Urgent help required: Installing XP

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mdainow

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Hey,

I'd be very grateful if any of you guys could help me out.

I've just built myself a new system (all new parts)

When I go to install XP Pro it gets to the point where it copies the files and reboots. After this it is supposed to reach the GUI with the XP logo.

However for me, it just starts the entire process again and says that an operating system already exists. I have over written the supposed already installed operating system and it just starts over.

I'm only running one Maxtor SATA.



I put in my old IDE hard drive and it got to the point where I could select whether to start XP normally or in safe mode (for some reason) I couldn't use the keyboard and when the time ran out it flashed a blue screen and restarted over.. that process is repeated too.


Thank you very much for any help.
 
I had this issue with an IDE hard drive once ..Does your mobo detect your hard drive? Does it appear in your BIOS?
 
I see no mention of the hard disk in the bios. When going to set the hard drive priority there is only the choice of the bootable card (normal?) From pictures I've seen it isn't.

However when choosing a partition to install XP it recognises the drive size.:confused:

Thanks for trying to help me out
 
What jumpers should I be looking for? I thought SATA doesn't require jumpers for correct operation?

Thanks
 
Most likely you don't have a problem at all! :)
When XP tells you it is rebooting, REMOVE THE XP CD FROM THE DRIVE! This will stop your computer from booting from the CD and instead it will try to boot from the hard drive, which will continue the installation process.
These other posters are overthinking the problem.
 
Thank you very much for your reply.

Edit:

I've tried removing the disc and it just hangs at the "boot from cd" part .. regardless of which device is set first. If I do what I say below I can't get to the windows installation, not even the (now very familiar!) starting set up.

Edit again:

If I have the raids enabled every time I boot up it is trying to detect the arrays (not sure if that would be a problem? or if it would go after I've finished installing XP?)

I'm not sure.

I read somewhere if you weren't using a RAID to disable them in the bios. I've disabled both SATA Primary and Secondary 1 and 2 RAID and now the Hard Drive indeed appears to be shown under IDE Channel 2 Master. However, with these off once it gets to the point where it would decide what to boot from the screen goes blank for a while then informs me of a hard disk configuration problem and should consult manual etc etc.
 
Disable RAID
Install XP
Install your RAID drivers in XP
Reboot & enable RAID
XP should now boot fine
 
I need to make sure I'm disabling the right things, first time using SATA.


I have the following:


IDE/SATA RAID function: Disabled (they are greyed out now)
IDE Primary Master RAID: Disabled
IDE Primary Slave RAID: Disabled
IDE Secondry Master RAID: Disabled
IDE Secondry Slave RAID: Disabled

Serial-ATA 1: Enabled

SATA 1 Primary RAID: Disabled
SATA 1 Secondry RAID: Disabled

Serial-ATA 2: Enabled

SATA 2 Primary RAID: Disabled
SATA 2 Secondry RAID: Disabled


I haven't changed anything else, is there some else that needs setting?


Doing the above gets to the spot where it would select boot device, it does the pool data then the screen goes blank, then after several seconds it flashes up saying the drive is not configured properly.
 
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