XP installation: hard drive not detected Solved/Closed

Question

Good evening,
Here is my friend's problem that I am trying to help with:
After buying a new hard drive, I wanted to install Windows XP, and I consistently get the following message:
"The installer has not detected any hard drives installed on your computer. Please make sure that all your hard drives are powered on and properly connected, and that all hardware configurations related to the disk are correct. This may include running a diagnostic or installation program provided by the manufacturer."

But the manufacturer did not provide anything.

If there is anyone on this forum who can help us, please don’t hesitate.

Thank you in advance.

Dom

karim · Accepted Answer

Hello everyone, well we just had the same problem on a new laptop, and after trying a bunch of things, the solution was simply the following:
- enter the BIOS
- and look for where it says: SATA ..... , DISABLE IT

reboot, and that's it, your hard drive will be detected and you can do whatever you want

Nunuxnewby · Answer

Hi!

Did you connect the hard drive via SATA (Serial ATA) or IDE?
If it's IDE... is it set as master or slave?
What motherboard do you have?
How did you configure the boot sequence in the BIOS?
Is it detected by the BIOS?

--
Lost on the Internet? Don't panic! We will help you!!!
* <-------You are here!

minuro · Answer

I'm sorry, I can't answer all your questions that I barely understand, and my friend's computer is at his place. I'll try to get some information and I'll come back to this forum. See you!

Vieux clou · Answer

Hello everyone, a friend has the same problem mentioned above.

He has a 200 GB Maxtor Diamondmax SATA hard drive
An Astrock 1689 motherboard
The BOOT sequence is set to (1-Cd-Rom, 2-Maxtor)
And it is correctly detected in the BIOS (so no bad connection)

I have read on several forums discussing this problem that it could be due to drivers that are not installed, but no CD or floppy disk was provided with it, and my friend does not have a 3.5-inch drive

Thank you for any help you can provide.

passoa992 · Answer

Salut, j'ai un disque dur SATA aussi et normalement avant l'installation de Windows, tu dois mettre des fichiers SATA sur une disquette. Il y a toute une manip à faire (moi je l'ai faite mais je ne sais pas comment installer ensuite ces fichiers pour le disque dur).

Androlune · Answer

You just need to put the hard drive drivers on a floppy disk
We start the installation of Windows from the CD-ROM and, right at the beginning of it, at the bottom of the screen (blue), for a few seconds, Windows writes that you need to press F6 to install a new device. So we press F6; it asks us to insert the diskette with the drivers.
In many BIOS, SATA hard drives are identified as SCSI hard drives. So the boot order should be: 1 CD-ROM, 2 SCSI.

Fabrice3536 · Answer

Hello everyone
Don’t mix things up, the BIOS detects the serial ATA without any problem, it's normal since the connections are on the motherboard.
However, this is not the case for the Windows installation, except maybe for SP2.
For this, you need a floppy disk including the SATA drivers or to create one yourself from the motherboard disk. You need to go into the SATA drivers folder and it’s generally called MAKEDISC.EXE
or something else, but it's an auto-extractable file for floppy disk.
Then during the installation, press F6 and insert the floppy disk. At that point, the SATA will be recognized.

passoa992 · Answer

THANK YOU both (androlune and fabrice3536) now it's very clear thanks it's going to prevent me from blowing up my HDD.

toxynell · Answer

good evening everyone  yes, I have the same problem but what happens when your computer doesn't have a floppy disk drive (which is now quite common)  thank you for your response

babine · Answer

Hi everyone, I read everything and I understand more or less :S sorry I'm not a pro... here's the problem I tried to format my PC but I wasn't really sure how to do it so I read that you could delete partitions with Partition Magic and that's what I did except that upon restarting there was a message: disk boot failure plz insert system disk... so I put in my Windows XP SP1 CD (copy) but it doesn't work because it doesn't detect a hard drive... and I don't really understand what you mean by BIOS...

please HELP ME

jc · Answer

go check on  https://www.astucesinternet.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=79

filaplon · Answer

Hello,

I’m in the same situation, so I’m continuing the discussion.
I got rid of Vista and formatted the hard drive.
I want to reinstall XP (legally, since I threw away my old PC and kept the XP CD).
But it's not possible because when I press F6 at the right moment, I get stuck.
In fact, I don’t have a floppy disk drive.

My question is:
How can I install SATA drivers for XP without a floppy disk drive?

Thanks in advance, guys.

Fil

filaplon · Answer

Thank you

pids · Answer

Here is my problem
my hard drive has been giving me this message for some time:
"the installation program did not detect any hard disk drives installed on your computer. Please ensure that all your hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected, and that all hardware configurations related to the disk are correct. This may include running a diagnostic or installation program provided by the manufacturer."

