ata, sata, dell, windows, bios, ugggh

[slotguy]

why cant anything just go smooth when it comes to this stuff? all day long now i've been simply trying to install windows xp on a IDE/ATA drive.

it's a dell demension e510.. all i want is to have windows on the ATA, and my stuff on 2 SATA's. why is this so difficult....

i've been in and out of my BIOS for HOURS now, i've tried all kinds of different settings - nothing works. i've read all kinds of websites - nothing works.
no matter what, i get the 'no hard drives found' blue screen

can someone please help me out a little... i just don't get it.

 

[JTM]

why cant anything just go smooth when it comes to this stuff? all day long now i've been simply trying to install windows xp on a IDE/ATA drive.

it's a dell demension e510.. all i want is to have windows on the ATA, and my stuff on 2 SATA's. why is this so difficult....

i've been in and out of my BIOS for HOURS now, i've tried all kinds of different settings - nothing works. i've read all kinds of websites - nothing works.
no matter what, i get the 'no hard drives found' blue screen

can someone please help me out a little... i just don't get it.

Have you tried changing your HDD controller under BIOS. There should be options for AHCI, Sata, IDE, etc. This could help you when installing XP also.

 

[patrickv]

why cant anything just go smooth when it comes to this stuff? all day long now i've been simply trying to install windows xp on a IDE/ATA drive.

it's a dell demension e510.. all i want is to have windows on the ATA, and my stuff on 2 SATA's. why is this so difficult....

i've been in and out of my BIOS for HOURS now, i've tried all kinds of different settings - nothing works. i've read all kinds of websites - nothing works.
no matter what, i get the 'no hard drives found' blue screen

can someone please help me out a little... i just don't get it.

Dell has the option in BIOS as said to make Sata read as IDE, then again am guessing you are not using a Dell XP CD. I said that cause i've been in the same problem, i used a customized XP cd and I got the "no hard drive found" that is because the cd does not have Sata drivers on it.

Unplug your sata drive, keep your IDE only. If you are installing on the IDE drive and you still get the no hard drive found, check your IDE cable, try swapping it with another. IF that does not work, try changing IDE ports, if that still does not work, check in the BIOS to see if the port hasn't been disabled by mistake.
As for the BSOD, while the windows XP setup is loading, instead of pressing F6, press F7, it disables something but i forgot what it is

 

[slotguy]

Dell has the option in BIOS as said to make Sata read as IDE, then again am guessing you are not using a Dell XP CD. I said that cause i've been in the same problem, i used a customized XP cd and I got the "no hard drive found" that is because the cd does not have Sata drivers on it.

yeah it's not a dell CD. and my bios just has a 'SATA Operation' setting where i can switch between RAID Autodetect/ATA or RAID On.. neither work. i've been through all these settngs, IDE doesnt come up at all anywhere.

Unplug your sata drive, keep your IDE only.

that's what i'm doing, it's just not working

If you are installing on the IDE drive and you still get the no hard drive found, check your IDE cable, try swapping it with another. IF that does not work, try changing IDE ports, if that still does not work, check in the BIOS to see if the port hasn't been disabled by mistake.

the computer recognizes it.. it knows it's there. it shows up one one of those screens when i start it up, which makes this even more frustrating.

As for the BSOD, while the windows XP setup is loading, instead of pressing F6, press F7, it disables something but i forgot what it is

i just tried a whole bunch of stuff again.. nada

ulling out hair:

i'm guessing this has something to do with drivers that don't exist on the cd. maybe there's a solution that involves a floppy disk? i've tried a little, but my floppy drive isn't cooperating either.................... sigh..... computer problems drive me insane

 

[slotguy]

Have you tried changing your HDD controller under BIOS. There should be options for AHCI, Sata, IDE, etc. This could help you when installing XP also.

there's nothing anywhere about AHCI.. i read about that last night too, i just don't have that option i guess.

i tried to upgrade my bios... but since i can only access my pc in safe mode (another whole seperate problem), the upgrade won't take. i assume that's why at least..


thanks guys

 

[slotguy]

bump

i updated the bios (A07) - still nothing


all i can do is shake my head, this is ridiculous...

 

[JTM]

bump

i updated the bios (A07) - still nothing


all i can do is shake my head, this is ridiculous...

I would call your manufacturer or check their site. You're going to have to find drivers for you HDD so that it will boot when installing the new OS. You can load them in the beginning of the install, or you can go the advanced route and slipstream them into the disc.

 

[Zatharus]

First, where in the whole install process are you getting the "No hard drives found" blue screen? That has not been cleared up so far.

Second, installing XP to an IDE drive should be very simple. There is a piece of information missing here.

 

[slotguy]

First, where in the whole install process are you getting the "No hard drives found" blue screen? That has not been cleared up so far.

press any key to boot from cd..., setup is loading files................................................................................, to set up windows xp now, press enter. = no hard drive

Second, installing XP to an IDE drive should be very simple. There is a piece of information missing here.

exactly

 

[JTM]

press any key to boot from cd..., setup is loading files................................................................................, to set up windows xp now, press enter. = no hard drive


exactly

It actually shows no hard drives, or it literally says no hard drives, or it goes to blue screen of death?

 

[Zatharus]

press any key to boot from cd..., setup is loading files................................................................................, to set up windows xp now, press enter. = no hard drive

OK. Please check your BIOS to make sure your IDE controller is activated first (I understand that you may be limited within the Dell BIOS, but please check again). Then put the hard drive on its own IDE cable, on its own bus if it isn't already and you have more than one - make sure you put it on the end plug. Also verify that you have the jumpers set correctly on the drive itself. Either set it to Master or CS (Cable Select) if you have an 80 wire cable.

Important: Did you ever have an IDE drive working in this machine before? This includes CD/DVD drives as well as hard drives.

 

[slotguy]

"Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer"

the screen happens to be blue

its not the BSOD

 

[slotguy]

OK. Please check your BIOS to make sure your IDE controller is activated first (I understand that you may be limited within the Dell BIOS, but please check again). Then put the hard drive on its own IDE cable, on its own bus if it isn't already and you have more than one - make sure you put it on the end plug. Also verify that you have the jumpers set correctly on the drive itself. Either set it to Master or CS (Cable Select) if you have an 80 wire cable.

Important: Did you ever have an IDE drive working in this machine before? This includes CD/DVD drives as well as hard drives.

i did all of that, 1000 times.. just screw it... i'm gonna throw this thing out the window and go get a mac. enough already.

 

[Zatharus]

Just trying to help.

If you have never had an IDE drive working in that computer before, you either have a BIOS setting wrong, a bad IDE cable, a bad hard drive, or a bad motherboard. There are quite a few possibilities.

You could just grab another SATA drive and pop the OS on that provided you have an extra port. You will need at least XP SP2 for Windows Setup to recognize the SATA drives without loading an additional driver.