hard drive fails to format

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Guest

have been attempting to load Windows XP Pro on a machine that was formerly
Windows ME. I boot up to the CD and go through all of the start up options,
choosing to format the drive using NTFS system. The process follows through
until 100% and then I receive a message stating "setup was unable to format
the partition. The disc may be damaged". I have tried 3 different hard
drives, 2 of which are new and not damaged, but receive the same message.
Any thoughts/ides?
 
kah said:
have been attempting to load Windows XP Pro on a machine that was formerly
Windows ME. I boot up to the CD and go through all of the start up options,
choosing to format the drive using NTFS system. The process follows through
until 100% and then I receive a message stating "setup was unable to format
the partition. The disc may be damaged". I have tried 3 different hard
drives, 2 of which are new and not damaged, but receive the same message.
Any thoughts/ides?
Click to expand...


Well, as you've eliminated the hard drive itself, it seems likely that
there is something wrong or incompatible with the motherboard's IDE
controller. Have you checked with the motherboard manufacturer to see
if your specific motherboard is capable of supporting WinXP, or if
there's a BIOS update required to bestow compatibility? What were the
results when you ran the WinXP Compatibility test before undertaking the
upgrade?


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH
 
Harry Ohrn said:
Make certain the IDE Cables are securely attached to both motherboard and
drive.
For troubleshooting purposes have you tried running FDISK and formatting
using your Windows ME Startup floppy?

--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


kah said:
have been attempting to load Windows XP Pro on a machine that was formerly
Windows ME. I boot up to the CD and go through all of the start up
options,
choosing to format the drive using NTFS system. The process follows
through
until 100% and then I receive a message stating "setup was unable to
format
the partition. The disc may be damaged". I have tried 3 different hard
drives, 2 of which are new and not damaged, but receive the same message.
Any thoughts/ides?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Make certain the IDE Cables are securely attached to both motherboard and
drive.
For troubleshooting purposes have you tried running FDISK and formatting
using your Windows ME Startup floppy?
 
OK this may solve the problem but I can't tell you why. If you are
using Master/Slave then change to cable select, make sure the drive is
at the end of the cable. If you are using cable select then change to
master.

I have had more funky stuff with this than you could believe.

Wayne
 
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