Hard Drive not found in BIOS setup

I have the PCCHIPS M952 (V3.0) MB Socket 478 and FSB800/DDR400 Motherboard based on the PT800/8237 chipset.

I have been trying to install a Maxtor drive with operating system and data on it along with a Sata 300 Seagate Barracuda as a secondary Master. Both are recognized but will not be installed in the bios. I tried setting them up together, and separately with no success. All I got was a windows logo that soon faded to black

I then tried to set up an array having no experience or knowledge as such. I had the two drives connected created an array I don't know if it was 00 or 01 but both hard drives were registered on the array but not recognized or loaded into the BIOS. When I tried to boot up I got the Windows logo then an error message

"system32\HAL.DLLPlease reinstall a copy of the above file"
I pulled the 2nd drive and got this error: "Sec Masterdrive ATAPI incompatible Frequency 100" The windows logo flashed before this happened.

So, I have not been able to setup my hard drive with this board without and with an array. I found out too late that creating an array with a disk that has data on it will wipe out the data then I read that is not the case it can be recovered using windows repair IF it was created using Array 01. The other alternative required buying software and a complicated process I have never heard of and do not understand.

I read that IF the hard drive has initialized the data will be destroyed but since it is not in the bios does that mean the data is safe? I have already backed up critical data but the process of reinstalling windows and all the programs is a real pain to be avoided if possible.

Lastly I tried to install Win XP on the blank Seagate drive and got an error message that the system had no hard drive, the same error message on the Maxtor with Data on it