XP pro install sees 300gb then 3.9gb installing

[dgibble]

Hello,

I am trying to install XP PRO on a Compaq nc8430 computer and have had the same results using 2 different drives. The status line shows at first there is a 300gb drive then it switches to 3.9gb. I have tried changing the SATA mode in the bios. I can format 300gb using a boot cd.
Any ideas?

 

[AntiZig]

is your HDD hooked up to sata or IDE interface?

when you're formatting it to 300gb using a boot cd, what file system do you specify? should be NTFS.

 

[dgibble]

is your HDD hooked up to sata or IDE interface?

when you're formatting it to 300gb using a boot cd, what file system do you specify? should be NTFS.

Well, since the Compaq nc8430 Laptop computer only has one drive bay and it is SATA, I have hooked up a SATA drive to a SATA interface.

When the drive was formated with a Hiren Windows boot disk, it was formatted to 300gb NTFS.

 

[AntiZig]

oh, right ok you need to install sata drivers before you can install xp, since xp doesn't support sata by default.

 

[dgibble]

Well, strange as it may seem, I have successfully formatted the original 80gb
drive even though the install program saw two drives at the same location, one 80gb and another 3.9 gb. Without using the SATA drivers, I installed XP sp2 successfully and upgraded to sp3. Now for those pesky drivers that HP has a habit of hiding.

 

[AntiZig]

for hp drivers you should be able to go to their website type in your computer model number and get all the drivers that go with your machine downloadable for free.

SO, you simply used another HDD to solve the problem? ok that works too