Windows XP Compatibility Issues

This is the Dimension BIOS forum.  The Windows XP forum can be located here

 

Thereaygo, posting your currently installed BIOS version and the size of the new hard drive would have been helpful in addressing your problem.  The XPS T model will only support hard drives up to 137 gigs in size with BIOS version A10 or A11.  If you are using an earlier BIOS version with a hard drive in the 60 to 137 gig range or have installed a hard drive larger than 137 gigs then it might account for the problems you are having.

It is Phoenix Bios 4.0 Release 6.0A.  The new hard drive is 160gb.  Thanks for your help.

 

So, what are the possible solutions.  The obvious, I suppose, is a smaller drive. Other?

As for the BIOS version number it will be the letter A followed by a number such as A09 or A10.  Just go into your BIOS Setup and the currently installed BIOS version will be listed on the top of the page.

 

If you have an empty PCI slot then just install a ATA-100 or ATA-133 controller card.  You should be able to find a Promise ATA Controller card on-line for $20 to $30 (US).  Once the card is installed just go into your BIOS Setup and in the Hard Drive sub-menu under the Boot menu make the Bootable Add-in Card the first device on the list.  The system will then boot to a bootable hard drive connected to the controller card.  

 

A side benefit of using a controller card is better data transfer speeds.  The motherboard controller on the XPS T model is only ATA-33 so the use of a controller card will improve the performance of your new drive.  Also with the hard drive(s) on the controller card you can then split your optical drives between the two motherboard IDE ports.  With each optical drive on it's own port you will again see a performance benefit especially if you frequently burn a CD from another.