SATA IDE problems

[fauxpas1900]

I recently installed a new NVIDIA graphics card. And more RAM. Have run into problems soon after.

My machine is a 3200 Atheolon with an NVIDIA motherboard.

Hard disks. 1 ) SATA 160 GB (primary sata)

2) 80 GB IDE (dont know whether master or slave)

3) 80 GB IDE (dont know whether master or slave)

4) DVDRW (dont know master/slave status)

I have run into problems now, in the sense that when I boot through the SATA disk, it rejects the other 2 IDE disks.

Even the boot up process is unstable now. I am never sure whether the PC will boot up the next time.

The problem is I cannot disconnect the IDE disks from the system because my bootup system is a complex mess....all 3 disks (SATA and 2 IDEs) need to be connected to the PC for the boot screen to show up...because its a triple boot system. With 2 winXPs on the SATA and one winXP on one IDE disk.

PLEASE HELP. THIS IS URGENT.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

What are you looking to achieve and why do you need three installations of XP on one machine?

 

[fauxpas1900]

Zenosincks,

I installed 3 winXPs at a time when I did not realise that it can get complicated.

2 installations on SATA plus 1 installation on IDE.

How do I solve this conflict between the dual-boot SATA drive and the single boot IDE drive?

The SATA has started rejecting the IDE drives, but needs the boot-IDE drive to startup.

Perhaps I can somehow fix the bootup process? So that the boot IDE can be removed from the boot-menu safely?

Once the boot IDE is safely off the boot menu screen during PC startup, I guess I am left with a dual boot SATA drive, with attached IDE drives that dont interfere with the bootup process.

So what do you think? About Refixing the boot process (removing the IDE from the boot menu) in my case? And how do I accomplish this task safely?

Thanks a lot for responding.

What are you looking to achieve and why do you need three installations of XP on one machine?

 

[tipstir]

I do main this way...

60GB HDD IDE has OS/Programs Master
200GB HDD IDE Slave
500GB HDD SATA

To get all of this to work correctly make sure you update your MOBO (motherboard) chipset drivers. Once you do that then everything will function correctly.