Help - What did I do wrong??

[Jim]

Need some technical advice - what went wrong?



I'll try to keep this as simple as possible.



What I did was unplugged my Windows XP hard drive, replaced it with a new HD
and installed Windows Server.



I ran the program several times and then moved the drive to another
computer. Ran the Server program several times and then moved the drive back
to the original computer.



Ran the Server program several times. At this point I removed the Windows
Server HD and replaced it with my Windows XP hard drive.



This is where the trouble began - the boot process keeps telling me to
insert a CD. I then looked at the bios setup and it appears that it no
longer detects my Windows HD.



I suspect something got messed up in the CMOS on the motherboard and I don't
know how to correct it. Perhaps it got some hardware information from the
second computer.



I finally decided to inset my Acronis True Image recovery disk and attempt
to restore the image file. Much to my surprise, Windows XP loaded and ran
properly (never did the recovery).



I thought the problem was solved but I soon discovered that I must have the
Acronis disk inserted or system will not boot.



Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.



Jim

 

[Unknown]

Check your boot device sequence in BIOS.

 

[Jim]

Update:

I removed the Acronis True Image CD, shutdown, re-booted and now everything
"appears" work. I boot into Windows XP Pro.

However, the bios does not appear to be correct.
IDE primary master is my DVD drive
IDE primary slave is blank
IDE secondary master is blank
IDE secondary slave is blank
IDE third master is a small HD I use for data
IDE third slave is blank

Perhaps it doesn't show because my Windows HD is a seta drive???

Jim

 

[Unknown]

Doesn't look correct to me either. Primary should be C.

 

[Vic Baron]

Check the cables very carefully - could be loose or switched.

 

[smlunatick]

Update:

I removed the Acronis True Image CD, shutdown, re-booted and now everything
"appears" work. I boot into Windows XP Pro.

However, the bios does not appear to be correct.
IDE primary master is my DVD drive
IDE primary slave is blank
IDE secondary master is blank
IDE secondary slave is blank
IDE third master is a small HD I use for data
IDE third slave is blank

Perhaps it doesn't show because my Windows HD is a seta drive???

Jim






- Show quoted text -

It looks like you have a motherboard that has both IDE (40 pins) and
SATA (not seta) ports. You hard drive is connected to the SATA port
and it may not list in the IDE section. Check the BIOS so as to see
how the motherboard uses the SATA ports (some motherboard can list out
the SATA ports as IDE is the SATA is told to use "IDE emulation'.)

 

[Jim]

Yes smlunatick you are correct, the motherboard supports both IDE & SATA and
my main HD is on the SATA port.
I seem to recall that this drive was listed in the IDE section but I could
be wrong.

I will check my MB manual (as soon as I find it) to see what is says. In the
meantime, everything is now working fine.

Thank you

Jim