120GB Hard Drive, Need New BIOS

[NIS240SHU]

Hey guys, I'm Junior and I'm new here.

I have a Compaq Deskpro EP running a Pentium III 450MHz processor and 320MB RAM along with Win XP Pro.

I recently ran out of hard drive space as I only had 6GB. I found and purchased a WD 120GB unit at Best Buy but I'm having trouble with installation.

I used the Data Lifeguard tools program that came with the drive to copy the boot files along with the rest of the information on the 6GB drive. When I then install the drive as a master, it won't boot; it stays stuck right after the Compaq splash screen.

I'm not sure what to do next. Is there a readily-available BIOS upgrade so the motherboard recognizes the drive and size of it? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[stan-the-man]

With this older system you will have to format it and install Windows on it,where you get to select "large hd support" or something like that.Your present OS does not support this HD.

 

[NIS240SHU]

Are you sure about that? I have Windows XP Pro on here now.

At one point it saw the drive and 111GB worth of space, so I'm pretty sure the OS isn't the problem.

Thanks for the reply! Keep 'em coming!

Junior

 

[NIS240SHU]

I just found this BIOS upgrade here. It has the support for hard drives with greater than 32GB capacity.

 

[stan-the-man]

ok

Are you sure about that? I have Windows XP Pro on here now.

At one point it saw the drive and 111GB worth of space, so I'm pretty sure the OS isn't the problem.

Thanks for the reply! Keep 'em coming!

Junior

Which drive is XP on? If it's on a 6gb that will get used up quick.I suggest you install XP on the new 120 hd and use the old one for saveing. XP has improved in that area.But what does this mean ?
Quote:
I recently ran out of hard drive space as I only had 6GB. I found and purchased a WD 120GB unit at Best Buy but I'm having trouble with installation.
Quote later
At one point it saw the drive and 111GB worth of space, so I'm pretty sure the OS isn't the problem.
:beard:

 

[preet2u]

stan- don't misguide someone if u don't have the right solution .. please ...

The OS is never the problem in this case .. It would be the mobo n' the bios which would be the issue .

NIS240SHU .. . Does ur mobo recognise the drive properly now??

 

[NIS240SHU]

Thanks for the response, preet2u.

I haven't installed the BIOS that I posted because my friend told me it's specific to the motherboard, not the chipset. From what I gather, it's a Compaq board and Intel 440BX chipset. The part number on the mobo is 010233-101. I'm not sure what BIOS or firmware upgrade I'm supposed to use (I'm new to BIOS and all that stuff).

When I installed the new drive as a slave, the computer prompted me to press F1 to save the changes, but it didn't recognize close to the 120GB of the new drive. Once I pressed F1 and Win XP Pro started, My Computer indicated that the F drive contained 111GB, which seemed close enough to me. I used the Data Lifeguard Tools program that came with the drive to transfer all the data, swapped drive positions, then attempted to boot; no luck.

I really hope this isn't just an expensive paperweight.

 

[preet2u]

Hmmm .... Okay .. Dude ur system is recognising the drive without any problem .. The drive u saw as 111GB is ur new 120Gb drive ..

Why the differance in size ?? .. check this link out

Now to ur other problem why the system is not booting up .. That's 'coz u tried moving the OS on to another harddrive .. the drive doesn't have an MBR ..so it just wont boot

U should reinstall the OS on the new drive
Another option would be to continue using ur old 6Gb to have the OS n' use the 120Gb for storage

Personally i think it's better off that u reinstall the OS on the 120Gb since it's the faster drive.

 

[NIS240SHU]

Thanks for the link!

I was about to take your advice on the OS re-installation but this message from the Data Lifeguard Tools program stopped me:

The drive will be set up with the following 1 partitions.
Partition 1: Type NTFS, Size 33.8 GB

This brings me back to the BIOS upgrade I found on ASUS's site that states:

Support IDE hard disk larger than 32G bytes.

So do I keep looking for a BIOS upgrade from Compaq that will fix this issue?

Thanks for all the help so far!

 

[stan-the-man]

You have to do a complete new installation,on your new hd.
Do you have a Windows CD ?
When you format this 120 you should be asked this though maybe XP dropped it,your 6 mb is just a memory or a place to save things.
This is not a bios problem as i see it.