Need computer help: Computer isn't recognizing harddrive.

[_Spork_1]

ok, so i got my stuff from newegg today, put it all together, went to instal windows, and when it got to the actual installing part, it says " could not find a harddrive on this computer" or something close to that.

My system specs are:
amd 2500+
9800 pro
maxtor 120 gig 7200 rpm ata 133
1 gig of kingston pc3200
lite on dvd-r+
windows xp

now when i connect the harddrive to the motherboard the "ultra ata 133" way it starts installing windows but says it isn't recognized.

if i have the hard drive hooked up with just the ribbon connected to one of the ports, the computer recognizes the harddrive, but wont start installing windows.

i don't know what to do

[krafty]

Did you fdisk the hard drive and create a partition to install windows to?

[impostal22]

scuse me if this is obvious...

you made sure to plug the master part of the ide into the HD, and the mobo side into IDE1, right (if you don't have it set as primary master, you'll have problems)? if you plugged the slave port into the mobo or HD by accident, that would cause problems.

if you did those things, what type of mobo is it? and did you get the right kind of IDE?

is the lite-on dvd recognized? if so, try swapping the IDE with the HD IDE, see if the IDE is defective.

if none of that fixes it, make sure you go into BIOS prior to installing windows and make sure everything is on auto-detect for the hard drive. in the highly unlikely situation where your BIOS doesn't have autodetect, choose the standard CMOS option to detect the hard drive.


again, sorry if these are dumb questions. i can't assume anything if i'm gonna help you.

i'm not sure what you mean by the "ultra ata 133 way..."

ps- i just bought this HD and installed it myself, it's very sweet :)

[_Spork_1]

i found out why it was looping, i didn't buy a floppy disk and it was searching for that first, so it kept looping because it couldn't find it, so i went and put the cd-drive as the first thing to "look for" or whatever.

and the "ata 133 way" was this stupid adapter they gave me that all it did was casuse me a headache, the problem was the floppy drive not the hard drive.

thanks for the help, greatly appreciated.

and yes, this HDD does rock :)

[impostal22]

doh! didn't even think of that..lol.

enjoy your maxtor and its quiet excellence :)