A7N8X Deluxe SATA & PATA confusion

  • Thread starter Thread starter ArAfAt32
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ArAfAt32

I have been using a WD 80 Gb drive and just added a WD Raptor SATA
drive. I of course want the Raptor to be C: & D: for my OS's but
the system will NOT recognize the Raptor as the first drive
and keeps insisting that C: is on the old 80. I thought that converting
the first partition on the WD 80 to a logical drive would solve the
problem but it did not. Any ideas? Is it possible to get the SATA drive
'out front'?

TIA
 
I have just found the same problem using a F: Maxtor 120GB SATA with an
older C: Maxtor 40GB PATA. I have not had time to try this idea but it might
be worth unplugging the older drive, booting with only the Raptor and then
adding the older drive after the name has been allocated to the Raptor. That
might sort it out.

However, it might not matter - my system seems to be functioning fine as it
is.
 
I have been using a WD 80 Gb drive and just added a WD Raptor SATA
drive. I of course want the Raptor to be C: & D: for my OS's but
the system will NOT recognize the Raptor as the first drive
and keeps insisting that C: is on the old 80. I thought that converting
the first partition on the WD 80 to a logical drive would solve the
problem but it did not. Any ideas? Is it possible to get the SATA drive
'out front'?
Click to expand...

Do you mean you put the new drive in with an already installed OS - ie you
aren't reinstalling after you've put the new drive in? If so Windows will
not change the drive letters because it can't (officially) change the boot
or system drive letter, and your old drive C will be both these.
If its a new install of Windows, if you set it as the primary boot drive
(set SCSI as first boot in the bios) and install windows on it then it
should work no problem - has done for me. Its the rest of the drives which
I have a problem with, or installing on that new drive if there is still a
version of Windows on the old drive will probably do what you describe. In
that case taking the old drive out while you install will be enough.
It can all be done, but since Windows installs don't give any option of what
drives you want to be what letter during install it can get a little tricky
to get them all where you want them. Of course, if its not drive C or the
drive Windows is installed on then you can change the letter manually - just
do this before you install probrams otherwise things can be seriously messed
up.

David
 
ArAfAt32 said:
I have been using a WD 80 Gb drive and just added a WD Raptor SATA
drive. I of course want the Raptor to be C: & D: for my OS's but
the system will NOT recognize the Raptor as the first drive
and keeps insisting that C: is on the old 80. I thought that converting
the first partition on the WD 80 to a logical drive would solve the
problem but it did not. Any ideas? Is it possible to get the SATA drive
'out front'?

TIA
Click to expand...

As I did not want to do a fresh install (only a few weeks old), I added the
SATA drivers via Device Manager. Then I cloned my PATA (with the OS on it)
drive to my SATA drive using Ghost 2003. After, I set the boot option to
SCSI in the BIOS, and wiped my PATA drive.

Job done.
 
ArAfAt32 said:
I have been using a WD 80 Gb drive and just added a WD Raptor SATA
drive. I of course want the Raptor to be C: & D: for my OS's but
the system will NOT recognize the Raptor as the first drive
and keeps insisting that C: is on the old 80. I thought that
converting the first partition on the WD 80 to a logical drive would
solve the problem but it did not. Any ideas? Is it possible to get
the SATA drive 'out front'?
Click to expand...

Boot from SCSI before HDD-x

Which OS's are you referring to?

Ben
 
David said:
Do you mean you put the new drive in with an already installed OS -
ie you aren't reinstalling after you've put the new drive in? If so
Windows will not change the drive letters because it can't
(officially) change the boot or system drive letter, and your old
drive C will be both these.
Click to expand...

How do you mean Windows "can't (officially) change the boot or system drive
letter"? It names the drives with drive letters - it has full control over
what they are. Drive letters are an OS dependant thing, if you were to use
Linux you would have your devices labelled like hda, hdb etc and that refers
to the controller and channel it's plugged into. Then partitions as hda1,
hda2, hda5 (extended partition with logical drives start at 5) etc... . At
that point you then mount the partitions in the file system where you
choose, e.g., /, /mnt/floppy, /home, /whatever/subdirectory etc.
If its a new install of Windows, if you set it as the primary boot
drive (set SCSI as first boot in the bios) and install windows on it
then it should work no problem - has done for me.
Click to expand...

Correct, the first partition of the boot device tends to get labelled as C.
Its the rest of
the drives which I have a problem with, or installing on that new
drive if there is still a version of Windows on the old drive will
probably do what you describe. In that case taking the old drive out
while you install will be enough.
Click to expand...

The problem with Windows 9x is that if you add and remove drives, the
letters all change. So D:, might change to F: when you add a drive. The
naming conventions used are rediculous.
It can all be done, but since Windows installs don't give any option
of what drives you want to be what letter during install it can get a
little tricky to get them all where you want them. Of course, if its
not drive C or the drive Windows is installed on then you can change
the letter manually - just do this before you install probrams
otherwise things can be seriously messed up.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I currently have Windows installed on drive D:, with "old" drive as
C:, which I tend to use as backup (I forgot to swap them round, as master
and slave before reinstalling Windows) no major problems though.
 
Your computer requires 1 drive to have an active partition, which is already
on your old drive.

Use a program such Partition Magic to alter your partitions. It is very
easy to use.
Setup your new drive with the active partition and move your files over to
the new drive.

Some drive manufacturers provide software that will also do this, ie do your
setup with the old drive to install and move your files over to the new
drive.

Hope this helps.

Alan
 
How do you mean Windows "can't (officially) change the boot or system
drive
letter"? It names the drives with drive letters - it has full control
Click to expand...
over

It does have control over them, but if you try to change your boot drive
letter it will tell you you can't in both XP and 2000 - i can't remember
whether they can be changed at all in 9X. Same for the system drive. The
'technically' bit comes in because it can be changed with third party
utilities with a brute force type method through the registry to make sure
everything matches up to the new letters.
The problem with Windows 9x is that if you add and remove drives, the
letters all change. So D:, might change to F: when you add a drive. The
naming conventions used are rediculous.
Click to expand...

Yeah - many of the times i've installed Windows i've restarted 2 or more
times just to get the drive letters right. Its particularly a problem when
I am dual booting two different Windows versions, and want to keep the same
drive letters in each one (so they look the same in Explorer, so that what
is on drive D on one install isn't on drive E on another).

David
 
I stopped banging my head on the desk and unplugged the PATA drive,
reinstalled W2K, and used Party Magic to turn the first Primary drive on
the old PATA drive into a Logical with a L'il 7 Mb unallocated sliver in
the front.
Now all the drive letters line up the way I want 'em.
 
ArAfAt32 said:
I have been using a WD 80 Gb drive and just added a WD Raptor SATA
drive. I of course want the Raptor to be C: & D: for my OS's but
the system will NOT recognize the Raptor as the first drive
and keeps insisting that C: is on the old 80. I thought that converting
the first partition on the WD 80 to a logical drive would solve the
problem but it did not. Any ideas? Is it possible to get the SATA drive
'out front'?
Click to expand...

Remove your IDE drive.
Set boot type to SCSI in BIOS.
Install Windows on your SATA drive - it will be C:, as it's the only drive
present.
Connect your IDE drive - it will become D:, as C: is already in use.
 
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