Hi, etcsolar.
This has been a common problem ever since I was trying to install Win2K to
boot from my SCSI drive back in the year 2000. :>( Many others have
reported the problem in trying to install Win2K/XP on computers that boot
from something other than a "plain vanilla" IDE drive. The numbers have
declined as more and more "exotic" drivers are built into later versions of
the WinXP CD-ROM, but many HDD/chipset/controller combinations are still not
"native" to the CD. SATA is the latest version of the problem. When you
copied your old HD to your new one, you copied the instructions for how to
boot from IDE, but that doesn't help you boot from SATA.
Did you get a floppy or a CD with that SATA drive (or with your SATA
controller, either on your mobo or on an add-in card)? If not, you'll
probably have to visit the HD maker's website and download the drivers and
put them onto a floppy. Then, with that floppy at hand, boot from the WinXP
CD-ROM and do an "in-place upgrade" as described in this KB article:
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341
Use Method 2 and DO NOT press "R" for Repair the first time it is offered,
in Step 3; press Enter there and then "R" in Step 5. Watch closely as Setup
begins. When the message flashes briefly at the bottom of the screen to
"Press F6 to install drivers for a SCSI or other mass storage controller"
(or similar language), press F6 and wait. Setup will seem not to notice and
will copy all those hundreds of files, then it will stop with instructions
for how to use that floppy to install your SATA drivers.
The WinXP CD-ROM knows how to read and write to your HD, but it can't enable
WinXP to boot from a SATA drive until those drivers have been installed.
The in-place upgrade will completely reinstall WinXP itself, but it will
preserve your installed applications and data - and most of your tweaks.
SP2 might present one additional gotcha. If you've installed SP2 but your
WinXP CD-ROM is pre-SP2, then Setup will refuse to run, complaining that the
version on the CD is older than the version on your hard drive. You'll need
to either (a) remove SP2, do the in-place upgrade, then reinstall SP2; or
(b) get a new WinXP CD-ROM with SP2 integrated; or (c) burn a new CD, with
SP2 "slipstreamed" into your original WinXP.
One final caveat: When doing the in-place upgrade, leave your old HDD
disconnected. If Setup finds your original Active (bootable) partition on
the old drive, it probably will assign the letter C: to it and your new
WinXP System Partition will become G: or X: or some other letter, and the
only way to fix this is to run Setup still again. :>(
In the best case scenario (you've got the SATA drivers on floppy and SP2
integrated into your WinXP CD-ROM), this should take no more than an hour.
In the worst case, you might prefer to do a clean install on your new HD,
reinstall all your applications, then plug in your old HD and copy your data
from it.
RC
