Ok, guys, it me again.

[ardentconservative]

I have an HP computer that I bought from TigerDirect for $168 dollars.  The only thing that I don't like about he computer is the small HD.  I have a lot of text files, PDF files, and HTML files that I need to store, along with all the programs that are installed.

Also I would like to store some video.  So I would like to do a new install on a 500 GB HD that I have from an HP that was fried in a storm.  This computer will not recognize it as master, only slave. 

I would like to learn how to do a new install.  I have an XP Professional SP3 install disk that came with the computer.  I would like to erase everything on the 500 and do a new install with the install disk.  My biggest problem is that I don't know what to do when asked about partitioning the HD whenthe  install disk asked what I want to do.  One more question, is a new install that complicated.

Thanks.

[Thor]

Check your jumpers on the 500 GB hard drive. They could be set to cable select (factory default). The master position on the IDE cable is the very end connector. The one that's 4-6" into the cable is the slave connector. You didn't describe how you were trying to hook up this 500 GB hard drive, either. You keep asking questions, but rarely provide enough information. Kind of like a zero divide error.....

Is the XP CD you have an actual Microsoft CD or a restore cd furnished by HP??

As far as wiping the 500 GB hard drive, a full format with do the job, BUT Darik's Boot and Nuke is better. The reason why is because even with a full format, a virus can still hide on the drive, usually in the master boot record.

[ardentconservative]

Check your jumpers on the 500 GB hard drive. They could be set to cable select (factory default). The master position on the IDE cable is the very end connector. The one that's 4-6" into the cable is the slave connector. You didn't describe how you were trying to hook up this 500 GB hard drive, either. You keep asking questions, but rarely provide enough information. Kind of like a zero divide error.....

Is the XP CD you have an actual Microsoft CD or a restore cd furnished by HP??

As far as wiping the 500 GB hard drive, a full format with do the job, BUT Darik's Boot and Nuke is better. The reason why is because even with a full format, a virus can still hide on the drive, usually in the master boot record.

Thor, both HD's are SATA

[Thor]

I have an HP computer that I bought from TigerDirect for $168 dollars.  The only thing that I don't like about he computer is the small HD.  I have a lot of text files, PDF files, and HTML files that I need to store, along with all the programs that are installed.

Also I would like to store some video.  So I would like to do a new install on a 500 GB HD that I have from an HP that was fried in a storm.  This computer will not recognize it as master, only slave. 

I would like to learn how to do a new install.  I have an XP Professional SP3 install disk that came with the computer.  I would like to erase everything on the 500 and do a new install with the install disk.  My biggest problem is that I don't know what to do when asked about partitioning the HD whenthe  install disk asked what I want to do.  One more question, is a new install that complicated.

Thanks.

SEE???  That's what I mean..... we have to almost interrogate you to obtain the information we need to analyze your problem. (from another thread) You never once mentioned that the drive was SATA.........

[ardentconservative]

SEE???  That's what I mean..... we have to almost interrogate you to obtain the information we need to analyze your problem. (from another thread) You never once mentioned that the drive was SATA.........

Sorry, I am learning, does that make any difference in the way that you deal with setting up a HD in a computer.

[rich_t]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=computer+repair

Will cost you a few bucks, but might be worth it to you.

[thundley4]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=computer+repair

Will cost you a few bucks, but might be worth it to you.

Before we had bought our first computer, we both watched a couple of shows on what is now G4 TV.  TechTV had a couple of shows that cover computer basics, and they helped me quite a bit.

[Thor]

SATA drives are pretty much plug and play. I'm pretty sure they are set up in the BIOS. I'll let you know this weekend. PATA (IDE) drives use the cable and jumpers on the hard drive.

[thundley4]

SATA drives are pretty much plug and play. I'm pretty sure they are set up in the BIOS. I'll let you know this weekend. PATA (IDE) drives use the cable and jumpers on the hard drive.

Some BIOS setting need changed sometimes. For some reason Dell doesn't always enable all of the SATA connections on the mobo. My wife's computer had four connections but only the one for the installed original drive was enabled.

[PatriotGame]

SEE???  That's what I mean..... we have to almost interrogate you to obtain the information we need to analyze your problem. (from another thread) You never once mentioned that the drive was SATA.........

Doesn't matter in the original sense - there is NO 'master/secondary' or slave connotation on an IDE hard drive cable. Both connectors are ELECTRICALLY at the same potential, and in parallel. The hard drive position on the data bus is set by the jumpers on the drive. Yes, you can do all sorts of funky stuff with drive boot order, letters, and IDE/SATA recognition with the newer (last 5 years) BIOS settings, but, an IDE hard drive cable is parallel thus both connectors on said cable are equal. This why the IDE hard drive format was originally called PATA:

Parallel ATA (PATA) is an interface standard for the connection of storage devices such as hard disks, solid-state drives, floppy drives, and CD-ROM drives in computers. The standard is maintained by X3/INCITS committee[1]. It uses the underlying AT Attachment (ATA) and AT Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) standards.

