[doire]

Hello,

I have two SATA drives and one IDE drive in a pc.

Im trying to load XP onto one of the SATA drives but i didnt reiceve any floppy disk containing drivers with the SATA drives.

Is it possible that i can get them on the web?

I did get a floppy disk with the motherboard...could this be the drivers? or do they come with the discs?
Thanks

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If you got a floppy with the motherboard they are probably on the disk. When you start an install with the XP cd you should have the option to hit i think F6 to load the SATA drivers off the floppy disk. Then windows will ask you to pull out the floppy disk and will continue to install. The Mb manufacturer does usually have the sata drivers on their website that you can download and run the exe to make a floppy drivers install disk.

SRX660

[SRX660]

If you got a floppy with the motherboard they are probably on the disk. When you start an install with the XP cd you should have the option to hit i think F6 to load the SATA drivers off the floppy disk. Then windows will ask you to pull out the floppy disk and will continue to install. The Mb manufacturer does usually have the sata drivers on their website that you can download and run the exe to make a floppy drivers install disk.

SRX660

[doire]

If you got a floppy with the motherboard they are probably on the disk. When you start an install with the XP cd you should have the option to hit i think F6 to load the SATA drivers off the floppy disk. Then windows will ask you to pull out the floppy disk and will continue to install. The Mb manufacturer does usually have the sata drivers on their website that you can download and run the exe to make a floppy drivers install disk.

SRX660

Thanks

[gkbernard]

Why do you think you need sata drivers? What brand of sata do you have? What mainboard is intalled?

If your mainboard supports sata drives as well as ata drives then you should look at the bios setup on boot. Set the drive configuration to sata as your first hard drive. Set the boot order to sata as the primary drive. Install windows from your boot cd. If you cant get your cd to boot windows install then set your cd as the first boot device and your sata as the second.
I have 2 sata's as my main drives and an ata as my backup drive.

[doire]

Well i think i need drivers because when trying to install XP on a SATA drive it will ask me to press F6. XP will contiues to load then it will ask me to put in the floppy with drivers.

Isnt this how it works?

[gkbernard]

The F6 is just if you have non traditional drivers that windows doesn't have. If your SATA drives are name brands like Maxtor etc. and not somthing exotic, then don't press the F6 key when loading windows. Just continue the install.

[doire]

If thats the case why does XP only get a certain distance then say a certain file is missing?

Its not the disc as this is a brand new OEM disc bought from Microsoft.

[doire]

Ok i have tried everything here.

Tried loading XP on the SATA drive as C , with another SATA as D and the IDE as E

Tries Loading XP on the IDE drive as C, with SATA as D and the other SATA as E

XP just wont load on

All drives are recognised in the BIOS

Has anyone any ideas?

Edited by doire, 23 August 2006 - 03:05 AM.

[gkbernard]

Last option.... disconnect the other sata drive as well as the ide drive so that there are no data cables or power to them. See if windows will install to it. If it does, then after windows is insalled, turn the system off; plug in the other two drives and reboot. Windows will see the other drives and assign a number to them.
If all goes well with the windows installation with the final reboot, but you get an "ntldr missing" error after the reboot with the other drives installed, then go back to the bios setup and MAKE SURE that the drive order is set to the SATA as first drive and the boot order is set to the SATA first as well.
I have been through this same problem and it just ended up being the bios setup. (it defaults to the ATA drive)

However, you never said if you were trying to use the two SATA drives in a RAID 0 or 1 configuration so if you are it's a different setup.

[doire]

Last option.... disconnect the other sata drive as well as the ide drive so that there are no data cables or power to them. See if windows will install to it. If it does, then after windows is insalled, turn the system off; plug in the other two drives and reboot. Windows will see the other drives and assign a number to them.
If all goes well with the windows installation with the final reboot, but you get an "ntldr missing" error after the reboot with the other drives installed, then go back to the bios setup and MAKE SURE that the drive order is set to the SATA as first drive and the boot order is set to the SATA first as well.
I have been through this same problem and it just ended up being the bios setup. (it defaults to the ATA drive)

However, you never said if you were trying to use the two SATA drives in a RAID 0 or 1 configuration so if you are it's a different setup.

I will give it a try.

Im not setting up the SATA as RAID.

I have an IDE drive that was in the pc which had XP on it. Could i install that and then install the two SATA drives after that?

[gkbernard]

You could but the SATA's have faster data transfer. The IDE would be better as a backup for your files. Your system would run slower. The hard drive is an often overlooked item in the preformance of a system.
Just give it a try with a single SATA for the installation.