want to format c, not an option on boot disc

[kujen]

I have two drives, C and D. I want to format so I can reinstall windows, which is on the C drive. When I boot from the installation cd the only option that even appears is the partition on the D drive. So I formatted D but everything is still on the C drive, and windows boots up as normal. My BIOS shows both drives, but I can't see the C drive when booting from the installation disc, it only shows the now unpartitioned D,...what do I need to do?

[lectrocrew]

How I did it.
 Do you want Windows on C or D. Which ever drive you want windows installed on should be set to boot first in the BIOS. Also CD ROM should be set to boot before the hard drives, then select 'Enter" when the start-up screen gives the option "Press any Key to boot from CD".
The option to format should come up during installation if the drive is not formatted.
 After Windows is installed, you should be able to see both drives in "My Computer" and "Disc Management".

[kujen]

I have CD Rom set to boot before the hard drives. I want windows on C as it has been, but I want to completely format it and reinstall. When I boot from the CD it gives me the option to delete a partition, but only the D drive. So I formatted the D drive, but did not install windows on it. Then it warns me that there is no windows installation on my computer and if I restart I'll have to boot it from the cd and install windows. Of course there is a windows on my computer, on my C drive, and I can start windows as normal without the disc. But with the disc in I can't find a way to format C, it's like the boot disc doesn't even know its there.

[lectrocrew]

Did you set C to boot before D in the BIOS then run the installation CD at start-up?

[kujen]

Yeah I've got from first to last set to:

onboard or usb cd-rom drive
onboard SATA hard drive (C)
onboard IDE hard drive (D)

it boots from the installation CD, before going into windows.  I also tried disabling the D drive in the BIOS, but it's still the only thing recognized when I'm running the installation CD.

[lectrocrew]

I guess the IDE controller starts before the SATA. Try unplugging D from the IDE cable then reboot in safe mode to install.

EDIT = spelling

[kujen]

Well I'm going to have to ask someone else to do that for me, I'm not knowledgeable enough about opening it up. Thanks for your help though! Hopefully I can get it fixed soon.

[lectrocrew]

Sorry I couldn't help. One of the Guru's will likely help you out though. Good luck! 

[lectrocrew]

I have two drives, C and D.

Are C and D both hard drives? If so, what letter is your CD ROM? I ask because D is usually the letter given to the primary optical drive (CD ROM).

[BC_Programmer]

It sounds to me, as mentioned, that your Drive C is a SATA drive, and your drive D is a IDE drive.

if your trying to reinstall XP, it will NOT see your SATA drives at all; just IDE drives (it was created before SATA).

However, all is not lost. if you notice, during setup XP states at some point "press f6 to load third party or RAID drivers..."

At this point you'll need to have the SATA drivers for your motherboard ready (available from your manufacturer's site). XP should then load the drivers, and POOF! you'll see your C: drive.


Another option you can explore is setting your SATA controller to "compatibility" mode. This will (rumour has it) slightly reduce the speed of your disk accesses, but XP will detect the drive as it would an IDE drive.

[kujen]

Are C and D both hard drives? If so, what letter is your CD ROM? I ask because D is usually the letter given to the primary optical drive (CD ROM).

Yeah..originally I had a C drive and a CD drive. Then I had my brother add on a DVD writer and an extra hard drive. I don't think the original CD drive is even enabled anymore, just the DVD writer. I guess that's the way he wired them up, maybe its contributing to this problem.

It sounds to me, as mentioned, that your Drive C is a SATA drive, and your drive D is a IDE drive.

if your trying to reinstall XP, it will NOT see your SATA drives at all; just IDE drives (it was created before SATA).

However, all is not lost. if you notice, during setup XP states at some point "press f6 to load third party or RAID drivers..."

At this point you'll need to have the SATA drivers for your motherboard ready (available from your manufacturer's site). XP should then load the drivers, and POOF! you'll see your C: drive.


Another option you can explore is setting your SATA controller to "compatibility" mode. This will (rumour has it) slightly reduce the speed of your disk accesses, but XP will detect the drive as it would an IDE drive.

The C drive was the original hard drive that came in my Dell computer. The D drive was a later addition. So I still don't understand why it won't recognize the original drive windows was installed on. I'd like to try your suggestions though...a few questions first. Where do I download the drivers to? And how do I set the SATA controller to compatibility mode? Can I change it back later after I've formatted and reinstalled windows?