The current Parallel ATA standard is the result of a long history of incremental technical development, which began with the original AT Attachment interface, developed for use in early PC AT equipment. The ATA interface itself evolved in several stages from Western Digital's original Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface. As a result, many near-synonyms for ATA/ATAPI and its previous incarnations exist, including abbreviations such as IDE which are still in common informal use. After the market introduction of Serial ATA in 2003, the original ATA was retroactively renamed Parallel ATA.

Parallel ATA only allows cable lengths up to 18 in (457 mm). Because of this length limit the technology normally appears as an internal computer storage interface. For many years ATA provided the most common and the least expensive interface for this application. By the beginning of 2007, it had largely been replaced by Serial ATA (SATA) in new systems.

and...

The first version of what is now called the ATA/ATAPI interface was developed by Western Digital under the name Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE). Together with Control Data Corporation CDC, (who manufactured the hard drive part) and Compaq Computer (into whose systems these drives would initially go), they developed the connector, the signaling protocols, and so on with the goal of remaining software compatible with the existing ST-506 hard drive interface.[2]  The first such drives appeared in Compaq PCs in 1986.

When I lived on Kwajalein Atoll, I worked with a 60 year-old CDC guy that was on the engineering team that created the IDE standard. He was also a close friend of Seymour Cray...and the rest is history.

[LC EFA]

what *I* would do is

1) Download all drivers for all hardware on the mainboard and peripheral devices and store them on a CD/DVD
2) Disconnect the existing drive and connect the new drive to the SATA0 port on the mainboard
3) Install OS , booting from the DVD / CD drive , removing and reformatting any partitions found (this will reset the MBR etc) install all drivers and update as needed.
4) power down and connect the OLD drive to the SATA1 port on the mainboard.
5) Power up and boot to windows.
6) transfer any important data over to the new drive
7) power down and remove and dispose of the old drive

[ardentconservative]

SATA drives are pretty much plug and play. I'm pretty sure they are set up in the BIOS. I'll let you know this weekend. PATA (IDE) drives use the cable and jumpers on the hard drive.

Thanks Thor.

[ardentconservative]

Some BIOS setting need changed sometimes. For some reason Dell doesn't always enable all of the SATA connections on the mobo. My wife's computer had four connections but only the one for the installed original drive was enabled.

Thanks thundley.  This HP computer detects installed hardware automatically.  I have played with the computer some and installed differeent things in different SATA connections and the computer will always, as it is booting up, detect, recognize what is where, ask if you want to accept the changes, if you do you have to press F1, and then the computer will boot.

Don't know why the computer won't recognize the 500 GB HD as master becasue it came out of an HP and was being tried to be installed in an HP. 

[Thor]

Doesn't matter in the original sense - there is NO 'master/secondary' or slave connotation on an IDE hard drive cable. Both connectors are ELECTRICALLY at the same potential, and in parallel. The hard drive position on the data bus is set by the jumpers on the drive. Yes, you can do all sorts of funky stuff with drive boot order, letters, and IDE/SATA recognition with the newer (last 5 years) BIOS settings, but, an IDE hard drive cable is parallel thus both connectors on said cable are equal. This why the IDE hard drive format was originally called PATA:
and...When I lived on Kwajalein Atoll, I worked with a 60 year-old CDC guy that was on the engineering team that created the IDE standard. He was also a close friend of Seymour Cray...and the rest is history.

While they may be at the same potential, electrically, they DO matter, especially if the jumpers are set at cable select. Try it. It could be that you are referring to the old 40 pin IDE cables vs the newer 80 pin IDE cables, too.

[ardentconservative]

While they may be at the same potential, electrically, they DO matter, especially if the jumpers are set at cable select. Try it. It could be that you are referring to the old 40 pin IDE cables vs the newer 80 pin IDE cables, too.

Thor, I tried the jumper of all setting and the computer still would not recognize the 500 GB HD.  But I think I will, when I have time play with it again before I try a fresh install.

I kept getting a message something like there was something wrong on the HD and something was trying to repair it.  I know this is very vague, but it has be at least a month since I tried it install it as SATA0, I'm learning, I think.

I know that nothing is wrong with the HD as it was working before the computer fried, unless of course the electrical storm did something to the HD. 

[PatriotGame]

While they may be at the same potential, electrically, they DO matter, especially if the jumpers are set at cable select. Try it. It could be that you are referring to the old 40 pin IDE cables vs the newer 80 pin IDE cables, too.

Ah yes, yes, yes....this much is true. I never used cable select though - never fully trusted it. I wanted to denote "this is YOUR position" in the drive food chain so I always used the master/slave drive jumper settings. I guess that is a hold-over from my fights with the old 16-bit RLL and MFM hard drives and their respective drive controllers.

By-the-by, some crap is coming down the (*MY*) pike and I will be needing to shed a butt-load of computer gear...cheap...I want to help those that hang here or are emotionally disadvantaged soooooooooooo.......you are on the top of the list! 


Stay tuned...

