XP won't boot when 2nd HDD attached

  • Thread starter Thread starter The Doctor
  • Start date Start date
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The Doctor

Here's a puzzle:

I've just installed a new 80G HD for storage space.
Or, I've tried to; it's in the machine, it's connected
to the motherboard, it's properly jumpered to be slave,
it's connected to the power source, my C:/ drive is
jumpered to be master.

Windows XP Home will not boot if I've got it connected.

BIOS sees it, no problem. I've tried using a newer
connecting cable, a new jumper shunt, jumpering them both
for "Cable Select". I've gone into Drive Manager and
renamed all my CD-ROMs and ZIPs so that there's no
conflicts.

No matter what, if that new HDD is attached, my 'puter
gets to the point where XP is about to start, and the
screen goes blank--total system hang.

BIOS is set to boot from CD first, HDD-0 (C Drive) second,
so it shouldn't be trying to boot from the new, empty, HD.

I'm flummoxed. Does anyone have any ideas?
 
Try connecting the new drive to the Secondary IDE Channel by itself as
Master temporarily. See if it boots
in that config. Leave the cdroms disconnected.
 
The Doctor said:
Here's a puzzle:

I've just installed a new 80G HD for storage space.
Or, I've tried to; it's in the machine, it's connected
to the motherboard, it's properly jumpered to be slave,
it's connected to the power source, my C:/ drive is
jumpered to be master.

Windows XP Home will not boot if I've got it connected.

BIOS sees it, no problem. I've tried using a newer
connecting cable, a new jumper shunt, jumpering them both
for "Cable Select". I've gone into Drive Manager and
renamed all my CD-ROMs and ZIPs so that there's no
conflicts.

No matter what, if that new HDD is attached, my 'puter
gets to the point where XP is about to start, and the
screen goes blank--total system hang.

BIOS is set to boot from CD first, HDD-0 (C Drive) second,
so it shouldn't be trying to boot from the new, empty, HD.

I'm flummoxed. Does anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...
 
When you say "connected", I assume that you mean both 80-pin IDE cable and
power cable are connected. (Do not try to use a 40pin IDE cable with XP as
it rarely works with ATA.100 or 133 drives.)

Try connecting only the power cable, but not the IDE cable. Obviously
neither the BIOS not XP should see the second drive, but the power supply
will "see" it. If this configuration interfers with booting, then the
problem is that you have overloaded the power supply, enough to drop some
critical voltage in the motherboard, but not enough to blow a fuse. If this
is the case, install a larger wattage power supply.
 
If you have both drives identified in BIOS when you run 'autodetect' for the disk drives, it simply reads the hard drive configuration information

It does not verify if the 'new' drive 80Gb has been properly setup to run with a particular Operating System [be it DOS, Windows Xp or Linux]

You will need to do this: using FDISK to create a file system [FAT32 or NTFS] and partition the drive

Use Computer Manager - Start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Managemen
Select Disk Managemen

You should be able to see this new drive even if it has not yet been allocated a drive letter.
Select the driv
Click on ACTION from the menu bar
Partition and then forma

If you can't do this, get a BOOT disk [Win 98 will work] and at the command prompt type in FDIS
follow the steps to select the drive and creat the partition and make it active, you will need to rebbot again with this Floppy disk and then Format the new Hard Disk
 
Hi

Try unistall and then disconnect the ZIP drive first
Make sure you are using a 80 Pin shielded IDE cable
Jumper both HDDs to cable select
Connect the Master drive to the IDE cable connector at far end and the new HDD should be connected to the IDE cable connector at the middle (slave)
Boot into BIOS and change the Primary IDE channels to auto detect and enable DMA mode, save and exit BIOS setup
Restart the PC, windows should find the new Hdd
Right click My Computer/manage/disk management
Double click disk mangement, in the lower right pane, you should see Disk 0 and disk 1 where disk 1 is the new slave drive
Right click on it and select initialize drive and click OK. Now, you can assign a drive letter to the new drive and then format and partition the drive to your desire
After all, re-connect the Zip drive

Hope it helps

Pete


----- The Doctor wrote: ----

Here's a puzzle

I've just installed a new 80G HD for storage space
Or, I've tried to; it's in the machine, it's connecte
to the motherboard, it's properly jumpered to be slave,
it's connected to the power source, my C:/ drive is
jumpered to be master

Windows XP Home will not boot if I've got it connected

BIOS sees it, no problem. I've tried using a newer
connecting cable, a new jumper shunt, jumpering them bot
for "Cable Select". I've gone into Drive Manager an
renamed all my CD-ROMs and ZIPs so that there's no
conflicts

No matter what, if that new HDD is attached, my 'puter
gets to the point where XP is about to start, and the
screen goes blank--total system hang

BIOS is set to boot from CD first, HDD-0 (C Drive) second
so it shouldn't be trying to boot from the new, empty, HD

I'm flummoxed. Does anyone have any ideas
 
I should have mentioned--the 80G HD came with an
installation CD, which I used to partition the drive
as one 80G NTFS partition; the CD can be used without
Windows if it's in the drive when the system starts
(like the XP install CD). Even that sees the HD.
Even after that, XP will not load if the HD is attached.
I've also tried hooking it up to the second IDE slot
on the motherboard, still nothing.

You can see why I'm at my wit's end...I appreciate the
help, though.
-----Original Message-----
If you have both drives identified in BIOS when you
Click to expand...
run 'autodetect' for the disk drives, it simply reads the
hard drive configuration information.
It does not verify if the 'new' drive 80Gb has been
Click to expand...
properly setup to run with a particular Operating System
[be it DOS, Windows Xp or Linux].
You will need to do this: using FDISK to create a file
Click to expand...
system [FAT32 or NTFS] and partition the drive.
Use Computer Manager - Start>Control
Click to expand...
Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management
Select Disk Management

You should be able to see this new drive even if it has
Click to expand...
not yet been allocated a drive letter.
Select the drive
Click on ACTION from the menu bar
Partition and then format

If you can't do this, get a BOOT disk [Win 98 will
Click to expand...
work] and at the command prompt type in FDISK
follow the steps to select the drive and creat the
Click to expand...
partition and make it active, you will need to rebbot
again with this Floppy disk and then Format the new Hard
Disk
 
I've tried everything in the posts...even installed the
software that Western Digital provides with the new HD,
and I'm still getting a system hang...

I probably need a newer motherboard, but I was hoping to
spare myself the expense.

Thanks everyone, for all the help; you tried, and I
do appreciate it :-}
 
Problem solved. Windows boots if the 2nd HDD is attached
to the second IDE slot as a secondary master. It still
makes no sense, but at least I can use it now, so that's
the important thing. Thanks all for your advice!
 
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