Without the machine details and exact error messages, it is hard to diagnose the problems. With older machines you don't need to fdisk and format the drive first. Boot from the Windows XP CD, then follow the XP install procedure and at the appropriate point you can partition and format the drive. What error messages are you getting? Why are you re-installing? Perhap there's a hardware failure....
As regards the bios update, you usually need to create a bootable floppy with the correct bios flash and boot from it. You don't say which machine you have, so further detailed advice can't be provided - please post you machine details and your error details if you need more information.
Message Edited by peterfelgate on 02-03-2006 06:08 PM
I have the same problem. I would like to upgrade the System BIOS on my Dell 8400 that has a RAID Array. At this time, I can not boot from CD. It gets to the Setup, Recovery Console, or Quite screen. Once I press either Enter or R, the system say it can not find a hard drive installed.
I figured updateing the BIOS to A08 might help. How can I create a bootable floppy with the BIOS on it. Do I need to create the standard 4 disks from Win NT of old, or can I create a Bootable CD with the BIOS on it? Since I can not get to the Setup portion, it this going to work?
George, the BIOS upgrades for your model come in a "universal" format. In otherwords it can be run from a bootable CD or floppy and run from Windows on the hard drive.
Click here for BIOS version A08 and just save it to a folder on your hard drive. Then just run the file in Windows. Prior to updating the BIOS it is a good idea to close out any unnecessary Windows applications running in the background and disconnect all unneeded USB devices. This will lessen the chance of Windows hanging during the required reboot phase.
Thanks for the reply. I wish I could get into windows. I had a small crash problem with windows explorer, read all the KB articles, decided to reinstall SP2, worked with MS tech to uninstall SP2 and attempt to install SP2 in safe mode. it failed and system would not boot...getting blue screen with a corupt or missing WINSRV file. Was told to boot from CD and try recovery console...pressing R resulted in message: No Hard Disk found... Tried Setup prompt, same error.
I thought I would try new bios A08 (already downloaded on this spare computer). I am reading on Intel site about the RAID ROM ver 4.0 Application Accelerrator now. trying to understand why disks or Array is not seem. Dell Diagnostic utility show disks are fine. I get the Win Splash screen when booting from Array, but then blue screen.
George, Ok..... I see what the problem is. Just go to BootDisk.com by clicking here. Download the 6.22 file that will create a bootable floppy disk. Just run the downloaded program from your hard drive. Once the floppy is created just delete all the Mouse, QBasic, ScanDisk and Undelete files to make some additional room on the floppy. Once those files are deleted you will have some extra space on the floppy to receive the BIOS update program. Copy the D8400A08.EXE BIOS file to the floppy disk. Once that is done reboot the system with the floppy and then manually run the BIOS update from the command prompt by typing.... D8400A08.EXE and press Enter The BIOS update program should then start running.
Matchorno, the reason the BIOS upgrade failed is because you are trying to use it in Windows or from with-in a MS-DOS window in Windows. The older Dell models had to have the BIOS upgraded in a
pure MS-DOS environment and that is why Dell provides a BIOS format to do just that. Go back and download the BIOS version that starts with the letter
B. This version will create a bootable BIOS upgrade floppy disk. Just follow these instructions for using the downloaded file
........
Once the file is downloaded to your hard drive just run the file. The program will then prompt you into creating a bootable BIOS upgrade floppy disk so have a "good" blank one available. Once the floppy is created just leave the floppy in the drive and reboot your system. The BIOS upgrade program will then prompt you into updating the BIOS. If the floppy fails to boot then check your system's boot order and make sure the floppy drive is before the hard drive in the boot sequence. Once the BIOS upgrade is successfully done just remove the floppy disk and reboot the system.
If you encounter problems then try another download of the file and use another blank floppy disk. If either of those two items are bad it will prevent a successful BIOS update.
The actual time it takes the new BIOS code to be written is less than 30 seconds. While the upgrade is in progress do not interrupt the upgrade or do the upgrade when weather conditions might indicate a possible power failure such as doing the upgrade during a thunderstorm. An interrupted BIOS upgrade may corrupt the currently installed BIOS and thus require a motherboard replacement.
Ok, but will this affect my currently installed OS (that I can't currently get to)? my hope in upgradign the BIOS is the CD boot options will be fixed.
I still need to get this old OS up and running to grab a few files before I start from scratch. I should have backed up my PST file and other important stuff...I know better.
George, the BIOS update will not effect any data on the hard drive.
