SATA drive has no letter assigned, and I can't assign one

[MMJII]

Hello All,
I have a dell Dimemnsio 5150 with SATA hd that norton trashed. I order to
get the data off of it, I put an IDE drive in the box, installed a parallel
ver of win xp, but the SATA drive is not under my computer. In computer
management, disk mangement the SATA drive is disk 1 NTFS partition, but has
no drive letter, an the only option available is delete partiton. Any ideas
why I cant get a drive letter assigned to the SATA drive so I can get the
data off.
Thanks for any ideas
MMJII

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

You put the SATA drivers on a floppy, and run a setup of XP. The Dos screen
copying files has a prompt at the bottom to "Press F6 for RAID" that will
load the sata from the floppy.

 

[MMJII]

Thanks I will try it.

You put the SATA drivers on a floppy, and run a setup of XP. The Dos screen
copying files has a prompt at the bottom to "Press F6 for RAID" that will
load the sata from the floppy.

 

[MMJII]

OH SH??
this box has no floppy is there another way!?

 

[Anna]

OH SH??
this box has no floppy is there another way!?

MMJII:
I'm not convinced that you need to install an auxiliary SATA HDD controller
driver in connection with the problem you're experiencing...

I'm assuming the SATA HDD is the same HDD that was installed in your Dell PC
when you got the machine. Is that right? And that there was no problem with
that drive until that !^%?##!! "norton" product "trashed" it. Is that right?

Assuming it is, I'm not clear on why you had to install another HDD because
"norton trashed (it)". But we'll let that go for the moment. What's done is
done.

Anyway, I'm further assuming that SATA HDD is non-defective, regardless of
the "trashing" it took at the hands of some Symantec Norton product.

Might you consider to install the XP OS back onto the SATA HDD at this point
and allow that drive to be your boot drive? I'm assuming the drive is still
connected to the motherboard's SATA connector as it was originally and that
you haven't changed anything with respect to that connection. Is that right?

It seems to me you would be better off by having that SATA HDD as your boot
drive and use your PATA HDD as a secondary HDD. Again, I'm assuming the SATA
HDD is non-defective mechanically/electronically.

If you go that route, temporarily disconnect the PATA HDD after installing
the OS onto the SATA HDD and boot *only* with the SATA HDD connected.

Assuming all goes well you can later reconnect your PATA HDD and when you
boot with both drives connected, access the BIOS and ensure that the SATA
HDD is first in boot priority (before the PATA HDD).

Now, if the above configuration is not practical for some reason, i.e.,
establishing your SATA HDD as your boot HDD, or you just don't want to go
that route - well, we can go the other way if that's what you *really* want.
But first reflect on what I suggested and then come back if you want.
Anna

 

[MMJII]

Anna
Thanks for your time.
You are correct on all counts.
I was using the ide drive just to get my data off of the drive, because the
restore cd is going to wipe every thing out. If i use this win xp pro cd I
do not get an option to repair the install on the sata drive, just the
option to install, and it wants to wipe out my win xp partition thaqt is on
the drive presently (where my data is).
Is there a way to install xp on the sata drive & keep my data?
Thanks

 

[Anna]

Anna
Thanks for your time.
You are correct on all counts.
I was using the ide drive just to get my data off of the drive, because
the
restore cd is going to wipe every thing out. If i use this win xp pro cd I
do not get an option to repair the install on the sata drive, just the
option to install, and it wants to wipe out my win xp partition thaqt is
on
the drive presently (where my data is).
Is there a way to install xp on the sata drive & keep my data?
Thanks

MMJII:
It could be a problem. I was assuming you were using the "full" Dell XP
installation CD and could use that media to install the XP OS onto the SATA
HDD, including whatever drivers were provided by Dell for your machine. I
take it from what you've now indicated that the XP installation CD you're
using is not the Dell one. Did Dell provide the motherboard drivers on
another CD that you have? Since you apparently were able to successfully
install the XP OS onto your PATA HDD, I assume you had a Dell CD containing
the necessary motherboard drivers, yes?

Obviously if you perform a fresh install of the XP OS onto your SATA HDD
using your XP Pro installation CD (I'm assuming that's a retail or
non-branded XP installation CD?) that would wipe out all your data on that
HDD.

I wonder if there's any chance you could contact Dell for a "full" XP
installation CD for your machine so that you could use that media to run a
Repair install on the SATA HDD and thus preserve your data on that drive.

Other than that - you do have a working machine at hand, right? Your
installed PATA HDD boots without problems and is functional, right? So in
view of the above complications, perhaps the most expedient course at this
point is to get your SATA HDD functional as a secondary HDD.

I'm assuming your SATA HDD is non-defective. Are you convinced of that?
Think it might be wise to download the HDD diagnostic utility from the
manuf. of the disk and check it out?

We'll assume (at least for the moment) that the drive if non-defective. So
let's try this...

