FrankL123 said:
Thanks Anna - seems quite straighforward (just what I want to do)
except....
on your point 5 " Create a partition by right-clicking on the pane that
displays the new
drive (diagonal lines will appear in the pane), and select "New
Partition".
The "New Partition Wizard" dialog box will open. Click Next." ....
the "New Partition" is grayed out, and not accessible!!
Frank:
There can be a variety of reasons for this...
1. The HD may be defective. Unless you're absolutely certain the drive is
non-defective it would be wise to download the diagnostic utility from the
website of the manufacturer of your HD and check it out. The fact that the
drive is brand-new is no guarantee that it's non-defective. Similarly, it's
possible for a defective HD to be listed in My Computer and Device Manager.
2. Assuming the drive is non-defective - ensure that the drive has been
properly configured (jumpered) and securely connected. Re:check the IDE
ribbon cable (I'm assuming this is a PATA HD) to ensure that it's properly
seated on the HD and the motherboard's IDE connector as well as the power
plug connection.
3. The IDE (or SATA) data cable may be defective.
4. Assuming all seems secure and properly configured - shut down the machine
& disconnect the secondary HD and boot only with your system drive
connected. Assuming the boot goes without incident, shut down the machine
and re:connect your secondary HD. Again, make absolutely certain you've
properly jumpered/connected that drive. Access DM again and determine if the
problem has been corrected.
5. If still no-go, move the problem HD to another IDE (or SATA) connector.
For example, if you have it currently connected as Primary Slave, connect it
as a Secondary Master or Slave, whatever is available. Don't forget to
change jumper positions if necessary.
We have come across some rare instances where a non-defective, properly
configured & connected HD for unexplained reasons could not be formatted
within the XP operating system. (At least we couldn't account for the
existence of the problem). In virtually every case that I recall (and
understand this was a rare event to begin with) the problem occurred when we
were attempting to install the XP OS on a "virgin" HD. I'm hard-pressed to
recall (in my own experience) a similar incident involving the same problem
occurring when trying to partition/format a non-defective & properly
configured secondary HD using the Disk Management utility, but I have seen
reports of this.
In the case of the problem we encountered involving the installation of the
XP OS on a new HD, we found that in nearly every case if we re:installed the
OS (sometimes up to three times), it would "catch" and we encountered no
further problems. In the very few instances where even that didn't work, we
finally had to resort partitioning/formatting the drive using the FDISK &
FORMAT commands (from a DOS boot disk, e.g., Win9x/Me Startup floppy disk).
Hopefully, you won't have to do this.
Anna