or DVD and Install from scrach like a normal person lol other wise your subject to data loss __________________

Dec 15, 2004, 08:59 PM	#13
gadabout Im Zaphod Beeblebrox Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 89 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	What I have done... Whenever I upgrade to a larger HD that I want to be master, I first connect it as a slave drive. Go into Windows create a partition, but I don't format it. I then connect it as master and the other as slave. Boot off the Windows CD and for me, the drives will appear in the correct order. __________________ AMD64 X2 3800+ 2GB DDR400 Dual Channel 250GB SATA Seagate \| 500GB SATA WD (WAS an external HD unit, until closure failed) DVD+/-RW Dual Layer w/ Lightscribe \| Plextor DVD+/-RW Dual Layer ATI MSI RX3870 OC Edition PCI-E 2.0 Windows 7 64bit

Dec 13, 2004, 08:13 PM	#3
MiDKnYtE Caffeine Machine Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Hell is empty. All the devils are here. Posts: 670 Rep Power: 0	why didn't you just ghost the old drive onto the new drive? you would also see this problem if you have a media card reader installed, like on some of the HPs or Sonys.

Dec 13, 2004, 08:32 PM	#4
El Kapitano Most of the 7 dwarfs in 1 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rochdale, Lancashire Posts: 947 Rep Power: 0	Oh, it's not just me has been through this then?

Dec 13, 2004, 09:47 PM	#8
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 70	don't have to disable the slave in BIOS, nor disconnect the 40 GB drive. use a 3rd party partitioning software to hide the old XP primary partition, at the same time create a new primary partition on the new boot drive for your new XP setup, then set active to this new created partition... XP setup program then will give drive C to the new XP.