[BC_Programmer]

The C drive was the original hard drive that came in my Dell computer. The D drive was a later addition. So I still don't understand why it won't recognize the original drive windows was installed on

it cannot recognize the drive if it is SATA, because XP was created before SATA; it doesn't know it exists. It worked before because the drivers were installed.

if you set it to compatibility install windows, and the appropriate SATA drivers (usually part of your chipset drivers), you *might* be able to change the setting back, but I don't know.

[Computer_Commando]

Yeah I've got from first to last set to:

onboard or usb cd-rom drive
onboard SATA hard drive (C)
onboard IDE hard drive (D)

it boots from the installation CD, before going into windows.  I also tried disabling the D drive in the BIOS, but it's still the only thing recognized when I'm running the installation CD.

Disabling drives in BIOS doesn't seem to work for me, either.

I guess the IDE controller starts before the SATA. Try unplugging D from the IDE cable then reboot in safe mode to install.

EDIT = spelling

My P4 BIOS sets IDE controllers 1st, SATA are 2nd.

However, there is also a setting in the BIOS called:
Integrated Peripherals---SATA Devices Configuration---On-Chip Serial ATA---Enhanced
PATA and SATA will both be enabled.  6 IDE drives are supported (although 2 are SATA)

Integrated Peripherals---SATA Devices Configuration---PATA IDE Mode---(primary or secondary)

it cannot recognize the drive if it is SATA, because XP was created before SATA; it doesn't know it exists. It worked before because the drivers were installed.

if you set it to compatibility install windows, and the appropriate SATA drivers (usually part of your chipset drivers), you *might* be able to change the setting back, but I don't know.

If motherboard has SATA ports, no drivers are necessary for any OS to function.  BIOS is in control until OS boots.

[BC_Programmer]

If motherboard has SATA ports, no drivers are necessary for any OS to function.  BIOS is in control until OS boots.

Yes it is. But the windows CD is an OS and it does boot and if it doesn't have the drivers to see the SATA drive, it won't.

This is why there is a compatibility option for the SATA ports in the first place; so that older OS's will find them as IDE drives.


Additionally, without SATA drivers, the OS will not function.(unless SATA has been set to compatibility mode) Vista has this support built in; and if I disable compatibility mode on my laptop, it works fine. however, neither of my XP installs will boot if I do that (BSOD: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME) since they do not have the Toshiba SATA chipset drivers installed.

[kujen]

Would a service pack 3 installation CD have the drivers? I've been using the service pack 1 CD that came with the computer. Otherwise I'm not sure how I can load the drivers because I don't have a floppy drive. I'm still thinking of enabling/disabling the compatibility mode, but I've read elsewhere that disabling it after installation causes a blue screen. 



Edit: Ok problem solved. I created a new boot cd with the SATA drivers installed on it. Thanks everyone for your help!

[BC_Programmer]

Excellent, your welcome, congratulations, and good job! 

[Computer_Commando]

Yes it is. But the windows CD is an OS and it does boot and if it doesn't have the drivers to see the SATA drive, it won't.

This is why there is a compatibility option for the SATA ports in the first place; so that older OS's will find them as IDE drives.


Additionally, without SATA drivers, the OS will not function.(unless SATA has been set to compatibility mode) Vista has this support built in; and if I disable compatibility mode on my laptop, it works fine. however, neither of my XP installs will boot if I do that (BSOD: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME) since they do not have the Toshiba SATA chipset drivers installed.

No disrespect, just want to learn something, am relatively new to SATA.

That's not quite how it worked for me.  On my "old" P4 with new SATA HDD, I booted DOS FDD,  ran Norton Ghost v7.0 and restored entire XP image created from my "new" P4 and stored on external USB/IEEE1394 combo-drive.  It booted right up with no issues, probably since both are similar, but not exact, socket 775 P4's.  Some video and audio drivers needed to be installed, but most everything else, plugged 'n played.

No SATA drivers were required, only DOS drivers for 1394 drive.  I boot to DOS FDD or DOS CD every 2 weeks to Ghost image backup the "new" P4, but sometimes I have to boot twice in order for the 1394 drive to be "seen".  "Old" P4 is about 4 years old; "New" P4 is 1 year old; same for BIOS for both, 4 & 1.

Also, I am using no SATA drivers in Windows XP.  I suppose that's because my BIOS is "handling" it?  I'm on my "new" P4 right now which has an IDE hard drive.