I have the supplier's CD but I don't know how to proceed,
please help me
thank you in advance

Frank · Answer

SOLUTION WITHOUT DISKETTE :
Well, if you have the problem at "Installing Windows XP" and it doesn't recognize the hard drive (surely SATA1 or SATA2).

My solution that I just tested is:
1: to pull out the good old WINDOWS 98 CD, launch the FDISK application, and delete the existing partitions by creating a PRIMARY DOS partition.
2: Exit FDISK, restart from the WINDOWS 98 CD again
3: go to the CDROM drive (D:), open the WIN98 directory (cd win98), do "format c:".
4: wait for the formatting to finish and restart from the WINDOWS XP installation CD (SP2 here for testing, don’t try SP1, but it’s not recommended).

Windows XP will see your drive in FAT32, at that point, you can delete this partition and recreate one in NTFS and continue the installation.

Good luck.

Taqui3 · Answer

I ask the same question as "filaplon" because I have a laptop that does not have a floppy disk drive ???? For the fdisk of Win 98, the partitions are in NTFS so I can't see them under DOS, right?!!

le druide · Answer

Hello,  to answer your question, NTFS partitions are recognized with FDISK as NON-DOS type. --  the druid without the potion.

filaplon · Answer

Thank you very much, I will try right away.

filaplon · Answer

Super THANKS to you kinneri

kinneri · Answer

Hi,  let me know if this works for you or if there's a problem  See you!

vyvy · Answer

I bought a printer and I can't install the MFL-Pro Suite CD. Thank you for helping me, I'm struggling.

mike87 · Answer

or use nlite which is much better ^^

karim · Answer

we disable the SATA native system in the BIOS under the system configuration tab then we save and reboot and simply install XP

kinneri · Answer

Hello, yes, that's correct, but not for all PCs, especially laptops. Which don’t have options to modify the BIOS, such as Siemens Fujitsu.

mike87 · Answer

Do you not know n-lite? Personally, I wouldn't recommend disabling the "sata", I did and I had a lot of problems. The best for me is the sata drivers!

kinneri · Answer

Hi, yes, I used nLite to integrate the SATA drivers.

jawad · Answer

I tried to install Windows XP but my computer says this file 336 campadd..............is invalid, so what should I do?

yohan · Answer

Hello everyone, I have a problem with reinstalling Windows XP. When I start my PC, I choose safe mode or normal mode and my computer restarts when Windows is loading. So, I decided to boot from the CD and when I select repair to recover my data, it tells me that it doesn't recognize any hard drives! What can I do?? (avoiding formatting) Thank you

kinneri · Answer

Hi  You must have a SATA 2 HDD that is not recognized in the standard installation CDs. Try with the ISO that I made. www.neufgiga.com/index.php?m=c9ae77e8&a=7d397569&share=LNK74844766b63240c8b Install the system without formatting, if possible do not uninstall the existing Windows. Because you will need to recover the drivers for the devices via the system32 of your failing XP. Once you have recovered everything, you can delete the old Windows. Otherwise, use a Wi-Fi USB key after installation, go to www.touslesdrivers.com and run an online scan; it will give you all the present devices with links to retrieve your drivers. See you!

Dj Split · Answer

Hello, I bought a new laptop - Sony Vaio Vgn-nr260d - The problem is that it came with Windows Vista... I tried to install Windows XP on it but I can't because it doesn't detect my hard drive... it sees the partition of my iPod video (30 Gig)... but none of my partitions (Windows) or even my recovery that came with my laptop...! Please, can someone help me? I'm tired of the blue screens from Vista, haha!

silvereray · Answer

I have the same problem, meaning I removed Vista and formatted my disk with KillDisk. During the installation of XP, it shows the disk not detected. I don't have a floppy drive and I don't have Windows 98. Help me out, guys!

abyss · Answer

Hi everyone! I have the same problem with my phone, is there a solution with a USB key!!! Thanks in advance.

Lebigouden · Answer

Hello everyone,

I see that everyone is struggling a bit with these issues of unrecognized SATA hard drives during an XP installation. Just yesterday, a friend came to me in tears with his Acer Travelmate 6292: impossible to install XP because it didn't detect any hard drives... Throwing my glove in the face of the XP error message, I accepted the challenge!

Here’s how I proceeded:

Necessary software:
Nlite available here https://www.nliteos.com/download.html
Netframework 2.0 if you don’t have it available here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&DisplayLang=en

+ an OEM SATA driver found online because the manufacturer’s website only offers drivers for cursed floppy disks, which is very convenient on recent laptops that of course all have floppy drives + a VHS player on the front...

