[Mr. NiceGuy]

Hi !! Its me again. After the great help from g2g.. I purchased my parts for my computer and completed the build.

After booting up the computer and trying to install vista, it cannot locate my hdd. (HD 500G|WD 7K 16M SATA2 WD5000AAKS)

I believe it has to do with some SATA DRIVER problem with my mobo. (MB GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L P35+ICH9) Since the utility disc that came with the mobo does not work.

And lastly, I do not have a floppy. So what seems to be the problem ??

Thanks!!

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Go into the BIOS and set the SATA type from RAID to IDE. Then you won't need a floppy.

[Neil Jones]

Go into the BIOS and set the SATA type from RAID to IDE. Then you won't need a floppy.

[Mr. NiceGuy]

my mobo does not support RAID. So I do not know where to change teh RAID to IDE setting is.. if there is one..

[Troy]

Hi there,

Does the BIOS report and correctly identify your hard drive?

Troy

[Mr. NiceGuy]

@troy No. The bios does not pick up the HDD. But it does pick up my opti. drive. Is that a problem ? Faulty hdd maybe ?? But I think I can hear the disk spinning inside.

When I install Vista for example, it gets to the screen for "Where do you want to install Windows? I guess it doesnt know my hdd is there.
I tried swapping cables/ports but nothing sir.

Its a Western Digital Caviar 500gp hdd. Lately, Newegg reviews show that a lot of these recent received hdd's are faulty.

Edited by Mr. NiceGuy, 22 April 2008 - 11:08 AM.

[SRX660]

If you can find the SATA drivers for your motherboard you can slipstream them into a XP CD and then install as usual. I have already done this.

http://www.msfn.org/...;showarticle=49

The main thing with Nlite is you must click on the make bootable CD at the same time you click to slipstream the drivers.

I used Nlite to make the cd and stored the copy on my hard drive. I then used ISO burner to burn the iso file to a CD. It worked perfectly when i used the right method to make the CD. I made 3 CD's without clicking the "Make Bootable" button and was so frustrated i almost gave up.

This may not be your problem because i do think your MB has SATA drivers already installed, But this could be the problem.

I saved the method i used to a html file on my computer, and could send it to you if you wanted.

SRX660

[Troy]

Hi there,

If you are plugging the hard drive straight into the motherboard then the BIOS should identify and list it.

If it is not showing, then you'll need to double-check the data and power cables are properly connected (on the drive and on the motherboard).

The next step would be to try using a different SATA port on the motherboard, it could be a faulty port.

Are you able to try a different SATA hard drive on the computer to see if the BIOS is able to identify it?

I don't think it's worth slipstreaming an install CD just yet, if the BIOS is unable to see it, then the Windows installation definitely won't.

Note that if you are using an add-on SATA card, then a slipstream would be the way to go. The above only applies if you are connecting the hard drive directly to the motherboard.

Cheers

Troy