New Computer Woes... (Please Help)

[Keebler Elf]

This is my Nightmare Before Christmas...

I have two hard drives, each 250 GB. My "old" one (it's actually newer than the new one I've just installed) is a SATA II hard drive. I had installed WinXP on my SATA II and was running off it just fine. All my important data is on it. I have a SiI 3x12 SATAlink controller card that enables me to use the SATA II drive with my motherboard.

I just bought a "new" Hitachi 250 GB hard drive (made in 2003). It's just a plain 'ol IDE. I installed WinXP on this new drive as well, as I've found having Windows on all my hard drives has been helpful in the past (when you want to switch one out for whatever reason). I updated WinXP with all the patches and it works fine (I'm running off it right now). My original problem was that Windows didn't seem to recognize the 250 GB size of the drive; it only recognized about 130 GB. I've had this problem before a long time ago and I realize it's a common problem.

To resolve the problem, I tried a number of things. I went to Hitachi's site and it suggested updating my BIOS. I tried that but I'm not sure if it worked or not (I did the flash thing and it would say "installation successful. Rebooting." and would then hang forever. So I would manually reboot). I don't know what my original BIOS was but I'm now running off version 4.2.12.

The other fix was to install SP2, but I'd already done that. In frustration, I said "fuck it", unplugged the new drive, replugged my old drive and intended to just go back to using my old drive like before.

That's when I got royally fucked. My old drive was the only drive hooked up. When I rebooted, the Windows flash screen comes up but it progresses at a snail's pace and after about 5-10 minutes the computer reboots and I get a black screen saying Windows failed to shut down properly and needs to reboot. The same thing continues to happen over and over again. It never gets beyond the flash screen.

My only guess is that the BIOS changed and now it's fucked with my old hard drive? My old drive was unplugged the whole time so I couldn't have fucked it up.

(con't...)

 

[Keebler Elf]

So my next workaround was to hook both drives up, run Windows off the new one, and just take my data off the old one. But here's the catch, my new drive doesn't detect at all on Windows. Maybe b/c the old drive is SATA II? So now I can't even get at my old data.

The instructions that came with the controller card that allows me to use the SATA II with my motherboard only provide instructions for a fresh install of WinXP on that drive. Obviously, I can't do that since all my data is on the drive. I don't think my old drive is fucked; I think something in my BIOS or motherboard is screwing things up.

As you can see, I'm feeling really fucked up right now. I've spent the last 4 hours trying to fix it and now I'm at a loss. I don't care about WinXP recognizing the full 250 GB on my new drive anymore. All I want is to be able to use my old drive again, or at least access what's on it.

If anyone can help, please, I sure could use it.

 

[Gentle Ben]

I feel for you man, I wish I could help

 

[baltimoron]

As a last resort, you may want to try Geek Squad, or a similar service.

 

[Edifice]

There's also I.Q. Crew

 

[Keebler Elf]

Well, I got a little bit of good news. I installed the drivers to the SATA II (my old drive) on my new drive and Windows now recognizes my old drive so at least I can access my data (thank GOD!).

So now I'm at the point where I either figure out why I can't boot off the Windows on my old drive anymore, or as a worst case scenario I transfer all my data to my new drive and wipe the old one to start all over (assuming the problem is with Windows on the old drive).

But before I can do any of that, I've gotta get my new drive to recognize all the 250 GB on it so that's what I'm back to working on again.

(Thanks for the references. Of course, I have to fuck everything up on Christmas Eve when no one's around for the next few days. )

 

[canucklehead]

I have seen this before and had to partition the drive to be able to see the full size of the drive.
The other thing i am wonder is you may want to check your jumper settings on both drives.

 

[Keebler Elf]

There are no jumpers on my old drive (SATA II) b/c they aren't needed for it. My new drive has the jumpers in the primary position.

