What's new
By:
Guest viewing is limited

installing windows xp on sata

L

Lexyluv

Establishing Talker
PF Member
Messages
46
Highlights
0
Reaction score
0
Points
42
Peak Coin
0.000000¢
DB Transfer
0.000000¢
well i have a brand new hd and its sata im trying to install windows xp but its not seeing it.I dont have a floppy on this computer so how would i acomplish this.
 
You need to hit F6 when prompted during the Windows install, and provide the drivers when told to do so.

You will either need a floppy drive or a USB thumbdrive, as the only place the install will look is on the A: drive. If you don't have an A: drive, you're SOL.
 
ok so now i found the drivers and whatever but they all wont fit on a floppy cause its two folders and some extra files so which do i actually need to install windows xp pleeease help me.My motherboard is asus a7n8x-e deluxe
thats where i got the drivers i downloaded the sata drivers i believe let me know please.
 
The files you will need are in a folder with a file called oemsetup.txt. You will need the entire folder.

Again, you need to put them on a floppy or a usb drive that will get assigned the drive letter A:.
 
mine has a main folder and in that folder there is a folder called GUI thats all java stuff than theres a lunux folder i dont need that than in the main folder there is a txtsetup.oem but when i tried it in my new comp it said there was a probblem on the line of something or other.could you contact me on aim or something babydoll4evr604 pleeease thanx hun
 
hey well i figured it all out thanx for all the help im formatting right now woo im excited my first computer built it all by myself with some help from you of course :).
 
BTW, if Windows doesn't see the full hard disk size, get a SP2 patched version of Windows XP. (but then you have to reformat and reinstall Windows)
 
if i reinstall windows with the new sp2 patched xp disk it wont get rid of my files will it ? just my windows files usually.
 
Lexyluv said:
if i reinstall windows with the new sp2 patched xp disk it wont get rid of my files will it ? just my windows files usually.
Click to expand...

When you reformat your hard drive, all files are lost, unless you've made a backup copy (like on CD-R's or DVD-R's).

Formatting a hard drive erases it and creates the basic organizational data structures for storing files.

If the hard disk size (in this case, as recognized by Windows) changes, a reformat is necessary because the way changes how Windows interprets the drive's "coordinates" for data blocks. However, you get to use the full size of the hard drive.

I'm using Linux, and it uses only 128 GB of my 160 GB drive. Windows XP without SP2 uses a little more, and Windows XP with SP2 uses the whole 160 GB.

Before you reformat your hard drive (which can be done during XP installation), make sure you've made a backup copy on CD-R or DVD-R of all your data. After the drive is reformatted and XP is installed, you simply have to copy the data back from CD-R or DVD-R to where it was. However, all applications that you were using have to be reinstalled because you can't make a backup copy of these (the settings in the Windows registry are usually lost).
 
I have put my old hd in the comp so i could trasnfer stuff over to that than just format the main one :).I have tried to format with windows it never works it just reinstalls windows files but leaves everything else.I have a 160 gig hd but on start up it says 152 something makes no sense.Also in my computer it says 140 lol so i dunno.How should i format it properly.
 
Strange, I thought there was an option during installation somewhere to format the drive before installation. Try choosing "new installation". Perhaps it would be better to delete the partition table before installing XP, using the computer maintenance program in XP, or FDISK from DOS (if you have a DOS disk) or the Linux partition manager (if you create bootable Linux floppies; there's a tool set called "part", but I don't remember where I got it from). Perhaps your BIOS also offers an option to format or erase your hard disk. But if I remember correctly, it's possible to erase the partition table from within the XP installation program.

EDIT: Ah, I know now how you can easily make the Windows installer not recognize that the hard drive is formatted: simply change the BIOS setting for the drive to one of CHS, LBA or Large, and use a different setting than before. Change it to something that most resembles your hard drive's size. On some BIOSes you can also enter the disk geometry values that are often printed on the hard drive's label (cylinders/heads/sectors). What's important is that the BIOS displays the hard disk size correctly.

But 152 GB out of 160 is not bad. You might as well leave it like it is. :)
 
i just reformatted and my bios still only say 152 out of 160 why is that but when i look in windows it actually shows 152 but the hd is 160 so why wont it show the whole thing.when i look into system stuff it shows the thing is 160 i just dont know why it doesnt show it when i look in my computer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top