When installing WinXP Pro I get this message: "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer. Make sure any hard drive disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program. Set up cannot continue. To quit setup, press F3" I have run the recovery CD that came with the PC, original WinXP Pro CD, have tried a different HD, have installed the HD in another PC and is working fine, I formatted the HD (NTFS) and still same error. I was looking for the drivers for it this is an Western Digital (WDC WD800JB-OOCRA1). The funny thing about this is that I was able to make a backup of some files in the drive using the backup utility from Microsoft using a different pc. Then I formatted the drive and place it back in the original pc, but got the same error message anyways. I think this might be a motherboard issue. I tried contacting Alienware, but I have gotten no response. I wanted to ask: Is it possible to install Windows if I connect the drive to another pc and then connect it back to the original pc? Will it boot? Not sure if you understand. Can I use the bad HD drive in a good pc, install Windows and then put it back in original pc? thanks
Welcome to HWF! This problem occurs when you have an SATA harddisk. What is the brand of the pc/motherboard? You should get a raid floppy disk creation utility from the manufacturer to create a driver floppy. Then during the setup of xp, you should press F6 when setup asks for it. Now the drivers on the floppy disk shall be installed.
is the HDD detected by the BIOS the recovery CD probably won't restore a system if you have changed the HDD you don't use drivers for a HDD possible, is your HDD detected by the BIOS no, not without reinstalling the OS Edit: where are they ?[ot]i mean no offence[/ot]