 

[joebear]

I have seen this before and had to partition the drive to be able to see the full size of the drive.
The other thing i am wonder is you may want to check your jumper settings on both drives.

check out:

http://forums.slickdeals.net/archive/index.php/t-16593.html

as well:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;303013
http://www.48bitlba.com/winXPhb.htm
http://www.48bitlba.com/winXPhnb.htm
http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/1115/



http://www.48bitlba.com/

48-bit LBA Technology

What is 48-bit LBA?
48-bit Logical Block Addressing (LBA) is a technology which extends the capacity of IDE ATA/ATAPI devices beyond a previous limit of 137.4 GB. This limit applies to IDE ATA/ATAPI devices only and not to SCSI interface devices. The original design specification for the ATA interface only provided 28-bits with which to address the devices. This meant that a hard disk could only have a maximum of 268,435,456 sectors of 512 bytes of data thus limiting the ATA interface to a maximum of 137.4 gigabytes. With 48-bit addressing the limit is 144 petabytes (144,000,000 gigabytes).

Are there any major issues with 48-bit LBA?
Unfortunately, yes. Some versions of Microsoft Windows do not support hard drives greater than 137 GB at all, other versions do but it may be necessary to update the operating system with the latest Service Pack and a parameter may need to be defined and set properly in the Windows registry. There's also an issue with the BIOS where it may be necessary to install a BIOS upgrade for your system in order for the system to work properly with the new hard drive. In many cases the average user may find that installing their new large hard drive is not as simple as just plugging it in and it just works. If you've reached this site then it may be that you've found that to be the case. This site is devoted to providing you the help you need for making your new hard drive work with your system.

 

[maverick]

usually i don't respond to computer questions, but in the spirit of xmas, the answer is you must install a fresh copy of windows xp with sp1 from scratch to get the maximum size on any drive above 140 gb. this has to do with the above mention info.

i will guess that you have the original xp version. if you don't have a copy of win xp with sp 1 or higher, you can slipstream the sp into the original cd. do a google search on how to slipstream windows with a sp. make sure it's bootable as well.

backup your data as well, as you'll need to partition and format the drive.

 

[Spode]

Remember to check the valvitzer joints as well.

 

[papasmerf]

Remember to check the valvitzer joints as well.

Don't be silly, he may just need to patch the hosenfroze.

 

[A-ROD]

Don't be silly, he may just need to patch the hosenfroze.

I think the bull gear jumped the heifer shaft. It happens to me all the time..

 

[papasmerf]

I think the bull gear jumped the heifer shaft. It happens to me all the time..

Try using tie wire between that and the valvitzer joints.

 

[A-ROD]

Try using tie wire between that and the valvitzer joints.

I tried that.. it didn't work, so I put a new rubber cotter pin inside the muffler

 

[papasmerf]

I tried that.. it didn't work, so I put a new rubber cotter pin inside the muffler

Did that work? Or did the cluckitizer still give you a problem?

 

[A-ROD]

Did that work? Or did the cluckitizer still give you a problem?

I used the concrete welding rod to fix the cluckitizer. But now I think my cadilac coverter is acting up??

 

[papasmerf]

I used the concrete welding rod to fix the cluckitizer. But now I think my cadilac coverter is acting up??

Might be

You should consider replacing the squirl cage before you refit the mudpitts


BTW is this helping at all???

 

[Keebler Elf]

usually i don't respond to computer questions, but in the spirit of xmas, the answer is you must install a fresh copy of windows xp with sp1 from scratch to get the maximum size on any drive above 140 gb. this has to do with the above mention info.

i will guess that you have the original xp version. if you don't have a copy of win xp with sp 1 or higher, you can slipstream the sp into the original cd. do a google search on how to slipstream windows with a sp. make sure it's bootable as well.

backup your data as well, as you'll need to partition and format the drive.

So should I install with SP1 instead of SP2? I don't think my installation cd has SP 1 on it.

 

[papasmerf]

So should I install with SP1 instead of SP2? I don't think my installation cd has SP 1 on it.

If you have a current VALID version of XP you likely have the SP2 already on it.

SP2 is fine but best when installed prior to installing other programs.