Basic Win2K Installation Problem

[Beyond X]

I have installed Win2K on harddrives a number of times without problems.
This time I encounter a frustrating problem that I kave no idea about
what is causing. Can someone tell?

I got a new 1 TB drive (a Seagate SATA) and using another computer I
partitioned it into 50 GB for system and the rest for sorage. The two
partitions were formatted for NTFS file system.
With Win2K Pro SP4 CD in the CD drive I started installation. After
files were copied, the screen showed two partitions:
C: Unformatted or damaged 47682 MB
-- Unformatted or damaged 906187 MB

Because the partitions were already formatted, I wondered why Windows
sees it differently, but I selected C: and continued for reformatting.

After formatting was completed, it started to copying files onto the
partition. Up to this stage things were normal as I have seen in
previous installation. What happened next is the problem.

Normally the next step is automatic reboot and newly loaded Windows
starts for additional setting-up. In this case, however, it went back to
CD and started the whole thing anew. The computer did not even show "hit
any key" for switching CD. Just for a chance I removed CD and restarted
the computer hoping that the disk had been loaded with the basic system.
No luck.
Next I tried to repair the upposed-to-be-already-loaded system by
selecting R option, but the screen showed : cannot find any Windows
installation".
Next I re-tried installation as if it was for the first time. When it
came to select partition, I gasped seeing four partitions with various
sizes. How were they created? Without choice I created a 50 GB partition
and reformatted it as it asked and went ahead. The result was same.

Finally I suspected that the disk itself got some defect in the area
where boot system such as MBA. So I tested the disk by choosing Recovery
Console and CHKDSK /p /r. The result showed several sectors had been
repaired. Then I used Seaagate Disk Wizard for formatting and
partitioning. With this supposed-to-be ready disk I started the Windows
installation. The result was same, that is, it deviated into the initial
file copying from CD following the first reboot step.

I repeated those things and I am nowhere to go.

Is it possible that the disk is natively defective in the first sector
which is to be used for boot system that cannot be detected by Windows?
Any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated.
So I chose to repeat the whole installatioattempted to

 

[Beyond X]

I thought about it. Actually if you hit F6, Windows will ask you to
insert diskette into A:. Any way, my motherboard installation disk is a
CD, so there is no way to provide the drivers from A:. Besides I
understand that F6 method is needd when a new SATA drive is not
recognized such as when a SATA drive is connected via an added SATA
controller card on the mobo. I believe my ASUS mobo integrates a SATA
controller. In my case the drive is in fact recognized, can be
partitioned and formatted even onto which files are copied. As a matter
of fact I have installed Win2K and WinXP on other SATA disks (500 GB, 1
TB, 1.5 TB) without F6 or any other complication. Am I still missing
something important?

 

[John John - MVP]

You need to use the F6 method to supply the SATA controller drivers
(Mass Storage Drivers) to the Windows 2000 setup program, or you can go
in the BIOS and see if you can set the drive to IDE mode.

John

 

[John John - MVP]

Windows 2000 will not cannot be installed on SATA controllers without
the drivers, there are no SATA drivers on the Windows 2000 CD. You
*must* use the F6 method and you *must* supply the drivers on a floppy
diskette, the setup program will not accept the drivers from any other
media source. You can copy the drivers from the mobo cd to a floppy.
The only other way around this would be to force the drive into IDE mode
in the BIOS or to slipstream the SATA drivers into the Windows 2000 CD.

John

 

[Dave Patrick]

Probably the files named oemsetup.inf, txtsetup.oem, and the *.sys file for
your controller


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect