New Hard Drive not found

[hammo02]

ok, so im kinda dumb wtih computers.
i have a dell inspiron 6400, 1GB RAM, 120GB 5200 8MB SATA Hard drive.
My hard drive started making some horrible sounds, and someone told me it was dead.
I bought a new WD 160GB 7200, 16MB hard drive to replace it.
I pulled the old hard drive out, took off the mount and attached it to the new hard drive, and put the new hard drive into the slot.
When i turn on the computer i get the error "no bootable devices--strike f1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility, F5 for onboard diagnostics"
i hit F2 to go to BIOS.
in BIOS under "device info" it says there is no primary hard drive..

what am i doing wrong? i read that all you need to do to install a replacement hard drive is put it in, and run the Windows re-installation CD which i got with my computer. but when i do this, and follow the prompts to install windows, it asks where to install windows, but the hard drive is not showing up.

what do i do??? please help!

 

[mailpup]

All the drivers that were formerly on your computer are now gone with the old hard drive. That includes the SATA/RAID drivers that your SATA hard drive needs to operate. At the beginning of Windows setup you are given the opportunity to press F6 to install third party drivers (your SATA/RAID controller drivers). When you press F6, nothing happens at first and Windows setup continues to copy some files. Shortly after this you are asked to press "S" to begin the install of the drivers. However, you will need a floppy drive with the SATA/RAID controller drivers on a floppy disk for this procedure to work.

You should be able to find the drivers you need at your PC manufacturer's website. If applicable, follow the instructions on how to make the driver floppy since it isn't always a simple copy-files-to-the-disk job although it can be.

 

[hammo02]

and if i dont have a floppy drive...?

also, there is no option for me to push F6 during the vista installation. when i restart the computer with the vista installation disc in, it just loads up to a page with an "install now" button.

 

[mailpup]

For some reason I thought you were trying to install Windows XP. My description was for XP not Vista so I'm not able to point to a solution to your problem at the moment.