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want to reformat, boot disk cannot find hdd, but hdd is fine

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7 replies

by ksmith

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Preamble
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My laptop is currently in perfect operating condition, but I would like to reformat and partition my hdd in order to incorporate another os and use my hdd more efficiently. My laptop came with a 200gb hard drive preinstalled with Windows Media Center 2005 rollup 2 edition. All they gave me was a recovery disk.
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I was able to get my hands on a copy of the retail Windows Media Center boot disk, that should come with all computers(I am still using my valid serial number as what I bought initially). However, when I boot from this cd it will not recognize my hdd as being in existence.

If I open it while in windows it does start the installation process, but I prefer using the boot process after restarting.

Does anyone know what the problem might be and how to fix this?

Other questions:
I know there are ways to create operating boot disks using streamlining software. Is it possible to accomplish this using the data from the recovery disk? All I need is the operating system.

I also considered using TinyXP if this process failed, but I do not know much about it. All I know is that it is an extremely streamlined version of XP. Can anyone offer incite on this?

Thank You

7 replies

by naughtymonkey

if so make sure it is not set to native in the BIOS. Either that or load the drivers during the install. BIOS is usually easier.

by cgoulas

When you boot with the XP CD-ROM pay attention. In the beginning you have to press F6 to install hardware specific drivers for you hdd controller. It will ask you for a floppy disk though with the drivers that I doubt that your laptop even has a floppy disk drive. If that's the case you can almost surely use a USB-FDD and copy the drivers of the controller to a disk from your system's cdrom. When you reach the point of initializing the installation you'll have to press 'S' to add more drivers and then it'll ask you for the disk. Don't forget to press F6 though in the beginning...

P.S. Please forgive any grammar errors as English is not my native language.

by ksmith

Thanks for your help so far, that does seem to be the issue. However, I do not have a floppy or USB-FDD and apparently flash USB drives do not work.

There seems to be two options available to me:
1.) Use slipstream software with my current boot disks to add the controller drivers to a new boot disk. I have never done this before, but it does not look too hard.
That being said, after looking over the materials I have, it seems as though I have an XP Pro boot disk with an upgrade to media center. So I am not sure how to incorporate the files. I will still attempt soon.

2.) The other option is to enter my BIOS and let it read my HDD as IDE instead. I have read that this is possible, but I am worried about speed. The one thing I did not like about my computer when I bought it was the hdd--while big, it has a speed of 4200rpm.

I called to see if I could get a smaller but more efficient drive when I ordered, but apparently nothing was available. Worried they were going to lose the sale they overed me a little over $200 less on the final price.

The main point being, without the effect of the SATA controllers, I am very worried about the speed of the drive.

Has anyone had experience with this?

by ksmith

Thanks a lot for your help. I got it to work finally. I used the slipstreaming software nlite to integrate the necessary drivers into a new boot disk.

Its a great program. Not only did I accomplish what I wanted to, but I was also able to convert a 3 disk installation process into just one disk. I was also able to remove the excess stuff from the installation that xp comes with but I never use. I was able to add tweaks to my OS before it was installed.

This software also allowed me to preconfigure the installation process. ie: include the serial, comp name, users, passwords, time, language, etc into the boot disk procedure. Therefore allowing me to sit back and relax and not have to worry about typing the information in that I would normally have to.

I highly recommend this software to EVERYONE.
(Also allows the integration of hotfixes and updates into bootdisk, thus saving time after installation.)

by cgoulas

Nice to know!

Keep in mind you can actually use Win2k/Win2k3 Server to do the job that Nlite does. It's called Windows Deployment Services. You can actually store images of several operating systems in the server and then modify the "unattended installation" file for each one of them. Just like Nlite. The difference is (all of that applies in the case that a Win2k/Win2k3 server is close and set-up), that you can format several workstations at the same time with the OSs installed on your server through the network. No CD-ROM included, you just configure the workstations (desktops, laptops) to boot from the network card. Then the server does the rest. Very useful to do when you don't have cd-rom/dvd-rom drives, or they are broken.

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