[LoneLie]

[[Please Help!! Read Post#14]]

Sorry I'm kinda dumb with PC but I really need help

I'm trying to reinstall XP on one of my old PC (I don't have ANY experience in reinstalling ANY OS before ). Here's what I did.

-Power on.
-Switched BIOS to load CD-Rom 1st.
-Pop my XP installation disc in.
-Restart my PC.
"Boot from CD/DVD" ... then STUCK, looks like its frozen

*10minutes later...*
"Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration..."

... blackscreen ,,,
still blackscreen ...

-Reboot PC
-Press F12 entered Boot Menu
-Picked CD-Rom
"Boot from CD/DVD"
"Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration..."

"Windows Setup"

"Welcome to Setup" Screen
-Pressed ENTER to set up Windows XP

"Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.
Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.
Setup cannot continue.
To quit setup, press F3"

WHAT SHALL I DO?

[temeteus82]

Hi there and welcome to DriverHeaven!

It sounds like the CD/DVD drive has some issues to read the CD. What I would do is to shutdown the PC, before that take the CD out. Then look if the CD has some scratches on the data side. If it hasn't then the problem might be in the drive itself. But try multiple times to make sure that the problem is there. That the issue is not some random thing like a small dust particle in the CD/DVD drives reading lens.

[LoneLie]

Originally Posted by temeteus82

Hi there and welcome to DriverHeaven!

It sounds like the CD/DVD drive has some issues to read the CD. What I would do is to shutdown the PC, before that take the CD out. Then look if the CD has some scratches on the data side. If it hasn't then the problem might be in the drive itself. But try multiple times to make sure that the problem is there. That the issue is not some random thing like a small dust particle in the CD/DVD drives reading lens.

Thanks for replying!

Anywayz, I took the CD out, then shut down PC.

CD seems fine, no scratch at all (nice and shiny).

So here I go again...

-Power on.
"Boot from CD/DVD"
"Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration..."

"Windows Setup"

"Welcome to Setup" Screen
-Pressed ENTER to set up Windows XP

"Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.
Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.
Setup cannot continue.
To quit setup, press F3"

Same thing happened as before...

By the way, read on the internet (somewhere... can't remember where...), some people suggest press F6 to Install a Third Party Driver. Should I try that?

[nicnik]

It seems XP installation cannot detect any hard drives. Firstly, check that the hard drives are connected properly and they do light up and turn on (you can hear them if you pop your head down there if you wish).

If they are working, then reboot and go into BIOS and check that the hard disks are there; also on the boot sequence make sure that u have CD first, then you still have your primary hard disk as number 2 in the boot sequence. If both of the above are correct then I would try getting hold of an XP boot disk (floppy disk that is), and try deleting and repartitioning the hard disks by booting off the floppy disk. This is assuming you even have a floppy drive. Otherwise you can try making the boot disk on a usb drive and boot off the usb drive. I do not know if your motherboard/bios allows you to do that, but u can try.

Only delete and repartition the disks if you have no material you wish to keep on the hard disks, because deleting or amending the partitions in any way will delete all your data.

[nicnik]

Now if none of the above works, then perhaps you have a hard drive that requires special drivers for Xp installation to detect. If that is indeed the case then you would need to place these drivers onto a floppy and press F6(or wotever key it demands) during installation configuration and manually install the drivers; like how you would install Raid-setups on xp.

[xProg]

You need the SATA drivers. Or just disable SATA in BIOS...I did this on a laptop...don't know if works for PC

[LoneLie]

Originally Posted by nicnik

It seems XP installation cannot detect any hard drives. Firstly, check that the hard drives are connected properly and they do light up and turn on (you can hear them if you pop your head down there if you wish).

If they are working, then reboot and go into BIOS and check that the hard disks are there; also on the boot sequence make sure that u have CD first, then you still have your primary hard disk as number 2 in the boot sequence. If both of the above are correct then I would try getting hold of an XP boot disk (floppy disk that is), and try deleting and repartitioning the hard disks by booting off the floppy disk. This is assuming you even have a floppy drive. Otherwise you can try making the boot disk on a usb drive and boot off the usb drive. I do not know if your motherboard/bios allows you to do that, but u can try.

Only delete and repartition the disks if you have no material you wish to keep on the hard disks, because deleting or amending the partitions in any way will delete all your data.

Hi Nicnik,

-Checked the Hard Drive and yes it is properly connected.
-Checked BIOS and yes Hard Disk is there.
-Changed the boot sequence to Boot CD-Rom 1st and Hard Disk 2nd.

Regarding the part you said I need an XP boot disk, or if I dont have a Floopy Drive I could try make an XP boot disk off an USB Drive, where/how can I get an XP boot disk?

I think my motherboard/bios allows me to do that, cause when I switch my PC on, I could get into a Boot Menu by pressing F12.

