Recovering from ASUS Tech Support

[Jim H.]

ASUS replaced my broken Mobo under warranty but didn't give me any info on
how to properly integrate the new board.
So, I put it back in my case and turned her on.
The new mobo (identical model) booted up fine on my SATA HDD but the
Ethernet connection wouldn't work. I called ASUS Tech Support.
The pimpley-faced sounding ASUS tech couldn't get my Ethernet connection to
work so he had me reset my CMOS and told me to call him back if that didn't
work.
Fool that I am, I reset my CMOS.
Now, I can't boot up at all and even when I try to boot using my XP Pro
CD-ROM, I can't do an XP Setup because it can't see my SATA HDD.
How do I get my machine to recognize my SATA HDD?
I do not, repeat, DO NOT want to go back to ASUS Tech Support.

 

[Dustin Harper]

Put in the CD from your motherboard setup (or download the SATA drivers).
When the XP CD starts, you should see a message on the bottom of the screen
that says "Press F6 to install SATA or SCSI drivers". Do that. And it will
prompt you to put the driver disk in when it needs them. That should allow
XP to see your SATA drives.

 

[R. McCarty]

The inability to boot is likely because the SATA controller reset
back to a operation mode of AHCI. Windows XP has no native
support for AHCI. Enter BIOS setup and change the mode to
Legacy. There are other settings that will revert that may not be
to your liking ( Parallel Port, Wireless ) so you probably need to
review other settings as well.

Phone tech support is basically inept. Support calls are expensive
so companies use the lowest cost providers they can find. It's a
unfortunate thing but part of the problem is that a computer is now
used by virtually everyone and there is a lack of knowledge on
how to deal with issues. My advice when calling tech support is:
1.) Speak Slowly
2.) Drop at least 35 points off your IQ
3.) Aspirins or Alcohol may help
4.) Try to go at least 6 minutes before using the 1st cuss word.