[Thor]

Hell, I've had perfectly good, working hard drives that I pulled and stored in an ESD bag. Took them out of storage, connected them up and no joy. They wouldn't work. I lost THREE of them for some reason. I've tried every recovery thing I know and even tried Darik's Boot & Nuke and still the drives wouldn't work.. One drive wouldn't even let my PC boot up. Needless to say, they ALL went into the circular file.

[ardentconservative]

Hell, I've had perfectly good, working hard drives that I pulled and stored in an ESD bag. Took them out of storage, connected them up and no joy. They wouldn't work. I lost THREE of them for some reason. I've tried every recovery thing I know and even tried Darik's Boot & Nuke and still the drives wouldn't work.. One drive wouldn't even let my PC boot up. Needless to say, they ALL went into the circular file.

Thor, if I can't get the 500 to work as SATA0 I am going to erase everything on it and use it as SATA1 and store info on it.  I really don't think that HD is physically damaged because the computer recognizes it as SATA1, I  have deleted some of the files already on it that were no longer of any use to me.

Also, if anyone has any need for a 2100MB SCSI 50 pin HD I have one out of a computer that I had in my shop for years.  I know it's old but it anyone can use  it they can have it, just pay shipping.  The HD was made for an IBM.  Model:DCAS-32160-E182115 S.  Rated: 5V 330mA, 12 V 200mA Date: March 97.  If I remember correctly that this HD came out of my shop computer it is running 98SE and was working when I retired the computer. If no one wants it I am going to toss it.


One more question.  I downloaded Firefox 3.6 to access CC so I don't have the problem with my responses hiding below the bottom of the text box if I get windy.  Problem:  Yesterday, and today, I typed a response, hit the post button, the response disappeared but wasn't posted.  Never had it happen with IE, anyone have any idea what happened.

The last time I tried Firefox it was 3.5, and I didn't like it, I was waive judgment on the 3.6 until I use it some.  

[Thor]

I have ZERO problems with Firefox. I have had that happen in the past, but I never found an answer. Sometimes, shit happens, I guess. I haven't had that problem happen often, but it has occurred. Typically, when that has happened, I was on dial up or a troublesome broadband connection. When someone transmits a data packet ( a post) there's a header  included. If that header gets corrupted, the receiving end won't recognize it and simply discards it.

[ardentconservative]

I have ZERO problems with Firefox. I have had that happen in the past, but I never found an answer. Sometimes, shit happens, I guess. I haven't had that problem happen often, but it has occurred. Typically, when that has happened, I was on dial up or a troublesome broadband connection. When someone transmits a data packet ( a post) there's a header  included. If that header gets corrupted, the receiving end won't recognize it and simply discards it.

a troublesome broadband connection

Well, I have ATT DSL which  I am not to happy with.  Both times it happened I was having trouble moving from one page to the next.  Don't know what is wrong with the DSL, ATT says nothing, but I do have trouble with the connection speed droping of, then picking up, then dropping off.  Maybe that was it.  Thanks Thor was just curious.

[rich_t]

a troublesome broadband connection

Well, I have ATT DSL which  I am not to happy with.  Both times it happened I was having trouble moving from one page to the next.  Don't know what is wrong with the DSL, ATT says nothing, but I do have trouble with the connection speed droping of, then picking up, then dropping off.[/b]  Maybe that was it.  Thanks Thor was just curious.

Sounds like a congestion issue on the DSLAM.  If it begins to happen on a regular basis it might be an issue with the copper wire somewhere (corroded terminals etc.)

[rich_t]

I have ZERO problems with Firefox. I have had that happen in the past, but I never found an answer. Sometimes, shit happens, I guess. I haven't had that problem happen often, but it has occurred. Typically, when that has happened, I was on dial up or a troublesome broadband connection. When someone transmits a data packet ( a post) there's a header  included. If that header gets corrupted, the receiving end won't recognize it and simply discards it.

Actually message board type applications use TCP which is considered to be a "reliable" connection (vs. UDP which is classed an an "unreliable" connection and is used primarily for streaming audio, video and VoIP), if a data packet is corrupt or dropped somewhere along the transport path the destination source does not send an ack message causing the sending end to retransmit the packet after a timer expires.

[Thor]

I had a problem with Qwest techs when I first moved to Ramsey, MN. The DSL modem was intermittent. However, it wasn't intermittent enough. They could NEVER "see" the problem remotely. Long story short, I dumped them and went with Comcast. They have their problems, too

[rich_t]

I had a problem with Qwest techs when I first moved to Ramsey, MN. The DSL modem was intermittent. However, it wasn't intermittent enough. They could NEVER "see" the problem remotely. Long story short, I dumped them and went with Comcast. They have their problems, too

Qwest is infamous for overloading their DSLAMs.  They test from the DSLAM to the end user and never look at the backend, where the congestion usually occurs.

[Thor]

No, this was an intermittent dsl modem. I could do NOTHING to convince that was the problem. They also found some high impedence in the line because the POTS was at a lower volume that it was in Becker.