Can't install XP on external HDD ???

[matsonusa]

I'm in a bit of a pickle here and I need to get "UP" asap.

HP Pavilion zv5000 notebook with XP-sp2 OS and Recovery CD (and driver CD).  Purchased Jan/05.

Internal 2.5" HDD failure (my 2nd in 36 months) - perhaps a "nasty" scribbled on it because it formats just fine on another machine.  I also backed up my critical stuff before formatting.  (FORMAT fails on the HP!)

But a new INSTALL (on a NEW same-size HDD) simply doesn't work... after the FORMAT completes, the Install program complains the partition has "too much room" or some such thing.  I fear the internal HDD interface is not functional.

So, to get around the internal HDD interface issues temporarily I hooked up a Firewire to a 3.5" HDD externally... and removed the internal HDD altogether.  The Install program sees the external HDD as "C:", checks it, formats it, lets me doodle with it... but REFUSES to install XP on an EXTERNAL HDD.  (I'm wondering why the install pgm loads all those drivers if it isn't going to use them somehow?)

Is there a "policy issue" with this?  The following msg was presented:

[ Your computer's startup program cannot gain access to the disk containing the partition or free space you chose. Setup cannot install WIndows XP on this hard disk. -- This lack of access doesn't necessarily indicate an error condition.  For example, disks attached to a SCSI adapter that wasn't installed by your computer manufacturer or to a secondary hard disk controller, are typically not visible to the startup program unless special software is used.  Contact your computer or HDD manufacturer for more information. ]

Okay... where do I buy some of this "special software"?  I tried the new install with the Recovery CD, and also tried a new "XP Pro" CD... both to the external.  Same message!  (Both are OEM software CDs.)

The "internal" IDE HDD electronics seems to have forgotten how to do a FORMAT so XP won't load there either.

Remedies?  Other than this sillyness I sort of liked the Pavilion!

Matt

[patio]

XP by design will not install to an external HDD. Seems Bill didn't want versions of his OS just floating around out there so they built it this way.
It can be done but is an enormous amount of work.

Hearing that the machine will not format a HDD is not a good sign either...
Sounds like your suspicions of the internal controller going bad are probably correct.
Sorry.

[matsonusa]

So I DID stumble onto a policy issue... drat! 

I can FORMAT the internal HDDs on another machine.  But as soon as the Install pgm's Format/Q touches them in the HP they're suddenly unworthy.

Can't understand this.  There must be some magic in the volume name, perhaps a code of some sort that hints "this drive was sold with this machine."  I have 3 of these 2.5" internals I've been using as working data backups.  They perform flawlessly.  I sacrificed one for the HP repair attempt.  What I fail to understand is that I can't load XP on any of them to keep for emergencies (like this one.)

I even bought the 1G ram chip for the HP, 2 large HDDs and enclosures... and everything is just sitting around waiting...

Frustrating...
I'm still "smarting" from just finding out my 2-Year Extended Warranty only covered one year.