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XP Slow Start

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by richardt

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Hello, I have installed a second HDD. A Seagate ST3160815AS 180 GB. I've installed XP Pro SP2 and everything appears to be fine except that there is a pause of about 30 seconds or so between the boot screen and Windows loading. Also Windows loads rather slower than it does on my other HDD. A Seagate ST380013AS 80GB. I've looked in the BIOS and can't see anything obvious. Thanks. Regards, Richard
PS: AMD Athlon 2800+
Abit NF7-S2 motherboard
1024 GB RAM

10 replies

by older mycroft

When you say that you have installed a second HDD - have you installed XP on this second drive?

If so, what operating system exists on the Primary HDD?

by richardt

I'm sorry I forgot that piece of info. I have XP Pro installed on both drives. i was trying to get everything set up on the second drive before I deleted the first. Also, I should have mentioned that both drives are SATA. There are two SATA controllers on the motherboard. Thanks, Richard.

by tintoman

Are you saying that you now have 2 SATA hard drives installed, each with Win XP loaded?

by oh smeg

On the new drive at least, or it could be an issue with the SATA Controller on the M'Board taking time to address the different HDD's that you have installed.

Similarly it could be that the SATA Driver is attempting to install the RAID Drivers and configuring the RAID Array which isn't there. It really depends on how this unit was setup when the second drive was installed & loaded. Most likely a incorrect OS Install when it comes to ABit's SATA/RAID Drivers.

Though I'm a little at a loss as to why it was necessary to reinstall the OS again. If all you wanted to do was add a HDD all you need do is stuff it in & Format it up then you would have all the space available to use instead of wasting space with a Unnecessary OS being installed.

Col

by richardt

Well,There aren't any SATA drivers installed separately. On the NF7-S2 the southbridge is supposed to take care of this. I installed the second drive and formatted it using Windows Disk Management. It was automatically assigned the next letter which was H. However, after installing the OS it shows up as New Volume C. Is this a clue. Was there a point in setup that I missed.
THe reason I wanted to install the OS on the other drive is that I wanted to transfer all the stuff from the first drive before I deleted it (the first drive). THe second drive is 160GB and the first is 80GB. Thanks, Richard

by oh smeg

If you installed XP to the New Drive while the Old Drive was still connected all the Boot Files will be on the Original Drive and the second drive will not boot once the first is removed.

It sounds like there is a clash with the SATA Controller involved here.

Col

by richardt

I am sorry. I forgot to mention that I had to disconnect the SATA controller for the first HDD when I ran the the second drive. Could this cause the problem. I can run each drive separately by unplugging the SATA controller for the other drive, it's just that with the second drive there is this lag. Thanks again, Richard

by older mycroft

Formatting it up, then if you absolutely needed to do so, you could've reinstalled any programs you say you wanted to 'move across'.

Moving applications from the old to the new is NEVER a good idea because you are assuming the registry will 'know' you have moved them - put simply IT WON'T!

Data could easily be transferred from the old to the new AFTER you reinstalled on the second drive.

But seriously, you really should be adding a BLANK second drive for simplicity's sake if nothing else.

by richardt

Hello, Yes I can run each drive by disconnecting the other SATA controller but the second drive has a lag between the boot screen and Windows loading. But I now notice that the WIndows screen is there but very faint until the hard drive starts up again. THanks, Richard.

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