Cannot boot with new HD and fresh XP install

[evelthui]

Here is my dilemma. I was preparing to perform a fresh windows xp pro
install on my system with a Seagate 160Gb Ulta ATA/100 drive
(st3160023a) i just picked up at Best Buy last night, however i cannot
get the system to recognize the HD as the boot drive. At first I
installed the virgin drive and then booted from the Windows XP install
disc and went through the usual motions of formatting and installing
without incident. However, when i remove the install disc and reboot,
the system gives me a "boot disc error" after successfully posting.
I've tried changing to jumper settings, reformatting with the silly
Segate "Discwizard" software and changing the bios settings for
boot order, but nothing seems to help. The odd thing is, I tried
booting with my old HD using this new HD as a slave, and it recognizes
it just fine- I just can't boot from it! Any ideas/suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

MSI K7N2 Delta nF2
AMD Athlon XP 2100+
2x512 MB PC3200 PNY "Optima Memory" (D512MPC32OPT)
Enermax 350W PS (EG365P-VD)
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB
Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 8, 30GB SATA 133 (6E030l0510613)
Seagate 160GB UltraATA 100 (st3160023a)

 

[Guest]

Put new drive in computer as Pri master ie. jumper settings.
Connect HDD to "first" connector on ribbon cable. don't install other HDD.
Do yuo have SCSI or Raid controller installed?

Setting BIOS to boot first from "HD zero".
Boot up . Does BIOS see HD and is it listed as Primary Master?
Hit "Pause Break" key to stop screen. Hit space bar to release.
See if it boots up to Wn XP.

IF NOT and everything checked is okay, reboot computer and boot from CD.
Reinstall XP using new install or clean install. Do NOT use Repair install.
USE this HD configuration ONLY for this installation!!

Should work!!

 

[evelthui]

Thanks all for the great suggestions, the problem was an actual defect
with the drive. After spending some time with Seagate tech support,
they concluded that I had some bad sectors in the area where the boot
information would be stored. Simply returning it to bestbuy and
installing a new one alleviated all problems. Thanks again!