Reinstall Windows XP

[clare]

Hi

I have a bit of a confusion with an upgrade I attempted. I added a second DVD optical drive and a second, larger IDE HDD to an existing PC. I set the BIOS to boot from CD and then installed a new full version of Windows XP pro.

All seemed ok until I looked at the drive letters. The new HDD with the OS was not given the C: drive label. I know from a basic question to a different PC Mech forum that I cannot just rename the C: drive thru' Disk management.

Please would someone kindly describe the order of the steps I should make to install XP on the second larger HDD and do I have the same drive letter problem if the DVD optical drives are used to boot the OS from at install.

Any assistance gratefully received ;-)

Clare

[glc]

Disconnect the old hard drive, boot to the XP CD, delete all partitions on the new drive, and reinstall XP.

Actually, you do not have to reinstall XP if you are simply upgrading your hard drive. You can use software to clone the old drive to the new one. Seagate and Western Digital offer free software to do this, download the version that will make a bootable CD and do it that way. Then disconnect the old drive prior to booting with the new one.

[clare]

Thank you. I have a day off tomorrow so will give it a second try
Clare

[clare]

Hi
I have gotten into a bigger mess after trying to follow the advice posted above.

I removed the old drive, and booted the PC with the Windows XPro CD in the DVD drive and the new HDD connected.

After quite a long period of a blank but 'active' (what i mean is the screen does not go into standby mode but remains with a green light) screen i get the Windows Setup blue background screen.

Which ever option I select - either repair or install - as soon as the option is selected I get the following error message

Set up did not find a hdd installed on your computer. Make sure any hdd are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk related hardware configuration is correct. This may involvev running a manufacturer supplied diagnostic or setup programme.

Set up cannot continue. To quit setup, press F3

Then the computer reboots.

Please help ;-)

Clare

[glc]

If this is an IDE drive, please verify the jumper settings. If you are using a standard 80 wire Ultra ATA cable, the drive should be on the end connector, and the jumper should be set to CS (cable select). If you have another drive - be it a hard drive or an optical drive - on the same cable it should also be set to CS.

[clare]

Hi

Regarding the jumper settings on the new IDE HDD, it is set to 'Master with Slave'

The options were

master
master with slave
slave

I chose master with slave, because as soon as Windows XP Pro is installed I will be adding the original smaller HDD as slave to the IDE cable. Should I be using 'Master' then altering it to Master with slave when ready to add original smaller HDD back into PC?

On a separate IDE cable, I have the two optical drives connected. They are both reading cd's (i.e. the Windows XP Pro disk runs from both).

Clare

[clare]

Thank you for the help and support.

I am pleased to say, that going back to the 'start' setting the new HDD to

Master

And checking all cable connections, checking that the BIOS had CD ROM as boot device and the original HDD was set to slave, I was able to load Windows XP Pro on the new HDD and it registered as C:


Then went on to add the second HDD and reload the software and data.


I am very grateful for the help

Clare

(a happy Bunny!)

[glc]

All your IDE drives should be set to "cable select", and you should be using an 80 wire "Ultra ATA" cable.