1. Disconnect the SATA HDD from the system and boot only with your PATA HDD
connected. Again, we're assuming it boots without incident and functions
without any problems. Again, I'm assuming that you've installed all the Dell
motherboard drivers for your Dimension PC.

2. After shutting down the machine install the SATA HDD and boot with both
HDDs connected. I'm assuming you will have connected the SATA HDD to the
appropriate SATA connector on the motherboard. Access your BIOS during the
boot to determine that the PATA HDD is first in the HDD boot priority.

3. Hopefully the SATA HDD will be recognized by the system and you can
access its contents. If still no drive letter assignment access Disk
Management again and see if you can assign one.
Anna

 

[MMJII]

Anna,
I will give your suggestions a try.
Thanks

MMJII:
It could be a problem. I was assuming you were using the "full" Dell XP
installation CD and could use that media to install the XP OS onto the SATA
HDD, including whatever drivers were provided by Dell for your machine. I
take it from what you've now indicated that the XP installation CD you're
using is not the Dell one. Did Dell provide the motherboard drivers on
another CD that you have? Since you apparently were able to successfully
install the XP OS onto your PATA HDD, I assume you had a Dell CD containing
the necessary motherboard drivers, yes?

Obviously if you perform a fresh install of the XP OS onto your SATA HDD
using your XP Pro installation CD (I'm assuming that's a retail or
non-branded XP installation CD?) that would wipe out all your data on that
HDD.

I wonder if there's any chance you could contact Dell for a "full" XP
installation CD for your machine so that you could use that media to run a
Repair install on the SATA HDD and thus preserve your data on that drive.

Other than that - you do have a working machine at hand, right? Your
installed PATA HDD boots without problems and is functional, right? So in
view of the above complications, perhaps the most expedient course at this
point is to get your SATA HDD functional as a secondary HDD.

I'm assuming your SATA HDD is non-defective. Are you convinced of that?
Think it might be wise to download the HDD diagnostic utility from the
manuf. of the disk and check it out?

We'll assume (at least for the moment) that the drive if non-defective. So
let's try this...

1. Disconnect the SATA HDD from the system and boot only with your PATA HDD
connected. Again, we're assuming it boots without incident and functions
without any problems. Again, I'm assuming that you've installed all the Dell
motherboard drivers for your Dimension PC.

2. After shutting down the machine install the SATA HDD and boot with both
HDDs connected. I'm assuming you will have connected the SATA HDD to the
appropriate SATA connector on the motherboard. Access your BIOS during the
boot to determine that the PATA HDD is first in the HDD boot priority.

3. Hopefully the SATA HDD will be recognized by the system and you can
access its contents. If still no drive letter assignment access Disk
Management again and see if you can assign one.
Anna

 

[Rupe]

MMJII:
It could be a problem. I was assuming you were using the "full" Dell XP
installation CD and could use that media to install the XP OS onto the
SATA HDD, including whatever drivers were provided by Dell for your
machine. I take it from what you've now indicated that the XP installation
CD you're using is not the Dell one. Did Dell provide the motherboard
drivers on another CD that you have? Since you apparently were able to
successfully install the XP OS onto your PATA HDD, I assume you had a Dell
CD containing the necessary motherboard drivers, yes?

Obviously if you perform a fresh install of the XP OS onto your SATA HDD
using your XP Pro installation CD (I'm assuming that's a retail or
non-branded XP installation CD?) that would wipe out all your data on that
HDD.

I wonder if there's any chance you could contact Dell for a "full" XP
installation CD for your machine so that you could use that media to run a
Repair install on the SATA HDD and thus preserve your data on that drive.

Other than that - you do have a working machine at hand, right? Your
installed PATA HDD boots without problems and is functional, right? So in
view of the above complications, perhaps the most expedient course at this
point is to get your SATA HDD functional as a secondary HDD.

I'm assuming your SATA HDD is non-defective. Are you convinced of that?
Think it might be wise to download the HDD diagnostic utility from the
manuf. of the disk and check it out?

We'll assume (at least for the moment) that the drive if non-defective. So
let's try this...

1. Disconnect the SATA HDD from the system and boot only with your PATA
HDD connected. Again, we're assuming it boots without incident and
functions without any problems. Again, I'm assuming that you've installed
all the Dell motherboard drivers for your Dimension PC.

2. After shutting down the machine install the SATA HDD and boot with both
HDDs connected. I'm assuming you will have connected the SATA HDD to the
appropriate SATA connector on the motherboard. Access your BIOS during the
boot to determine that the PATA HDD is first in the HDD boot priority.

3. Hopefully the SATA HDD will be recognized by the system and you can
access its contents. If still no drive letter assignment access Disk
Management again and see if you can assign one.
Anna

Dell don't supply an installation cd to restore to factory condition but do
provide separate cd's for the OS, drivers & other installed software. They
usually include a restoration program on a hidden partition on the HDD which
the OP may not be able, now, to access