In looking back at your other postings it would appear the system is booting successfully from the Windows CD since you are offered the option of using the Setup or Recovery Console and the process stops when it can't find a hard drive. If that is correct then the CD drive is booting properly and the problem you are having is with the system recognizing the hard drive. From what I recall of using the Windows XP CD when the CD initial starts to boot up it ask if you need to install your RAID drivers by pressing the
F6 key. Without the RAID drivers loaded this may account for the XP CD not seeing your hard drive.
Click here for Denny Denham's web site and the information he has posted on the 8400, RAID and using the XP CD.
Ok on checking out his website. BTW - no joy on the install of the bios after putting it on 6.22 boot disk. After typing the D8400A08.exe, it said something along the lines of: not enough memory to run the application.
George, did your system come with a Dell Resource CD? If it did then boot the system from the CD and at the command prompt just run the BIOS update from the floppy disk. I suspect though your hard drive problem is related to the RAID drivers.
Used the Dell resource CD to make a Floppy with the Intel Application Accelerator ver 4.0.0.xxxx files. The Dell CD version is not the latest. it only had IASTOR.CAT, IASTOR.INF, IASTOR.SYS, and TXTSETUP.OEM. Then I tried the Boot from CD process again, using the F6 procedure. It failed to RAID Array to complete the setup. No Hard Disk found.
Then, I downloaded the a newer version of the files set from Intel site http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa_raid/ It had two additional files. Also, the manual and all the documentation is a must read for the novice, like me, prior to configuring the RAID. here is the list of files from F6_Foppy.exe utility. IAAHCI.CAT, IAACHI.INF, IASTOR.CAT, IASTOR.INF, IASTOR.SYS, and TXTSETUP.OEM.
Upon using those files, the bootup from CD continued and found the Array. I proceeded to choose setup, then R for recovery to attempt to recover the system. System is completely unstable, but was able to savage my important data. will be doing the process again to do a destructive overwrite / clean install of the OS.
I've been away for a while...and re-checked the thread...lots of good info. I think I'm having a similar problem. Anyway, here are some more details of my problem. It's kind of a long story...
I was working on a friend's computer and cleaned up some spyware/adware that was on the pc. Well, after that, the internet connection was lost...cable company came and couldn't fix it. We decided to back up some files and do a clean reinstall.
I was kind of hasty...I booted from a win98 cd into DOS, did an fdisk to delete partition, create new partition and then formatted hard disk all from the win98cd. Now I realize all of this wasn't necessary. In doing so, the hard drive wound up being formatted in fat32.
I then proceded to boot from the cd-rom with the win xp service pack 1 disk. I got to the blue screen where it says hit enter to proceed, r to attempt to repair, or quit. At this point the keyboard seems frozen and I can't even hit enter to continue. The keyboard works up until this point, but then always stops responding. I thought maybe bad cd...but tried 2 different xp cds.
After trying this a bunch of times, I decided to try loading win2000 professional instead. Booted from this cd, got to same screen. I could hit enter this time to proceed, but then it gives me an error saying that no hard drives are installed.
Desperate, I tried to install Win Millenium just to see. Booted from this disk, lo and behold...I could install fine. Win Millenium up and running fine. So now I try to install WinXp over top of WinMe. With this, I avoid the original screen where keyboard seemed to freeze. This time it goes for about a half hour, copying files, etc. Almost completely installed, then get a blue stop screen...says has encountered an error...check hard drive for viruses...check to make sure any recently installed hard drives are plugged in and powered on, etc. So I'm starting to think it's not recognizing the hard drive...but then why can I install WinMe o.k.?!?
I ran Dell diagnostics on hard drive and everything checked out o.k.
I thought maybe updating bios might help, which led me to this thread. I tried running bios update from WinMe but it said it must be run from Win2000, WinXp, or pure dos. I tried booting from Win98 boot disk into dos (not from a command prompt window)...swapped the boot floppy with the floppy that contains the bios update. Tried to run bios update and it said it can't run in a protected environment. It says this even when there are no versions of Windows installed. Is it because the bios update is not on the same floppy as the boot disk? I'll try that.
I think the hard drive is still formatted in fat32...but I don't think this should be a problem...although when I tried to install Xp on top of Me, I don't remember it asking me if I wanted to format drive. I'm sure I messed some stuff up by deleting partition and formatting...master boot record gone? It seems like main problem lies with recognizing hard drive...but then why can I install winMe?
I even tried downloading the hard disk drivers from here:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/type.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&SystemID=DIM_P4_9100&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=8615
Then loaded them with the F6 option while installing Windows...still no go.
The computer is a Dell Dimension 9100.
