XP Install Won't See Drive

SIMP · 04-29-2009, 06:36 PM

Hello all. I need your help please. Wasn't sure if I should post this in hard drive section or OS because it involves both. Sorry if wrong.

I’m installing XP on a machine that has what I thought was a SATA drive. The drive is a Samsung HD160JJ and is shown on Samsung’s site as a PATA drive.

It’s a Dell XPS machine and when I run a non-Dell XP Pro setup on it, it fails to see the drive and I’m forced to cancel XP install.

I tried a Maxtor SATA drive that I had and the same thing happened….XP failed to see the drive and made me cancel install.

I find it funny that XP install failed to see both drives as I’ve never had this happen before. Does this sound like a motherboard/BIOS issue or could it be that both drives require the third party drivers? (F6 option in XP setup)

Anyway, I contacted Samsung and they directed me to a tool called “ES Tools” which they said I needed to boot from and it will reformat the drive and then XP will see it upon install. How can reformatting a drive change the way XP install sees it?

I would appreciate any suggestions here and thanks for taking the time to read!

Zatharus · 04-29-2009, 08:39 PM

Have you looked at the drive itself to determine if it is in fact an IDE drive not a SATA drive?

Also, are you installing with XP Service Pack 2 or later? If not, and if you do have a SATA drive, you will need to load the computer's SATA driver from a floppy during the install. Or you can update your XP install disc by slipstreaming in SP3.

I am pretty sure that the person at Samsung was referring to formatting the drive so it will show up in XP (i.e. once booted), not so it will show up in the installer. Formatting will have no effect on whether or not the XP installer sees the physical device. It sounds to me like you have an older XP Pro install disc and that the drive is a SATA drive.

SIMP · 04-29-2009, 09:08 PM

Thanks Zatharus.

I was just talking to a friend and he mentioned that I could try changing my Sata in BIOS from NATIVE/AHCI to COMPATIBLE/IDE. I may try this and see what happens.

Thanks for feedback.

Zatharus · 04-29-2009, 09:52 PM

You are welcome SIMP.

That switch in your BIOS will enable a more compatible mode for older SATA drives. If it was switched somehow, that could help your SATA drive to show up. But...it will only affect SATA drives. Are you sure you have a SATA drive in there?

Also, even with that switch you will still need XP SP2 (or SP3) or a floppy with the SATA driver for your computer to install Windows XP to the SATA drive.

SIMP · 04-29-2009, 11:57 PM

Yeah, the drive is SATA. It's a Samsung HD160JJ. I'm going to tinker with it a bit tonight see how it goes. Thanks again for your help!

04-29-2009, 06:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
SIMP Gold Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mississippi Posts: 318	XP Install Won't See Drive Hello all. I need your help please. Wasn't sure if I should post this in hard drive section or OS because it involves both. Sorry if wrong. I’m installing XP on a machine that has what I thought was a SATA drive. The drive is a Samsung HD160JJ and is shown on Samsung’s site as a PATA drive. It’s a Dell XPS machine and when I run a non-Dell XP Pro setup on it, it fails to see the drive and I’m forced to cancel XP install. I tried a Maxtor SATA drive that I had and the same thing happened….XP failed to see the drive and made me cancel install. I find it funny that XP install failed to see both drives as I’ve never had this happen before. Does this sound like a motherboard/BIOS issue or could it be that both drives require the third party drivers? (F6 option in XP setup) Anyway, I contacted Samsung and they directed me to a tool called “ES Tools” which they said I needed to boot from and it will reformat the drive and then XP will see it upon install. How can reformatting a drive change the way XP install sees it? I would appreciate any suggestions here and thanks for taking the time to read! __________________ CPU: E5200 MB: MSI P35 Neo2-FR GFX: 8800 GTX RAM: 4GB Geil DDR2 800 CASE: CM Centurion 534 LCD: Dell 20" 2005FPW OS: Vista Ultimate

04-29-2009, 09:08 PM	#3 (permalink)
SIMP Gold Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mississippi Posts: 318	Thanks Zatharus. I was just talking to a friend and he mentioned that I could try changing my Sata in BIOS from NATIVE/AHCI to COMPATIBLE/IDE. I may try this and see what happens. Thanks for feedback. __________________ CPU: E5200 MB: MSI P35 Neo2-FR GFX: 8800 GTX RAM: 4GB Geil DDR2 800 CASE: CM Centurion 534 LCD: Dell 20" 2005FPW OS: Vista Ultimate

04-29-2009, 11:57 PM	#5 (permalink)
SIMP Gold Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mississippi Posts: 318	Yeah, the drive is SATA. It's a Samsung HD160JJ. I'm going to tinker with it a bit tonight see how it goes. Thanks again for your help! __________________ CPU: E5200 MB: MSI P35 Neo2-FR GFX: 8800 GTX RAM: 4GB Geil DDR2 800 CASE: CM Centurion 534 LCD: Dell 20" 2005FPW OS: Vista Ultimate

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04-29-2009, 08:39 PM	#2 (permalink)
Zatharus VIP Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1,603	Have you looked at the drive itself to determine if it is in fact an IDE drive not a SATA drive? Also, are you installing with XP Service Pack 2 or later? If not, and if you do have a SATA drive, you will need to load the computer's SATA driver from a floppy during the install. Or you can update your XP install disc by slipstreaming in SP3. I am pretty sure that the person at Samsung was referring to formatting the drive so it will show up in XP (i.e. once booted), not so it will show up in the installer. Formatting will have no effect on whether or not the XP installer sees the physical device. It sounds to me like you have an older XP Pro install disc and that the drive is a SATA drive.

04-29-2009, 09:52 PM	#4 (permalink)
Zatharus VIP Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1,603	You are welcome SIMP. That switch in your BIOS will enable a more compatible mode for older SATA drives. If it was switched somehow, that could help your SATA drive to show up. But...it will only affect SATA drives. Are you sure you have a SATA drive in there? Also, even with that switch you will still need XP SP2 (or SP3) or a floppy with the SATA driver for your computer to install Windows XP to the SATA drive.