7 replies to this topic

[Incognito]

Hello everyone, I go to this site alot to look at the news and stuff but this is the first time I'm actually posting something on the forum.

So... I'm trying to reformat windows xp. I did everything I need to do beforehand (back up files, set BIOS so it boots from CD, etc.) I get to the "Windows setup" screen where it's loading stuff. When It says "Setup is starting windows" or something similar, the screen glitches up. It's like different parts of the screen are all mixed up, but I can make out a message: "Please check if your hard drive is connected" and "You may need to run your manufacturer's diagnostics program". I can see my drive is connected, and I've tried running the diagnostics program, but the program even tells me the cable isn't connected!

I'm not really sure what to do anymore and I hope someone here can help. Thanks in advance.

[z2z007]

I recommend upgrading your BIOS. Your BIOS could be outdated.

[Frightcrawler]

How old is your cd-rom and hard drive?

[Retina]

...If it's the same BIOS he's been using for a while, re-installing windows isn't going to make anything not recognize the cable.

Is it possible that your hard drive's IDE cable is broken? ...Or the power cable, for that matter?

[USuMBS]

If everything was working before, why would an attempt to reformat cause something to break? Strange. Check the cables anyways. See if you can get a new set for your hard drive, etc.

[Incognito]

Well, I opened up my computer again and it LOOKS like the cable's fine. The power cable is functional too.

I do have a SATA hard drive though. Could it be possible I need to load some new drivers with F6 before installation continues? I don't have a floppy drive though, I don't know how I'm gonna do that :-/

And my cd-rom & hard drive are roughly a year old, each.

[Marshalrusty]

This has nothing to do with cables, CD-ROM drives, or hardware for that matter!

If you gave me your specs, I could help you out more. Your HD seems to need external drivers. This will be easily explained if you are on a RAID system. What WinXP CD are you usiing? Try to get a more recent one. The one with SP2 has been updated quite a bit and has some driver support that the previous didn't. I'm on a RAID 0 setup and still have to load drivers, but from the post above that said "you've had this for a while", I gather your system is not too current.

You should however try and update your BIOS as stated above. This may not solve this particular problem, but if you've never done it, you should. Tell me your specs (particularly HD) and I'll tell you more.

[Alpha2005]

Theres a flawless way of doing this.

Get the ms boot disk maker for windows xp...create 6 boot floppys.

Load up disk one on boot and go from there. It will promt for a cd...so insert it when its ready.