I'm looking at the original configuration using the service tag on Dell's site and the hard drive stats are listed: HARD DRIVE, 160G, Serial ATA, 7.2K, 8M, LEAD FREE, WD-HA
I know this is a long post...but any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Matchorono, the problem you are encountering is with the RAID - SATA setup on the 9100 model. During the initial installation phase of Windows XP the install will ask if RAID drivers need to be loaded and to press the F6 key to do so. If the RAID drivers are not loaded at this point the installation will not see the hard drive and the program will basically abort at the "hit enter to proceed, r to attempt to repair, or quit" screen. You might want to do a quick review of this other posting by clicking here of similar problems 9100 owners had during the re-install of XP. Once you resolve this issue then partition and format the drive for NTFS during the installation of Windows XP.
As for the BIOS...... once you have the hard drive up and running then worry about updating the BIOS. The BIOS format for your model will run from the hard drive.
Thanks for the reply and for the link. I shutter to think about calling Dell and staying on the phone with them for hours. I should have a chance to try these things on their computer today or tomorrow and will post back to let you know how it works out.
peterfelgate_ce40d3
1.3K Posts
0
February 3rd, 2006 22:00
Without the machine details and exact error messages, it is hard to diagnose the problems. With older machines you don't need to fdisk and format the drive first. Boot from the Windows XP CD, then follow the XP install procedure and at the appropriate point you can partition and format the drive. What error messages are you getting? Why are you re-installing? Perhap there's a hardware failure....
As regards the bios update, you usually need to create a bootable floppy with the correct bios flash and boot from it. You don't say which machine you have, so further detailed advice can't be provided - please post you machine details and your error details if you need more information.
Message Edited by peterfelgate on 02-03-2006 06:08 PM
barthg
5 Posts
0
February 4th, 2006 12:00
I have the same problem. I would like to upgrade the System BIOS on my Dell 8400 that has a RAID Array. At this time, I can not boot from CD. It gets to the Setup, Recovery Console, or Quite screen. Once I press either Enter or R, the system say it can not find a hard drive installed.
I figured updateing the BIOS to A08 might help. How can I create a bootable floppy with the BIOS on it. Do I need to create the standard 4 disks from Win NT of old, or can I create a Bootable CD with the BIOS on it? Since I can not get to the Setup portion, it this going to work?
George
Dell Dimension 8400
P4, 3.4 GHtz proc, 1 GIG Ram, WinXP Pro, SATA RAID level 1 (mirror), BIOS A02
Majestic
9.4K Posts
0
February 4th, 2006 13:00
barthg
5 Posts
0
February 4th, 2006 14:00
Majestic
9.4K Posts
0
February 4th, 2006 14:00
George, Ok..... I see what the problem is. Just go to BootDisk.com by clicking here. Download the 6.22 file that will create a bootable floppy disk. Just run the downloaded program from your hard drive. Once the floppy is created just delete all the Mouse, QBasic, ScanDisk and Undelete files to make some additional room on the floppy. Once those files are deleted you will have some extra space on the floppy to receive the BIOS update program. Copy the D8400A08.EXE BIOS file to the floppy disk. Once that is done reboot the system with the floppy and then manually run the BIOS update from the command prompt by typing.... D8400A08.EXE and press Enter The BIOS update program should then start running.
Majestic
9.4K Posts
0
February 4th, 2006 14:00
If you encounter problems then try another download of the file and use another blank floppy disk. If either of those two items are bad it will prevent a successful BIOS update.
The actual time it takes the new BIOS code to be written is less than 30 seconds. While the upgrade is in progress do not interrupt the upgrade or do the upgrade when weather conditions might indicate a possible power failure such as doing the upgrade during a thunderstorm. An interrupted BIOS upgrade may corrupt the currently installed BIOS and thus require a motherboard replacement.
barthg
5 Posts
0
February 4th, 2006 14:00
Ok, but will this affect my currently installed OS (that I can't currently get to)? my hope in upgradign the BIOS is the CD boot options will be fixed.
I still need to get this old OS up and running to grab a few files before I start from scratch. I should have backed up my PST file and other important stuff...I know better.
George
Majestic
9.4K Posts
0
February 4th, 2006 15:00
barthg
5 Posts
0
February 4th, 2006 16:00
Majestic
9.4K Posts
0
February 4th, 2006 17:00
barthg
5 Posts
0
February 5th, 2006 01:00
Closure on the issue:
Used the Dell resource CD to make a Floppy with the Intel Application Accelerator ver 4.0.0.xxxx files. The Dell CD version is not the latest. it only had IASTOR.CAT, IASTOR.INF, IASTOR.SYS, and TXTSETUP.OEM. Then I tried the Boot from CD process again, using the F6 procedure. It failed to RAID Array to complete the setup. No Hard Disk found.
