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Solve : want to format c, not an option on boot disc?

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I have two drives, C and D. I want to format so I can reinstall windows, which is on the C drive. When I boot from the installation cd the only option that even appears is the partition on the D drive. So I formatted D but everything is still on the C drive, and windows boots up as normal. My BIOS shows both drives, but I can't see the C drive when booting from the installation disc, it only shows the now unpartitioned D,...what do I need to do?How I did it.
Do you want Windows on C or D. Which ever drive you want windows installed on should be set to boot first in the BIOS. Also CD ROM should be set to boot before the hard drives, then select 'Enter" when the start-up screen gives the option "Press any Key to boot from CD".
The option to format should come up during installation if the drive is not formatted.
After Windows is installed, you should be able to see both drives in "My Computer" and "Disc Management".
I have CD Rom set to boot before the hard drives. I want windows on C as it has been, but I want to completely format it and reinstall. When I boot from the CD it gives me the option to delete a partition, but only the D drive. So I formatted the D drive, but did not install windows on it. Then it warns me that there is no windows installation on my computer and if I restart I'll have to boot it from the cd and install windows. Of course there is a windows on my computer, on my C drive, and I can start windows as normal without the disc. But with the disc in I can't find a way to format C, it's like the boot disc doesn't even know its there. Did you set C to boot before D in the BIOS then run the installation CD at start-up?YEAH I've got from first to last set to:

onboard or usb cd-rom drive
onboard SATA hard drive (C)
onboard IDE hard drive (D)

it boots from the installation CD, before going into windows. I also tried disabling the D drive in the BIOS, but it's still the only thing recognized when I'm running the installation CD.I guess the IDE controller starts before the SATA. Try unplugging D from the IDE CABLE then reboot in safe mode to install.

EDIT = spellingWell I'm going to have to ask someone else to do that for me, I'm not knowledgeable enough about opening it up. Thanks for your help though! Hopefully I can get it fixed soon.Sorry I couldn't help. One of the Guru's will likely help you out though. Good luck! Quote from: kujen on July 28, 2009, 12:15:59 AM

I have two drives, C and D.
Are C and D both hard drives? If so, what letter is your CD ROM? I ask because D is usually the letter given to the primary optical drive (CD ROM). It sounds to me, as mentioned, that your Drive C is a SATA drive, and your drive D is a IDE drive.

if your trying to reinstall XP, it will NOT see your SATA drives at all; just IDE drives (it was created before SATA).

However, all is not lost. if you notice, during setup XP states at some point "press f6 to load third party or RAID drivers..."

At this point you'll need to have the SATA drivers for your motherboard ready (available from your manufacturer's site). XP should then load the drivers, and POOF! you'll see your C: drive.


Another option you can explore is setting your SATA controller to "compatibility" mode. This will (rumour has it) slightly reduce the speed of your disk accesses, but XP will detect the drive as it would an IDE drive.Quote from: lectrocrew on July 28, 2009, 06:51:29 AM
Are C and D both hard drives? If so, what letter is your CD ROM? I ask because D is usually the letter given to the primary optical drive (CD ROM).

Yeah..originally I had a C drive and a CD drive. Then I had my brother add on a DVD writer and an extra hard drive. I don't think the original CD drive is even enabled anymore, just the DVD writer. I guess that's the way he wired them up, maybe its contributing to this problem.

Quote from: BC_Programmer on July 28, 2009, 07:22:21 AM
It sounds to me, as mentioned, that your Drive C is a SATA drive, and your drive D is a IDE drive.

if your trying to reinstall XP, it will NOT see your SATA drives at all; just IDE drives (it was created before SATA).

However, all is not lost. if you notice, during setup XP states at some point "press f6 to load third party or RAID drivers..."

At this point you'll need to have the SATA drivers for your motherboard ready (available from your manufacturer's site). XP should then load the drivers, and POOF! you'll see your C: drive.


Another option you can explore is setting your SATA controller to "compatibility" mode. This will (rumour has it) slightly reduce the speed of your disk accesses, but XP will detect the drive as it would an IDE drive.

The C drive was the original hard drive that came in my Dell computer. The D drive was a later addition. So I still don't understand why it won't recognize the original drive windows was installed on. I'd like to try your suggestions though...a few questions first. Where do I download the drivers to? And how do I set the SATA controller to compatibility mode? Can I change it back later after I've formatted and reinstalled windows?Quote
The C drive was the original hard drive that came in my Dell computer. The D drive was a later addition. So I still don't understand why it won't recognize the original drive windows was installed on

it cannot recognize the drive if it is SATA, because XP was created before SATA; it doesn't know it exists. It worked before because the drivers were installed.

if you set it to compatibility install windows, and the appropriate SATA drivers (usually part of your chipset drivers), you *might* be able to change the setting back, but I don't know.Quote from: kujen on July 28, 2009, 02:24:21 AM
Yeah I've got from first to last set to:

onboard or usb cd-rom drive
onboard SATA hard drive (C)
onboard IDE hard drive (D)

it boots from the installation CD, before going into windows. I also tried disabling the D drive in the BIOS, but it's still the only thing recognized when I'm running the installation CD.
Disabling drives in BIOS doesn't seem to WORK for me, either.

Quote from: lectrocrew on July 28, 2009, 02:30:36 AM
I guess the IDE controller starts before the SATA. Try unplugging D from the IDE cable then reboot in safe mode to install.

EDIT = spelling
My P4 BIOS sets IDE controllers 1st, SATA are 2nd.

However, there is also a setting in the BIOS called:
Integrated Peripherals---SATA Devices Configuration---On-Chip Serial ATA---Enhanced
PATA and SATA will both be enabled. 6 IDE drives are supported (although 2 are SATA)

Integrated Peripherals---SATA Devices Configuration---PATA IDE Mode---(primary or secondary)

Quote from: BC_Programmer on July 28, 2009, 02:06:20 PM
it cannot recognize the drive if it is SATA, because XP was created before SATA; it doesn't know it exists. It worked before because the drivers were installed.

if you set it to compatibility install windows, and the appropriate SATA drivers (usually part of your chipset drivers), you *might* be able to change the setting back, but I don't know.
If motherboard has SATA ports, no drivers are NECESSARY for any OS to function. BIOS is in control until OS boots.Quote from: Computer_Commando on July 28, 2009, 11:55:46 AM

If motherboard has SATA ports, no drivers are necessary for any OS to function. BIOS is in control until OS boots.


Yes it is. But the windows CD is an OS and it does boot and if it doesn't have the drivers to see the SATA drive, it won't.

This is why there is a compatibility option for the SATA ports in the first place; so that older OS's will find them as IDE drives.


Additionally, without SATA drivers, the OS will not function.(unless SATA has been set to compatibility mode) VISTA has this support built in; and if I disable compatibility mode on my laptop, it works fine. however, neither of my XP installs will boot if I do that (BSOD: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME) since they do not have the Toshiba SATA chipset drivers installed.Would a service pack 3 installation CD have the drivers? I've been using the service pack 1 CD that came with the computer. Otherwise I'm not sure how I can load the drivers because I don't have a floppy drive. I'm still thinking of enabling/disabling the compatibility mode, but I've read elsewhere that disabling it after installation causes a blue screen.



Edit: Ok problem solved. I created a new boot cd with the SATA drivers installed on it. Thanks everyone for your help!


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