I have already backup all the stuff that I want from the Hard Disk to a Portable Hard Drive.

Originally Posted by nicnik

Now if none of the above works, then perhaps you have a hard drive that requires special drivers for Xp installation to detect. If that is indeed the case then you would need to place these drivers onto a floppy and press F6(or wotever key it demands) during installation configuration and manually install the drivers; like how you would install Raid-setups on xp.

Sorry I totally don't get this part.

Originally Posted by xProg

You need the SATA drivers. Or just disable SATA in BIOS...I did this on a laptop...don't know if works for PC

Hi xProg,

How can I disable SATA in BIOS?


Thanks Nicnik and xProg.

[nicnik]

Hello, I think xProg means you can disable Sata in bios. There may be an option in your Bios to change Sata mode to either IDE, Raid or other options. If you do have this option and your current Sata setting is on Raid then try changing it to IDE, or OFF, if it exists. On some Bio's this may be under IDE Configuration and you may have to select Non-Raid, or IDE.

And what Xprog said is if that does not work then you may need Sata Drivers which are downloaded from your motherboard manufacturers website typically and manually install them as 3rd party driver during xp installation bootup.

Try that first as that may be the root of the problem.

Note that the driver if u do come to needing it may need to be on a floppy disk. also I do not remember if xp accepts usb drives.

[Mac Daddy]

Originally Posted by nicnik

Hello, I think xProg means you can disable Sata in bios. There may be an option in your Bios to change Sata mode to either IDE, Raid or other options. If you do have this option and your current Sata setting is on Raid then try changing it to IDE, or OFF, if it exists. On some Bio's this may be under IDE Configuration and you may have to select Non-Raid, or IDE.

These were my thoughts initially but I didn't want to confuse the issue. On my system installing XP a while back after using Vista I noted that XP won't recognize my SATA drive if it is set as AHCI. Just double check those BIOS settings and make sure you didn't change more than just "first boot device CD"

(I was installing an XP partition on an existing Vista installation)

[LoneLie]

Come across with a new problem.

Was gonna take a break away from the PC, so I switched it off for a couple of hours, and I switched it back on now, and went into the BIOS screen to look at those SATA things you guys were talking about... but then... my Hard Disk went missing O.O! Reboot and repeat the process, but still remains the same O.O...

What might be the problem?!?!

Originally Posted by nicnik

Hello, I think xProg means you can disable Sata in bios. There may be an option in your Bios to change Sata mode to either IDE, Raid or other options. If you do have this option and your current Sata setting is on Raid then try changing it to IDE, or OFF, if it exists. On some Bio's this may be under IDE Configuration and you may have to select Non-Raid, or IDE.

Hi Nicnik,

I remember when I went into the BIOS screen before, I don't see any SATA-related setting, well according to what you said it might be under IDE Configuration, I looked through all the main options there and found this option in "Standard CMOS Features" called "IDE Channel 0 Master [MAXTOR STM3160215AS]" and under that option it says "IDE HDD Auto-Detection", "IDE Channel 0Master [Auto]" and "Access Mode [Auto]" (I don't think those options there are really helpful at all... But anyway...) , and yea that seems to be the only thing that is most cloest to what you said. :l

And what Xprog said is if that does not work then you may need Sata Drivers which are downloaded from your motherboard manufacturers website typically and manually install them as 3rd party driver during xp installation bootup.

Try that first as that may be the root of the problem.

Note that the driver if u do come to needing it may need to be on a floppy disk. also I do not remember if xp accepts usb drives.

What if I don't have a floopy drive on my PC o.o???

Originally Posted by Mac Daddy

These were my thoughts initially but I didn't want to confuse the issue. On my system installing XP a while back after using Vista I noted that XP won't recognize my SATA drive if it is set as AHCI. Just double check those BIOS settings and make sure you didn't change more than just "first boot device CD"

(I was installing an XP partition on an existing Vista installation)

Hi Mac Daddy,

I think I'm kinda sure I didn't change other more than THIS:

Advanced BIOS Features
-First Boot Device [CDRom] (was Hard Disk before)
-Second Boot Device [Hard Disk] (was CDRom before)

Thx alot Nicnik and Mac Daddy.

[nicnik]

try going into the IDE configuration screen and hit the key that corresponds to "optimized defaults". then reboot and see if the drives appear and we'll take it from there. What motherboard is it, and when you are in Bios what Bios is it? Award bios, phoenix, etc.

It will also help allot of you can tell me which hard drives they are and whether they are IDE or Sata, and also whether you are running any Raid setups.

You can typically see if a drive is sata or IDE by looking at the cable that plugs into the motherboard from the hard disk(s).

Also I would like to know if you booted up your pc without a cd in the drive does it still go into the XP OS it still had, or does it says something along the lines of no OS present or no hard disk detected.