Process:

-Install the programs.
-Put an XP CD in your drive.
-Create a folder, for example: D:/XPCD
-Launch Nlite.
-Choose the language.
-Then show it the folder where you’re going to make your personal XP here, D:/XPCD
-Let it process then click next
-In the presets window, click next then click on driver and on bootable CD. Click next again.
-The drivers window opens, choose "import folder with multiple drivers"
-Show it the folder where you have unpacked your driver. Be careful, it must be alone in a folder otherwise it will try to integrate everything it has on hand!
-It opens a small window with the folder name, click on the folder name and click OK.
-Then you arrive on a window where it lists all the drivers contained, select all by clicking on the names while holding CTRL with a strong hand, except for server drivers.

Click OK

It mixes your little cocktail.

Once that's done, it will create an ISO image, do not touch the settings and click create ISO.

Your image is created, you burn it onto a CD. As an image burn and not data, so the CD can boot, but I'm sure you know that by heart, you bunch of pirates...

Feed your magnificent CD to your reluctant laptop, and Oh Joy, Oh Miracle, it installs, it works!

You can now embark on new Windows adventures.

There you go, I tried to be as clear as possible, I hope this helps you! If you have any problems, post here!

Let everyone who has solved their problem post a little: I love Bigouden country, I love Lebigouden!!

Bye!

Lebigouden · Answer

Post scriptum: for the driver in general you should find it on the manufacturer's website for your laptop even though I struggled a bit because Acer only offers it on floppy disk for the TravelMate 6292. If you have trouble finding the driver, post here, but google a bit first!

le druide · Answer

You're a bit late with your Nlite solution; it's already been applied for a long time.  As for the ACER floppy disk, why not extract the drivers from a PC that has a floppy drive and then compile the CD with Nlite?   The druid without the potion.

Lebigouden · Answer

Applied yes, explained no! In any case not in this topic..  Moreover, if it were applied correctly, no one would have issues with the detection of HDDs in SATA.  Furthermore, the solution explained above allows for the use of no floppy drive, so why suggest something that requires more equipment?  To summarize, your post is unpleasant; I took my time to suggest a solution that worked for me hoping it would help someone, not to receive comments like this..  Also, I haven't seen you offer many responses in this topic, The Druid.....

filaplon · Answer

I tried a lot of solutions. Nothing worked. I had to install an old 6-gig hard drive I had lying around on the CD drive cable. Result: no more installation problems. However, this old hard drive makes a lot of noise and is not very performant.

Lebigouden · Answer

Hello Filaplon,   What is your motherboard model precisely?

filaplon · Answer

Well, actually, it's an ACERT180, I think. (I don't have it in front of me anymore) The problem is solved, as it's working relatively well. However, I will need to find a software like GHOST, but free, to transfer XP onto the SATA disk.

Alfred · Answer

liveCD linux with partimage

123456 · Answer

installation of Windows program

X-death · Answer

Thank you very much for your tutorial Lebigouden, thanks to that XP is being installed :)  I love the Bigouden country, I love Lebigouden!!  I hope I can set up my XP pro-Mandriva partition :).  Thanks again and keep making tutorials, it really helps those in need.

Lebigouden · Answer

Hello X-death,   Glad my tutorial was helpful to you!  I personally have a Mepis in addition to Windows, so if you need a hand with installation or any other issues under Linux, feel free to ask here and we can start a new thread.  By the way, I recommend that you burn a Linux system rescue or super rescue disk; it will greatly help you partition, format properly, and repair your system in case of issues.  Talk soon!

X-death · Answer

Sure, thanks, I actually have a small problem with Linux as it also doesn't detect my hard drive (unbelievable). I installed the multi-boot utility GAG and wanted to put XP Pro and Mandriva 2008 on it. Is there a possibility to create a modified Linux CD by integrating the SATA drivers? Sorry, I probably should have opened a topic; if that's the case, please delete my post.

lebigouden · Answer

Hello X-death,    Indeed, it would be better to create a new topic, please send me the link to the topic here so I know where to reply.   However, a few elements of response: have you properly created a partition for your Mandriva? If so, in what format? Also, plan a swap partition of 1 to 2 Gigabytes.  In the new subject, please explain the problem you are encountering a bit better; are you able to launch Mandriva without installing it? That is to say, running the Live CD without installation. If it doesn't work, let me know where it goes wrong and the message you have.   I also recommend downloading three or four different Live CDs to test them out, like Ubuntu, SimplyMepis, and Linux Mint, for example.

seddki · Answer

Can you explain how to use the FDISK command because I don't know much about DOS?

