Hard Drive problem?

massahwahl

massahwahl

VIP Member
Ok new problem with my system...

When I enter into the Bios the system cant see my IDE HDD, but when I enter into setup for Vista, it found it. Now it had a previous partition on it which I deleted and made a new one but Vista would not let me install to the new partition. Whut up with that?

Could this be a bad HDD or a setting i need to change in the bios? I kinda doubt the HDD is bad because it found the old partition on it and let me delete it.
 
Once you delete the existing NTFS primary for XP that was on it you need to create a totally new one. The repair tools section seen on the first screen at the bottom will bring you to the list of option for drive tools and now the option to format any partition.

You could even use GParted live for cd, Partition Magic, or some other drive tool for creating one and now see the tool available for formatting it. Vista also sees an improved hardware detection process but not seen in the bios probably means you may have to reload the defaults and enable OS2 settings as well as the plug'n'play. With the Asus logo disabled it should appear in the post screen if everything is plugged in and the drive's jumper is set correct for it.
 
I played with the jumper and completely removed the clip and that made the BIOS recognize it. Im getting back into Vista now to see if it will work this time around.
 
Vista wont install, it gets to the expanding files part then comes up with an error that says 'Verify that the installation sources are accesable, and restart the installation.' Same thing it was saying before :(
 
Is this on a prebuild or custom system there? By removing the drive's jumper you automatically set the drive to the cable select setting. On prebuilds like eMachines models the drives come without a jumper for strictly cable select where a tech simply drops in a new drive for upgrade to a larger model or replacement.

At least now you know the drive is in working order but not being seen by the Vista installer for some reason since you able to delete the original XP primary that was on it. A problem with the ide cable being intermittant or being partially out would cause the installer to fail to fully detect and start copying the setup files.

Hopefully you didn't end up with a bad disk. You may want to look it over for any scratches or finger marks. Since the bios is now properly listing the drive the setup files should be going onto it since it is the only hard drive on the system? When installing Vista here with more then ide drive plus two sata models the installer went right to the first ide drive to see the boot loader copied there as well as creating the new mbr.
 
I bought a new Hard drive today but now it gets to 3% and then gives me the error... Could it be a bad cable to my DVD drive?
 
ukulele_ninja said:
I bought a new Hard drive today but now it gets to 3% and then gives me the error... Could it be a bad cable to my DVD drive?
Click to expand...

It's possible there's a loose wire in the IDE ribbon, or that it's making intermittent contact at some point along the data stream. How old are the IDE ribbons? Have then been constantly bended or were they ever folded at a very sharp angle? Do they move or dangle in the case? A very good upgrade would be to go with Rounded IDE cables, even if your ribbons are in perfect condition. Rounded cables take up less space, allow for better airflow, and can be bent/take more abuse than the older ribbon style.
 
It may very well end up being the IDE cable. I did finally get Vista installed using an old DVD drive so I need to go back and put the original DVD drive back in and see if it works. If it doesnt, then Im assuming I have a bad drive perhaps.
 
On the new build hee I had to load the opptimized defaults and then make the needed changes in bios settings all over again when disks couldn't be read with the new cd wrtier in. I couldn't install from that drive while everything went right on with the sata dvd buner.

And yet there was nothing wrong with the drive or cable. Other then a dvd for a game I simply since then can install anything from either drive from a cd. This was also when the first build was in that quit after the first 3 days of use. This was seen only on the first day then however. Temporary lack of detection by the bios itself?
 
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