# "windows XP setup can not find hard drive"



## Dr-DeMo (Aug 14, 2006)

Hey guys an gals, firstly,hello! im new here,and i am also extremely lazy and tired, so i shall start off by just asking my question.i do apologize,but i just can b bothered searching the forums. I bought this laptop a little while ago,and i didnt want to keep xp on,so i installed Kubuntu,but the decided to install vista,as i needed to run some adobe programs....and it all went fine, till vista BSOD'd me,so i put kubuntu back on....got the ****s with it and decided MCE/XP was my better choice.....(y o y didnti just leave it oem???) but when i went to install MCE setup can not find my H/D....***????? y??? if i am running vista once again, so i can type reports up and use the net, on the hard drive i want to install mce on......????i am using windows on a hard drive....but it doesnt exist....???i am freakin out, i want to install a more secure version of windows that can run my programs....somebody please help me...

Thankyou


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

what do you see in disk management


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## Dr-DeMo (Aug 14, 2006)

hey dai,
i have an update.I used the western digital tools i found on the website to erase the disk with zeroes,and i also reset the MBR with zeroes. and tried to install XP and it didnt work. It is a sata or ATA drive, and when i did check it in a diagnostics program this morning BEFORE i wiped it,it was only a logical drive,and not a physical drive...???i have wiped it and the mbr as per manufacturers specs,which by all means should reset it "...to how you bought it"...but i can not install windows....

thanks for your help:grin:


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## Dr-DeMo (Aug 14, 2006)

...and if you didnt guess, it is a western digital, hard drive. 80gb capacity. ATA, in laptop im using now. i am currently using kubuntu live cd to use my computer right now....


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## hwm54112 (Oct 10, 2005)

Hello Dr-DeMo and Welcome to TSF,

Seems you may be very close to resolving your issue if you have a sata drive and did not load the sata drivers. 

You have to tell us what happened when you tried to install windows, the model of the hard drive and the model of the laptop so we can determine if it is a sata drive and if the laptop supports sata 


Bill


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

the partition needs to be primary and made active


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## Dr-DeMo (Aug 14, 2006)

hey bill,and dai... Thankyou for your responses. I have tried to install windows on many occasions, and it does its press "f2 for scsi /raid...and press f6..." thing, then loads drivers...etc....then it comes to the window where it says press r to repair...enter to install windows...blah blah blah....i press enter and the ******* computer has the nerve to say that it can not find any hard drives.....

as for the laptop. its a hp pavillion dv2000 series, model number dv2023tu, the hard drive is a western digital, model number WD800BEVS, capacity 80b. it has a centrino duo t2050 (1.6ghz), i also removed the original ram and put in some faster ram,and another gig aswell,now 2gigs.....

from the wd site i can ascertain that it is a SATA drive.... 
( http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?DriveID=202 )

Performance Specifications
Rotational Speed 5,400 RPM (nominal)
Buffer Size 8 MB
Average Latency 5.50 ms (nominal)

Seek Times
Read Seek Time 12.0 ms
Track-To-Track Seek Time 2.0 ms (average)
Transfer Rates
Buffer To Host (Serial ATA) 1,200 MB/s (Max)
Buffer To Disk 500 Mbits/s (Max)

Physical Specifications
Formatted Capacity 80,026 MB
Capacity 80 GB
Interface SATA 150 MB/s

...and dai...i have repeatedly used a linux recovery cd to change the partition tables, and mbr records...with no luck.....

do i need to load drivers???....id guess it'd be something simple like that......damn it:grin: 

thanks again guys.....youre saving me from pulling my hair out....ive resorted to installing the latest release of kubuntu, which i love and wish would run my adobe apps, as i need to write reports for the hospital which i work at.....

what gets me is,how the hell did i install kubuntu on a HD that doesnt exist!!hahaha,damn microsoft....


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## Dr-DeMo (Aug 14, 2006)

and....from the Hp website

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/au/en/ho/WF06a/1090709-1116637-1116665-1116665-1116665-12435984.html

Internal drives

Internal hard disk drive
80GB

Hard disk controller
EIDE hard drive, SATA

Hard disk drive speed
5400 rpm

Optical drive type
Super Multi Drive Dual Layer DVD±RW/±R

....hope that helps....sorry 4 all the links and stuff.....even wih them i have no idea what im on about....im a psuedo tech-head....the simple things freak me out, but i can breeze through linux...go figure....


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## Dr-DeMo (Aug 14, 2006)

...ok...i just pulled out the Hard Drive and checked the label on it....and i understand the difference between sata and eide...and the label on the drive itself says Serial ata....so all i need is drivers??? hahahahaha....if so,i feel like a total f****ng noob.....i mean i perform surgery on people on a daily basis....and i ant sort out a simple driver problem....hahaha,maybe its time i changed professions!!!....:1angel:


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## hwm54112 (Oct 10, 2005)

Since you have a sata drive you have to load the drivers by pressing f6 and insert your drivers cd or download the /drivers and xp will see the drive.

Told ya you were close:winkgrin: 

Bill


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## cjr056 (Sep 20, 2007)

Turn off native sata in your bios as Xp dos'nt have sata drivers in its OS,press f10 to save and it will find your hdd.

cheers


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## Diestan (Nov 9, 2008)

cjr056 said:


> Turn off native sata in your bios as Xp dos'nt have sata drivers in its OS,press f10 to save and it will find your hdd.
> 
> cheers



Thanks.... I had the same problem!! With the hard drive WD800bevs and only you gave me the solution!!! That´s all. It was easier than other solutions. Thanks again


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