Can't get Windows XP to start on new Computer with SATA HD

G

Guest

I just built my first computer, and it was pretty hastle free (lets just
forget about mounting the Motherboard and the Hard Drive for the sake of
positive thinking) until it came to actually getting it to run.

It will Boot up, go through all the checks, then will tell me the NVIDIA
boot agent is exiting, then it simply sits there, doing nothing.

I've installed Windows XP from the CD, and as far as I understand, it should
now boot and go to opening Windows XP or the first time, but it doesn't.

XP is definatly installed, if I put the CD back in and let the computer
Boot, I get back to Windows Setup, it then tells me that Setup is starting
XP, but instead of XP I get the installation screen again, asking me to
confirm I want to install XP. If I continue through all the options, it does
detect that XP is already installed and asks if I wish to over-write.

I've reinstalled XP three times, this hasn't worked, I've also fiddled with
BIOS settings incase they aren't set up correctly, but as far as I can tell,
all the SATA features are on.

Also, I've tried using the Motherboard's CD to boot, but it tells me "No
Hard Drive Installed".

Incase this helps, RAID is set to "Stripping", the Harddrive is listed as
"Free" in the RAID menu, the Primary IDE slot is empty, and the secondary
Master is a CD/DVD reader/writer. All SATA features are "Enabled" and the
boot order is "HD, CD-ROM, Disabled".

The system is as follows:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+
RAM: 1024MB Dual Channel DDR 400
GPU: XpertVersion GeForce 6600GT 256MB
MB: Gigabyte K8 Triton Series PCI-Express/Dual Channel DDR400 (nForce4
chipset)
HD: Maxtor 160 GB SATA Diamond 10 Series ( model 6L160M0 )
 
D

D.Currie

First, it's impossible to have raid striping unless you have at least two
drives; actually any raid requires more than one drive. So that's the first
issue.

Next, when XP was installing and it said "press f6..." did you do that and
then load the drivers for the SATA?

Next, in the boot order, often there are different ways of listing the ATA
hard drives (which you don't have) and the drives connected to SATA. Make
sure that your SATA is actually listed in the boot order.

Last, in the boot order sometimes you choose not only the device to boot
from, but which specific device. So my boot order lists a hard drive, but
then I can go into that and choose which hard drive I'm booting from. Your
motherboard may not have this feature, or it may work a different way; they
aren't all the same.
 
G

Guest

I've resolved this issue now by getting an IDE hard drive instead, and the
computer is now up and running.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top