Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > CPUs > Can not install OS XP Pro setup does not recognize any onboard HDD's

Can not install OS XP Pro setup does not recognize any onboard HDD's

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anichol9   06-17-2009 at 10:20:50 PM

Hi I have a Dell 8400. I am trying to reload the OS MS XP Pro. Unfortunately the setup does not recognize any onboard HDD's It will recognize all the externals but. not any of the internals. I can see the HDD's under Disk Management By all appearances it all seems normal. The PC is up and running and C: & D: are visable for usage with out issue. The problem is the PC is doing some hinky stuff. Some folders I can not delete they are empty etc. Everything has become painfully slow despite the fact the PC has been cleaned and defragged. This is driving me crazy though I do not have far to go.
Thanks
Tonie

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daship   06-17-2009 at 10:52:13 PM
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Set the drives to ide mode in bios.

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anichol9   06-18-2009 at 12:15:52 AM
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daship wrote :

Set the drives to ide mode in bios.


Hi Thanks for the prompt reply. I went to Bios and did not see anywhere to set that info. I have Sata drives and it appeared to be unchangeable.
Any suggestions

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kneelicks   06-18-2009 at 02:29:10 AM
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disconnect the externals. Install xp - then reconnect the externals again. XP does this so when it does a reboot during the install the drive letters don't get changed on it.

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anichol9   06-18-2009 at 05:26:21 AM
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kneelicks wrote :

disconnect the externals. Install xp - then reconnect the externals again. XP does this so when it does a reboot during the install the drive letters don't get changed on it.



I did disconnect the externals. When I first started to rebuild I did not have the externals connected. XP did not recognize any hard drive at all. I rebooted 3 times and went into setup to no avail. Then I connected the externals to see if it would recognize anything and setup did recognize everything external. I disconnected the externals and ran setup again still did not recognize the internals I have 2 separate SATA internals XP does not recognize either.
I checked BIOS all looked normal
My disk manager stated all HDD's are healthy I ran disk maintenance all came back perfect. I am at a loss.
Thank you For getting back to me

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dokk2   06-18-2009 at 05:44:03 AM
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Well if it was my system ,,I would boot to my floppy and look see if fdisk can see the drive[s],possibly there is no active partition or drive not ready,and you no doubt have checked all connections and made certain that the os is addressing the hdd that you think it is..???:)

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anichol9   06-18-2009 at 05:52:17 AM
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The partitions are active & Healthy I am using the pc now. I do not have a floppy to boot from. Yes I have checked all connections. removed my second HDD and still the setup states there is not a hard drive found to found on the system.

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kneelicks   06-18-2009 at 01:11:33 PM
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I presume you did that part where your search for the dell 8400 sata drivers, and press f6 during the windows instal to add drivers..

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Shaun O   06-18-2009 at 04:43:08 PM
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Bingo to that man !.

Yes with xp you have to install your Sata drivers.....
Third party drivers !

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anichol9   06-18-2009 at 05:00:01 PM
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Yes I did do the third party SATA even though I have never had to do that in the past. Both of the drives were installed by Dell when I bought it new. I have reinstalled the OS a couple of times with out issues. And never had to install SATA drivers. The SATA was always recognized. Would it just be better to install an IDE drive and go from there.

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ainarssems   06-18-2009 at 05:19:06 PM
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You might want ot download SP3, Sata drivers for Dell 8400 and nlite. Use nlite to slipstream SP3 and sata drivers in installation cd and burn new cd to use for installation.

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anichol9   06-18-2009 at 05:26:50 PM
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ainarssems wrote :

You might want ot download SP3, Sata drivers for Dell 8400 and nlite. Use nlite to slipstream SP3 and sata drivers in installation cd and burn new cd to use for installation.



Thank you I will try that
Thanks for the info

Reply to anichol9
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