Cannot install Windows on WD 500GB SATA hard drive!

[alguy]

Hi,

I just built a new PC and I am unable to install windows on the computer. I have tried installing Windows XP and Windows 7 but none of them work. When I tried to install Windows XP, I got the error unable to read hard drive. When I tried to install Windows 7, it gets to the point where it loads all the files and brings up the screen Starting windows but after that the screen just goes blank and the monitor cannot find a video source even though the computer is still on.

I tried plugging in another hard drive which already had windows xp installed on it. The computer booted fine but it could not find the 500GB WD hard drive.

I looked in the BIOS and it seems that the MB recognizes that there is a hard drive but it is having a hard drive reading it. If i go into the onboard device config it doesnt show the SATA controller.

I am wondering if there is a solution to this, any way I can install the drivers or is it just a faulty hard drive. My system specs are given below.

MB: Asus P7H55-M PRO
Chip: Intel i5 650 3.2 GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR3 (2x2GB) Kingston
HD: WD Caviar Blue SATA, 500 GB

Thanks in advance,
alguy

 

[mailpup]

You can try to change the SATA controller mode (in the BIOS) to IDE mode. Windows XP setup should continue without a problem. You could keep the mode set to SATA or AHCI but you then need to install the appropriate SATA/RAID drivers at the F6 prompt at the beginning of Windows Setup. However, you will need a floppy drive for that. If you don't have a floppy drive, you can try making a slipstream CD which is a Windows CD with the SATA/RAID drivers included. Google, Bing or whatever to find several guides on how to create a slipstream CD.

 

[alguy]

thanks for the reply @mailpup, I cannot change anything in the SATA controller mode because I don't see it under the BIOS settings, I have already check under the onboard device configuration menu. I can try installing the drivers using a floppy drive except that I do not know where I can find the drivers.

 

[mailpup]

Under the Main Menu tab in the BIOS, see Storage Configuration. See also page 3-13 of your motherboard manual for more details.

If you prefer to keep it at AHCI, check for the drivers at the Asus website or use the motherboard CD that came with the motherboard.

 

[alguy]

Hi mailpup,

I tried changing the storage configuration in the BIOS to AHCI, but then I when I enter the AHCI settings it tell me "Not Detected" on all SATA ports.

Also, I am still a little confused as to how I would install the driver after I get it from the Asus website.

Thanks
alguy

 

[captaincranky]

Windows 7 should be able to supply drivers to run in AHCI, but XP won't. You can check Asus site, but from what I've seen elsewhere, their SATA drivers are likely to be for RAID.

If a working machine cannot find this drive, perhaps it is defective. Keep this in mind though, a HDD won't show up in "My Computer", (or "Computer"), until it has been formatted.

The only certainty with that statement though is this; if your drive is SATA, and another >>SATA<< drive is already in the machine. In that case, it wouldn't matter whether the SATA controller was set for IDE or AHCI, since you can only set the controller for one mode at a time, and all other drives plugged into it will run under that mode.

I can't speak to Asus H55 boards, but my own Gigabyte H55 required no external drivers to run in AHCI under Win 7 Pro. I don't think that H55 comes with a RAID controller anyway, but P55 probably does.