I am trying to re-install Windows XP professional on a new hard drive on my home-made PC (ASUS A8V mobo). I purchased a new Seagate Barracuda 7200.12, 500 GB SATA drive with the intent of installing it in the PC and then using the original Seagate 160 GB drive in an external enclosure for back-up data storage. I can't get past the Windows set up screen which advises that "Set up did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer". Here's what I have tried:
- I do have a floppy drive, so during the set up, I do hit F6 and load the SATA controller drivers (VIASRAID) with apparent success. No luck in the PC recognizing the hard drive.
- I have checked the physical connections to the new hard drive repeatedly and they're definitely OK. After each failed attempt, I take out the new HD and replace the old HD and everything runs as normal so I know the power and data connections are good.
- I have tried changing the BIOS to disable the SATA boot ROM setting. I've attempted the set up with this setting both enabled and disabled. No luck.
- Finally, I created a bootable DVD ROM with the SATA drivers slip-streamed onto the disk (along with SP3) per the instructions at http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/slipstreaming-windows-xp-to-create-bootable-cd/. Alas, no luck. Same result each time - Windows set up cannot detect the new hard drive.
I am starting to suspect that my new HD is dead but I don't know how to confirm that or whether that is really what is at fault. Can any suggest my next step? Thank you for any advice you might lend!!