installing a a new un formatted sata drive

[TheShadowPhantom]

hi everyone.

now im intrested in installing my new hitachi 160gig sata hdd as a slave drive but im on windows xp and ive already got a ide hdd installed but my question is would i need to format the sata hdd if i wanted to just use that as a slave and would it be easier just getting a hdd docking station for the sata drive or not as my current hdd is a 80 gig which i use have games and programs installed on and a external usb 500 gig seagate hdd for movies and music but i want to install the new sata as a back up to the ide but nearly ive asked as said it would be easier just installing the sata as the master but i dont want to do that so could any of you help me out please

[KenB]

Hi and welcome to HWPCs

I can understand your reluctance to have the new SATA drive as the primary drive - why fix something that isn't broken ?? Your 80GB drive is, presumably, working OK with no problems?

Does your motherboard support SATA as well as IDE drives ?

What do you mean by "backup to the ide" ?
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[TheShadowPhantom]

ok first of all yes my motherboard supports both ide and sata but windows xp doesnt or atleast not without having to mess around which i cant because my pc came preinstalled with windows xp so i cant reinstall windows to add the floppy drive which i would need to activate the sata hence why i wanted to know if i could use that as a back up to the already installed ide drive because i bought the sata expecting all i had to do was install it and download the driver from the website but i couldnt.

and ive got a second ide drive but when i add that as the slave drive the pc doesnt read either drive hence why i wanted to know if i could use the sata without having to partion it or format it with windows because if not then im left with installing vista and i dont want my pc running as slow as a snail which it will on vista.

but if you have any more questions just ask as i know it sounds confusing

[KenB]

Hi,

When you put the SATA drive in ......

Start > Run ....type in .....diskmgmt.msc ......OK
Is the drive recognised there?

If it is you can try formatting it from there.
Suggest that you use NTFS.
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[TheShadowPhantom]

no its not recognised

[KenB]

Hi,

Is the drive recognised in the BIOS.
When you switch on - usually bottom left of the screen - it will say "Press *** to enter Set Up"
The key is usually DEL / F2
This has to be at the right moment - it may be better to tap the correct key about once per second.

Use the arrow keys to navigate around the BIOS.

Is the drive recognised in the BIOS.

There may be an option to enable SATA to run as IDE.

Suggest that you write down what you have done so that you can go back and change back if necessary.
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[Chaibolna]

Hi guys

I had the same issue with a SATA drive though, and it ended up if it's trying to boot from an unformatted, blank HDD it wont show. some mobos have a a sort of raid driver that you can just install..otherwise you.


Thanks




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