Computer Repairing Question

DaddyTorgo · 09-11-2008, 09:52 PM

Here's my quandry - wondering if anyone has any thoughts before I just decide it's not worth the time it's taking and take it Best Buy and let the pimple-faces fix it:

So I decided to fix my old laptop instead of buy a new one. Went out and bought a 160gb SATA HD (all HD's in this machine are SATA). Installed it physically in bay 1. Formatted the HD and partitioned it using Western Digital's tools. Went and put in the Windows disc (because I no longer have the recovery partition) and I got a message about Windows not recognizing any HD's attached.

So my question I guess is - is this because the SATA drivers were on the old-HD that is toast now? And if this is the case and I need to reinstall them - to what directory do I copy them after downloading them? I don't have a floppy-drive, so I guess I'm stuck either DLing them to a USB stick or to a CD and burning them off of that.

DaddyTorgo · 09-11-2008, 09:53 PM

dola

and a follow-up, where would i find those? on the BIOS manufacturer's website, or what?

DaddyTorgo · 09-11-2008, 10:01 PM

and a quick google always helps - looks like there are a couple different options

DaddyTorgo · 09-11-2008, 10:11 PM

okay - forget i asked that question - i just disabled native-SATA support and it looks like i can get into windows recovery console (which means the HD's are detected)

new question: can i install windows and then install SATA-drivers afterwards and then go back and enable native-SATA support for my drives? do i even need to do that/will it provide a performance boost? my common sense tells me there's no reason that should not work, just want to be sure.

because if i can do that, then all i need is a new copy of XP and i'm good to go

knolysis · 09-12-2008, 08:01 AM

It is my understanding that you need to install the SATA drivers before installing Windows. You would do this during the initial Windows setup when it says something like "Press F6 to install 3rd party Hard Disk drivers" (before you get to all the partitioning stuff).

In my own experience, I couldn't get the drivers to load off of a memory stick because Windows looks specifically for a floppy drive, which I didn't have. There may be a work around by my Google-fu didn't reveal one.

I don't know about the performance aspects of the drivers but I suspose you would need to install the drivers and enable the support in BIOS to reach the full potential of your disk. I didn't do that and I don't have any complaints about my drive.

DaddyTorgo · 09-12-2008, 08:21 AM

thanks knolysis

as far as a workaround - my google-fu revealed that you have to like slipstream the drivers onto the windows install CD, or otherwise merge them onto it, a real PITA

so what i did instead was disable native-sata support in the BIOS and it picked up the HD's absolutely fine. then once XP is loaded I DL and install the drivers and then go back and re-enable native-sata (if i care)

09-11-2008, 10:11 PM	#4
DaddyTorgo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Massachusetts	okay - forget i asked that question - i just disabled native-SATA support and it looks like i can get into windows recovery console (which means the HD's are detected) new question: can i install windows and then install SATA-drivers afterwards and then go back and enable native-SATA support for my drives? do i even need to do that/will it provide a performance boost? my common sense tells me there's no reason that should not work, just want to be sure. because if i can do that, then all i need is a new copy of XP and i'm good to go Last edited by DaddyTorgo : 09-11-2008 at 10:13 PM.

09-11-2008, 09:53 PM	#2
DaddyTorgo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Massachusetts	dola and a follow-up, where would i find those? on the BIOS manufacturer's website, or what?

09-11-2008, 10:01 PM	#3
DaddyTorgo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Massachusetts	and a quick google always helps - looks like there are a couple different options

09-12-2008, 08:01 AM	#5
knolysis n00b Join Date: Aug 2007	It is my understanding that you need to install the SATA drivers before installing Windows. You would do this during the initial Windows setup when it says something like "Press F6 to install 3rd party Hard Disk drivers" (before you get to all the partitioning stuff). In my own experience, I couldn't get the drivers to load off of a memory stick because Windows looks specifically for a floppy drive, which I didn't have. There may be a work around by my Google-fu didn't reveal one. I don't know about the performance aspects of the drivers but I suspose you would need to install the drivers and enable the support in BIOS to reach the full potential of your disk. I didn't do that and I don't have any complaints about my drive.

09-12-2008, 08:21 AM	#6
DaddyTorgo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Massachusetts	thanks knolysis as far as a workaround - my google-fu revealed that you have to like slipstream the drivers onto the windows install CD, or otherwise merge them onto it, a real PITA so what i did instead was disable native-sata support in the BIOS and it picked up the HD's absolutely fine. then once XP is loaded I DL and install the drivers and then go back and re-enable native-sata (if i care)

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