Problem - XP setup doesn't find hard drive

[larry38]

Help, please. I have assembled all of the parts listed in my signature and the system is running, i.e. I have information displayed on my monitor. After going through the BIOS check I see everything I have installed listed. I was in the process of installing XP pro and I have a blue screen with the following message:

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

What have I missed? Also, with regards to my version of XP (OEM), I bought it from Newegg along with the other parts. There is no certificate of authenticity level (tag on back of manual says the CA has been removed by your PC manufacturer and should be attached to your PC) What do I do?

[HAL9000]

Your hard drive is SATA, you need to hit F6 on the first start screen of the WinXP setup and install your SATA drivers so setup can find the drive.

Contact Newegg about your COA.

[RJ]

What have I missed?

The SATA driver. You need to press F6 at the beginning of the installation, and then later on, insert the floppy with the SATA driver so that Windows Setup can find your hard drive.
If you don't have a floppy drive and don't want one, you need to integrate the SATA driver in your Windows CD.

RJ

[larry38]

Thanks HAL9000 for your quick reply. I'll try it and I will also contact Newegg as you suggested.

[larry38]

Originally Posted by RJ The SATA driver. You need to press F6 at the beginning of the installation, and then later on, insert the floppy with the SATA driver so that Windows Setup can find your hard drive. If you don't have a floppy drive and don't want one, you need to integrate the SATA driver in your Windows CD. RJ

Thanks, RJ. My Raptor was OEM and it didn't come with a driver disk. Do I download the necessary driver from the WD website and then use that as you suggested?

[HAL9000]

It's not the hard drive that needs the driver... it's the SATA controller on your motherboard. The driver should be included with the motherboard CD. You will need to copy the files to a floppy disk.

[larry38]

Thanks, Hall9000. Something has happened that I don't understand (just another thing in that category.) I put the motherboard CD in the Plextor drive and rebooted the computer. Now after the POST starts (it gets through the IDE device check) the screen suddenly goes blank and I am left with a cursor blinking in the upper right corner of the monitor. Earlier boot results stopped with a statement to the effect that I needed to put something in a drive and to hit any key to continue. Does anyone have an idea as to what I have done wrong and what I can do to fix it?

[HAL9000]

Step by step

1) Put the motherboard CD into the computer that you're on right now... find the SATA driver and copy it to a floppy disk,

2) Boot the new machine from the WinXP CD and when the blue XP setup screen comes on, it says on the bottom to hit F6 to install a 3rd party controller... Hit F6 at this time.

3) Put in the floppy you created in step 1 and hit S

4) This loads the SATA controller driver... remove the floppy and continue with the installation.

[larry38]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 Step by step 1) Put the motherboard CD into the computer that you're on right now... find the SATA driver and copy it to a floppy disk, 2) Boot the new machine from the WinXP CD and when the blue XP setup screen comes on, it says on the bottom to hit F6 to install a 3rd party controller... Hit F6 at this time. 3) Put in the floppy you created in step 1 and hit S 4) This loads the SATA controller driver... remove the floppy and continue with the installation.

Thanks for your patience Hal9000. Unfortunately I have to leave for several hours. I will get back to this tonight. I have copied what I think is the correct driver (the choice from the ASUS mb CD is confusing to me.) Hopefully I have the correct one.
Thanks again