I suspect the issue with your laptop is the Toshiba chipset which is very proprietary compared to VIA, etc.

[BC_Programmer]

everything used by windows is accessed through virtual device drivers. the BIOS is never used past the boot process; the entire Interrupt table is superceded by Windows and it routes the calls (even to BIOS functions directly in DOS programs) to the appropriate Device Driver. This way, windows can handle, for example, multiple DOS programs contending for the serial port, in a consistent fashion, instead of relying on possibly buggy and unexpected behaviour from BIOS routines.


the chipset drivers contain the SATA drivers; If the imaged OS drive had chipset drivers installed, then that would include the SATA functionality.

[fgdn17]

so as BC_Programmer said...xp needs the SATA drivers....

[fgdn17]

No disrespect, just want to learn something, am relatively new to SATA.

That's not quite how it worked for me.  On my "old" P4 with new SATA HDD, I booted DOS FDD,  ran Norton Ghost v7.0 and restored entire XP image created from my "new" P4 and stored on external USB/IEEE1394 combo-drive.  It booted right up with no issues, probably since both are similar, but not exact, socket 775 P4's.  Some video and audio drivers needed to be installed, but most everything else, plugged 'n played.

No SATA drivers were required, only DOS drivers for 1394 drive.  I boot to DOS FDD or DOS CD every 2 weeks to Ghost image backup the "new" P4, but sometimes I have to boot twice in order for the 1394 drive to be "seen".  "Old" P4 is about 4 years old; "New" P4 is 1 year old; same for BIOS for both, 4 & 1.

Also, I am using no SATA drivers in Windows XP.  I suppose that's because my BIOS is "handling" it?  I'm on my "new" P4 right now which has an IDE hard drive.

I suspect the issue with your laptop is the Toshiba chipset which is very proprietary compared to VIA, etc.

because when you ghosted it it also ghosted the SATA drivers that were part of your installed OS...

[Computer_Commando]

everything used by windows is accessed through virtual device drivers. the BIOS is never used past the boot process; the entire Interrupt table is superceded by Windows and it routes the calls (even to BIOS functions directly in DOS programs) to the appropriate Device Driver. This way, windows can handle, for example, multiple DOS programs contending for the serial port, in a consistent fashion, instead of relying on possibly buggy and unexpected behaviour from BIOS routines.


the chipset drivers contain the SATA drivers; If the imaged OS drive had chipset drivers installed, then that would include the SATA functionality.

I'm not a programmer, but I understand the lingo.  I'm a hardware guy (EE), who used to design computers for the SW guys to program.  The funny thing is, the imaged drive has SATA ports, but no SATA HDD attached.  When the initial install was performed it had a SATA CDROM and an IDE HDD and the image was created from this config.

Actually, SATA chipsets are different on the P4's
New P4:  Via VT8237A
Old P4:  Intel ICH6

Main chipsets are different, too.
New P4:  Via P4M890
Old P4:  Intel 915P

So we have Via to Intel, which usually doesn't  "fly" when image transferring.  Maybe I got lucky?   Maybe WinXP SP3 is smart enough to provide generic drivers, like it does for IDE?

BTW, I'm sticking with WinXP, until I see how Win7 plays.  I do not like Vista.

[BC_Programmer]

or SATA was set to "compatibility" the entire time, as opposed to AHCI.

[Computer_Commando]

or SATA was set to "compatibility" the entire time, as opposed to AHCI.

i.e., AHCI as opposed to IDE Emulation (or Compatibility)

That may explain the "strange" BIOS configuration in the "old" P4.

When "On-Chip Serial ATA" is set to Enhanced, PATA & SATA are both enabled.

Standard BIOS Features indicate:
Primary IDE Master
Secondary IDE Master
SATA #1 Master
SATA #3 Slave
SATA #2 Master
SATA #4 Slave

Therefore, Compatibility=Enhanced (that was obvious, LOL)

When "On-Chip Serial ATA" is set to Auto, PATA & SATA are arranged by BIOS.
When "On-Chip Serial ATA" is set to Combined, PATA & SATA are combined.

Don't see any difference in these two except the Features list is different from the "Enhanced".  Computer still boots.

"New" P4 SATA controller is set to IDE (default), only other choice is RAID

Therefore, both P4's are set to Compatibility, which explains why all works the way it does.

Thanks, BC_Programmer!