Another XP install with Sata problem

[mrstarface]

Got an Asus A8V deluxe mobo and need to reinstall windows xp. Got 2 sata drives attached, one formatted and ready for the xp install and the other is a general storage drive with some data on. Both are recognised in the bios by the sata controller (e.g. can use a boot up HDD utility like maxblast to format the drives etc).

Windows XP install did no recognise them so I have d/l the sata drivers from the Asus website and put them on a floppy. Booted XP, pressed F6 selected the XP drivers from the list and it seemed to load them fine. However got to the install windows screen and presssed enter for a new install and it still insisted it could not detect any drives! Tried several times now with several floppies, checked the HD cables are attached and the drive is formatted.

Cant believe this is so tricky, anyone got any advice? I've got my mates PC round is there any way I can attach my drive to his machine and install windows on it from within his windows xp installation?

Any help muchly appreciated, have checked (a lot!) of other threads but cant find a solution yet

[Ghost(BOO!)]

have you checked to make sure the new hard drive cables work? If your drives worked using your friends cables inside his pc then it could and most likely in my opinion be your drive cables

[glc]

First thing you need to do is disconnect the data drive till Windows is installed. The drive does NOT have to be preformatted.