hard drive not found after XP restore

[Heather in California]

After trying to wipe my computer using the provided Gateway restore CD, I got
a blue screen. [I can't recreate it, so I don't know the exact error, but it
had x0007 something - sorry...] Diagnostics on the hardware revealed that
the BIOS is running fine and the hard drive is good. The problem is that the
restore disk did not contain the complete driver information so now the
motherboard cannot find the hard drive. [The hard drive is grayed out in the
BIOS menu.] I can boot from CD no problem. I have been told that a fresh
install of Vista would fix the problem because all of that stuff is
slipstreamed onto the CD, but I am trying to avoid the $250 expenditure. I
can burn to a disk from my sons' computer if only I can figure out how to get
the files onto my machine... Although my OS is old (Windows XP Media Center
Edition), I have a 64-bit Intel Duo Core (Vista-ready) processor and my
computer is otherwise awesome, so I would really like to fix it. At this
point I think I have tried everything imaginable based on calls and chats
with Gateway, Intel, Microsoft, and an authorized tech that repairs computers
for many local businesses in my area (who says this happen often on newer
laptops running older OS). Any professional advice would be most helpful.
Thank you.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

After trying to wipe my computer using the provided Gateway restore CD, I
got
a blue screen. [I can't recreate it, so I don't know the exact error, but
it
had x0007 something - sorry...] Diagnostics on the hardware revealed that
the BIOS is running fine and the hard drive is good. The problem is that
the
restore disk did not contain the complete driver information so now the
motherboard cannot find the hard drive. [The hard drive is grayed out in
the
BIOS menu.]

What do you mean by greyed out?

If the board can't find the hard disk, no OS will be able to, either.

Power down, remove the drive, remove the CMOS battery, clear the CMOS,
reassemble without the drive, restart. Power down again, put the drive
back in. Is this any different?

I can boot from CD no problem. I have been told that a fresh
install of Vista would fix the problem

I rather doubt this, if the *board* is having difficulties finding the
drive.

If the drive is SATA, locate the SATA mode control in the BIOS and shift it
to "legacy" or IDE mode. Save, power down, restart. This mode will not
require drivers. While there is an option to add SATA drivers by pressing
F6 at an early stage of Setup, sometimes this does not work (as on my
Thinkpad laptop). Add the SATA drivers after the install, power off the
system and reboot into BIOS, and then shift back to AHCI or "native" mode.

If the drive is IDE, drivers are not the problem as none are required.

because all of that stuff is
slipstreamed onto the CD, but I am trying to avoid the $250 expenditure.

Especially an entirely pointless one.

HTH
-pk