Then, I downloaded the a newer version of the files set from Intel site http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa_raid/ It had two additional files. Also, the manual and all the documentation is a must read for the novice, like me, prior to configuring the RAID. here is the list of files from F6_Foppy.exe utility. IAAHCI.CAT, IAACHI.INF, IASTOR.CAT, IASTOR.INF, IASTOR.SYS, and TXTSETUP.OEM.
Upon using those files, the bootup from CD continued and found the Array. I proceeded to choose setup, then R for recovery to attempt to recover the system. System is completely unstable, but was able to savage my important data. will be doing the process again to do a destructive overwrite / clean install of the OS.
Thanks for the help.
George
Majestic
9.4K Posts
0
February 5th, 2006 11:00
matchorno
11 Posts
0
February 5th, 2006 18:00
I was working on a friend's computer and cleaned up some spyware/adware that was on the pc. Well, after that, the internet connection was lost...cable company came and couldn't fix it. We decided to back up some files and do a clean reinstall.
I was kind of hasty...I booted from a win98 cd into DOS, did an fdisk to delete partition, create new partition and then formatted hard disk all from the win98cd. Now I realize all of this wasn't necessary. In doing so, the hard drive wound up being formatted in fat32.
I then proceded to boot from the cd-rom with the win xp service pack 1 disk. I got to the blue screen where it says hit enter to proceed, r to attempt to repair, or quit. At this point the keyboard seems frozen and I can't even hit enter to continue. The keyboard works up until this point, but then always stops responding. I thought maybe bad cd...but tried 2 different xp cds.
After trying this a bunch of times, I decided to try loading win2000 professional instead. Booted from this cd, got to same screen. I could hit enter this time to proceed, but then it gives me an error saying that no hard drives are installed.
Desperate, I tried to install Win Millenium just to see. Booted from this disk, lo and behold...I could install fine. Win Millenium up and running fine. So now I try to install WinXp over top of WinMe. With this, I avoid the original screen where keyboard seemed to freeze. This time it goes for about a half hour, copying files, etc. Almost completely installed, then get a blue stop screen...says has encountered an error...check hard drive for viruses...check to make sure any recently installed hard drives are plugged in and powered on, etc. So I'm starting to think it's not recognizing the hard drive...but then why can I install WinMe o.k.?!?
I ran Dell diagnostics on hard drive and everything checked out o.k.
I thought maybe updating bios might help, which led me to this thread. I tried running bios update from WinMe but it said it must be run from Win2000, WinXp, or pure dos. I tried booting from Win98 boot disk into dos (not from a command prompt window)...swapped the boot floppy with the floppy that contains the bios update. Tried to run bios update and it said it can't run in a protected environment. It says this even when there are no versions of Windows installed. Is it because the bios update is not on the same floppy as the boot disk? I'll try that.
I think the hard drive is still formatted in fat32...but I don't think this should be a problem...although when I tried to install Xp on top of Me, I don't remember it asking me if I wanted to format drive. I'm sure I messed some stuff up by deleting partition and formatting...master boot record gone? It seems like main problem lies with recognizing hard drive...but then why can I install winMe?
I even tried downloading the hard disk drivers from here:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/type.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&SystemID=DIM_P4_9100&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=8615
Then loaded them with the F6 option while installing Windows...still no go.
The computer is a Dell Dimension 9100.
I'm looking at the original configuration using the service tag on Dell's site and the hard drive stats are listed: HARD DRIVE, 160G, Serial ATA, 7.2K, 8M, LEAD FREE, WD-HA
I know this is a long post...but any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Majestic
9.4K Posts
0
February 6th, 2006 12:00
Matchorono, the problem you are encountering is with the RAID - SATA setup on the 9100 model. During the initial installation phase of Windows XP the install will ask if RAID drivers need to be loaded and to press the F6 key to do so. If the RAID drivers are not loaded at this point the installation will not see the hard drive and the program will basically abort at the "hit enter to proceed, r to attempt to repair, or quit" screen. You might want to do a quick review of this other posting by clicking here of similar problems 9100 owners had during the re-install of XP. Once you resolve this issue then partition and format the drive for NTFS during the installation of Windows XP.
As for the BIOS...... once you have the hard drive up and running then worry about updating the BIOS. The BIOS format for your model will run from the hard drive.
Message Edited by Majestic on 02-06-2006 08:49 AM
matchorno
11 Posts
0
February 6th, 2006 13:00