How to set P4C800-ED BIOS so SATA Raptor is C: Drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter QZ
  • Start date Start date
Q

QZ

I am going to be re-installing Win XP.

On the first install,
Primary IDE C: Zip, D: CD-ROM,
Secondary IDE: None,
Third IDE (SATA) E: HDD

Is there a way to make the HDD C: instead of E: while staying on SATA
connection?

Since I can't change the drive letter in Windows, because it says it can't
change the boot drive, how do I do so in a re-install?

Thanks,
QZ
 
I believe that all that you have to do is set the IDE enhanced mode to on,
and S-ATA. That ought to make the S-ATA drive be the default drive. (I had
the same problem with my P4P800.)

You may have to reformat the drive to fix the drive letter problem.

Alternately, you can change the drive letter using a DOS-based utility like
Partition Magic, but the boot drive will probably be messed up if you do
that. (There'll be a lot of inappropriate entries in the Registry.) You may
be able to change the drive letter, and patch things up with a repair
install.

Best of luck.

Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
 
Bob Knowlden said:
I believe that all that you have to do is set the IDE enhanced mode to on,
and S-ATA. That ought to make the S-ATA drive be the default drive. (I had
the same problem with my P4P800.)
Click to expand...

It was set that way already.
You may have to reformat the drive to fix the drive letter problem.
Click to expand...

I will be reformatting and re-installing WinXP, and this time I will have
the Zip drive disabled in BIOS, and then enable it after WinXP is installed.
 
Hmmm - I guess that my memory fails me.

I believed that I had a problem with the enhanced mode set to PATA + SATA,
but that things were OK once it was set to (only) SATA. I disconnected the
USB drives, but a DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, and an old 100 MB IDE Zip drive all fell
into place as regards drive letters.

At the moment, I'm running a pair of drives in RAID 0, so things are a bit
different anyway.

Bob Kn.
 
I am going to be re-installing Win XP.

On the first install,
Primary IDE C: Zip, D: CD-ROM,
Secondary IDE: None,
Third IDE (SATA) E: HDD

Is there a way to make the HDD C: instead of E: while staying on SATA
connection?

Since I can't change the drive letter in Windows, because it says it can't
change the boot drive, how do I do so in a re-install?

Thanks,
QZ
Click to expand...
As Ayoub mentioned, the easiest most foolproof way is to install with
only the sata hdd & cdrom installed. I would suggest using the Intel
controller as it does not utilize the PCI bus, which is a performance
plus. Disable the Promise controller in the bios if it is not going
to be utilized during the install. No additional drivers will be
needed by XP to recognize the drive. Make sure you set the SATA drive
as first drive in the bios, and obviously when setting your boot order
during the intial install, set the cdrom to 1st boot device, and the
SATA as 2nd boot device. Should go easily and the SATA drive will end
up as C: when you are done.

Ender


"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
 
Ender said:
As Ayoub mentioned, the easiest most foolproof way is to install with
only the sata hdd & cdrom installed. I would suggest using the Intel
controller as it does not utilize the PCI bus, which is a performance
plus. Disable the Promise controller in the bios if it is not going
to be utilized during the install. No additional drivers will be
needed by XP to recognize the drive.
Click to expand...

Used Intel SATA last time, Promise disabled.
Make sure you set the SATA drive
as first drive in the bios,
Click to expand...

I only have one HDD. I guess there is a setting for SATA/IDE priority?
 
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