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4972
June 11th, 2008 22:00
Trying to install XP
I am trying to install XP Sp2 on an completely new hard drive but after the license agreement it says to chose a drive to install to but all I get is "Unknown Drive" repeated 4 times?!@! I even called Windows but they couldn't help me. The drive is a Seagate 250gb and my computer is a XPS 400.
Ratz
2 Intern
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283 Posts
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June 12th, 2008 04:00
You will have to activate the new drive in Bios.
In the BIOS you have to have the cursor bar on the bay hdd, then hit the spacebar to activate it - read the writing
on the right to be sure. The drive also has to have an active partition. You may have to format it first.
Ratz
emh593
8 Posts
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June 12th, 2008 11:00
Ratz
2 Intern
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283 Posts
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June 12th, 2008 13:00
Fdisk or connect it as a secondary HD in another computer. You could put it in USB enclosure, conect it to working PC and format it.
If the drive is activated your XP CD should give you an option to format it during OS installation.
You can also get a software from Seagate website and format your drive and create a partition first. Read review here"
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131301/show_product_reviews
Other members may come up with a better idea.
Alexandra_P
3 Apprentice
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2.6K Posts
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June 12th, 2008 16:00
The problem with recognizing the drive might be due to the SATA operation settings in BIOS. If RAID is on, XP needs SATA drivers to install. The Dell XP disk is supposed to have them on there already, but yours might not.
If that's the problem, switching the setting to RAID Autodetect/ATA should correct it.
Some of these similar threads might help.
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/search?ticket=Rq0MuTRxzFkg_6110816&q=400+sata+drivers&submitted=true&page=1
Ratz
2 Intern
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283 Posts
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June 12th, 2008 18:00
Thank you for pointing that out Alexandra_P. I totaly forgot about SATA.
Ratz
emh593
8 Posts
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June 14th, 2008 12:00