[LoneLie]

Strangely, right after I post on forum here, my brother decided to give it a go. I mentioned to him about the Hard Drive went missing in BIOS as well, so he pulled some cables off and plug them back in, then... TA-DA~ T3H Hard Drive came back, and everything seems to be so fine, we installed Windows XP without any problems at all. After reinstalling XP, we restart the computer several times and EVERYTHING seems fine!

BUT!!!

When we switch on the computer today, we heard weird noise from the Hard Drive... and it won't boot in Windows (either stuck at Windows XP Splash Screen, or just simply says Disk Boot Failure).

NEED HELP PLEASE >.<

Originally Posted by nicnik

try going into the IDE configuration screen and hit the key that corresponds to "optimized defaults". then reboot and see if the drives appear and we'll take it from there. What motherboard is it, and when you are in Bios what Bios is it? Award bios, phoenix, etc.

It will also help allot of you can tell me which hard drives they are and whether they are IDE or Sata, and also whether you are running any Raid setups.

You can typically see if a drive is sata or IDE by looking at the cable that plugs into the motherboard from the hard disk(s).

Also I would like to know if you booted up your pc without a cd in the drive does it still go into the XP OS it still had, or does it says something along the lines of no OS present or no hard disk detected.

Hi Nicnik,

Motherboard: Gigabyte GAP35S3G
BIOS: AWARD BIOS
Hard Drive: MAXTOR STM3160215AS 160Gb SATA
Not sure whether is it running RAID or no. Not sure about that.

Well, not sure about before we "successfully" installed XP because it all happens when we were trying to reinstall XP only.
But I could tell you now that when I boot my PC without a CD in CD-Rom, it says...
"DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER"


Thank you so much Nicnik.

[nicnik]

Have you put the order back to Hard disk then CD Drive in bios?

Anyway, when no disk is in the cd drive and you get disk boot failure it means no operating system is found or it's corrupt.

Best thing to do is to double check it is the hard drive that is dying. either try another hard disk or try your hard disk in another computer. I doubt it's the sata cable or sata connection since you got weird noises, but u never know.

Luckily a 160GB sata drive isn't too expensive to replace, that's if the hard disc is the problem.

[LoneLie]

What would be the best thing to do now? Replace it with a new Hard Disk?
If so, which Hard Disk shall I get?

Originally Posted by nicnik

Have you put the order back to Hard disk then CD Drive in bios?

Anyway, when no disk is in the cd drive and you get disk boot failure it means no operating system is found or it's corrupt.

Best thing to do is to double check it is the hard drive that is dying. either try another hard disk or try your hard disk in another computer. I doubt it's the sata cable or sata connection since you got weird noises, but u never know.

Luckily a 160GB sata drive isn't too expensive to replace, that's if the hard disc is the problem.

Hi Nicnik,

Yes I did change the boot order back to Hard Disk first and CDRom second.

Well, I have no other PC to test the Hard Drive out (only if I can test it out on my Laptop or iMac, if possible).

Once again, thank you so much Nicnik.

[nicnik]

You would have to make sure it was the hard disk that is the problem first. On the safe side you can try another cable to make sure it's not the cable, and try another SATA slot on the motherboard. The only other possibility would be the motherboard developed a fault.

IF certain that it's the hard drive, then it's really upto you what brand or capacity you want. I'd recommend a 320GB 32mb cache sata drive as those aren't as expensive. Depends on what u need really.

[LoneLie]

Originally Posted by nicnik

You would have to make sure it was the hard disk that is the problem first. On the safe side you can try another cable to make sure it's not the cable, and try another SATA slot on the motherboard. The only other possibility would be the motherboard developed a fault.

IF certain that it's the hard drive, then it's really upto you what brand or capacity you want. I'd recommend a 320GB 32mb cache sata drive as those aren't as expensive. Depends on what u need really.

Hi Nicnik,

i was so pissed off with the computer so I simply just bought a new Hard Drive for it, well I'm up to the step to install Windows XP again. Hope this will be the end of my nightmare.

Thanks alot again, Nicnik.

[nicnik]

so it's working all fine yes? If it was me i'd be a bit paranoid and would keep restarting the pc for perhaps 1 hour jus to be sure lol..

[LoneLie]

Originally Posted by nicnik

so it's working all fine yes? If it was me i'd be a bit paranoid and would keep restarting the pc for perhaps 1 hour jus to be sure lol..

Hi Nicnik,

Yes installed Windows XP without any problems at all after I replace the Hard Disk with a new one, and um.. I guess no doubt it has to be something wrong with the Hard Disk then yea? But anywayz, thanks alot for your help really, just so glad it really seems fine now, can finally bring my laptop in for an annual check up :o

Once again, thanks alot Nicnik

[nicnik]

np