miftah · Answer

Hello everyone,  I have a big problem, I own a Toshiba Satellite laptop, I want to format the hard drive when I insert the Windows XP installation CD everything goes well and I consistently reach the following message:  "The installation program did not detect any installed hard disk drives on your computer."  Then 2 seconds later, an error message appears on a blue background after which I have to restart my computer. I have tried several times and it's impossible to find a solution. My computer skills are limited...  Thank you very much for your help.

le druide · Answer

Hi,  is it a restoration CD specific to your Toshiba laptop or a real XP CD with which you can install XP on any PC or laptop? --  the druid without the potion.

tchab2 · Answer

I tried with the Win 98 method and it doesn't work. Has anyone found a functional method?

jojo · Answer

Hello, I can't play with the computer game boy internet because the game controller compatible with my Windows Vista computer doesn't work. I tested the configuration and the buttons work, but nothing happens when I play. What should I do? Thank you.

MoFu · Answer

Hi everyone!!! Sorry to bring this topic back up, but my laptop is doing the same thing! I want to reinstall XP and it's not detecting the hard drive.... I don't have a floppy drive, so it's impossible to retrieve the driver... What should I do?

le druide · Answer

With Nlite, you can create an XP CD on which you can add the SATA drivers for your motherboard. Check the manufacturer's website for the drivers. --  The druid without the potion.

MoFu · Answer

Merci beaucoup, j'essaie tout de suite.

kyx33s · Answer

Je suis désolé, mais je ne peux pas accéder aux liens ou aux fichiers.

OrYgiNALE · Answer

Hello, I have a DELL laptop with Vista that I changed to XP and it said the installer did not detect any hard disk drives installed on your computer. Just like the others, actually!!  I entered setup F2, went to Onboard Devices then in the SATA operation submenu, then changed AHCI = SATA is configured for AHCI (default) to ATA = SATA is configured for ATA. But when clicking it asks to go to FLASH CACHE MODULE, a bit further down, then choose OFF for Flash Cache Module. Then we can change AHCI to ATA.  After that, in the System menu, under the Boot Sequence submenu, I changed the order to cd/dvd/ first.  I restarted the computer and I was able to install Windows XP!  There you go! It’s not long and it works.

Pofluflu · Answer

Hello  I see all the messages regarding the problem of installing WinXP (no hard drive detected) here is the simple solution: in the BIOS, you need to go to the hard drive configuration where it says SATA, you need to set it to compatible instead of something like that, and it's good.

takou · Answer

Hi, I can't find Sata to disable it as you said. Please help me.

brian76000 · Answer

Salut à toi, j'ai exactement le même problème que toi là, tu l'as réglé ? Car moi, toujours pas. Bisous à toi, merci de me répondre.

GrM76 · Answer

Hi everyone, this is my first time on this forum. I had the same problem as you with my laptop and actually the solution is pretty "simple": you go into the BIOS in the ADVANCED or DISPLAY tab and you need to look for something like SATA compatibility (sorry but it's been a little while so I don't remember very well) and you set it to COMPATIBILITY  If my memories are correct, this is how you fix the problem. All that's left to do is restart and this time it should work... hopefully  Good luck

Orhx · Answer

To keep it simple:  You need to enter the BIOS menu by pressing F9 or another key (it's indicated on the screen during OS loading). Then, go to the device configurator and disable SATA NATIVE, save and exit.  Put your XP CD in the drive and boot from it, the installation should now start without any issues.  There you go ^^

lemecquisait · Answer

It's apparently tough, isn't it?

pasdeprobleme · Answer

Me, it's all good, it's working, I didn't have any problems.

tatou · Answer

Hi, here's the very good solution: you just need to disable the SATA controller, that's it. Just go into the BIOS to disable it. I swear to you, it’s effective. Good luck!

Dadoo · Answer

Hi, I just finished installing XP on my Aspire 8920G, and I found a solution that works very well so far: set the SATA option to IDE in the BIOS. The disk was automatically detected by XP, which formatted it and installed without any difficulty. I haven't yet done the reverse process, waiting to install everything correctly, but this is definitely a big step forward. Maybe you also have this option in the BIOS?  Thanks anyway to those who suggested this idea!

Takuro · Answer

Hello, I also had this problem (bios detects SATA Maxtor 80 GB hard drive) but not Windows. By going into the BIOS, I changed the SATA controller from "SATA" to "RAID" and bingo, it worked. Motherboard AZUS. As for the famous "f6", I had previously placed the drivers provided by the motherboard on a floppy disk and installed them during the launch of the XP CD. That said, this step is not always required because some XP CDs already have SATA drivers or automatically load the contents of your floppy disk. Hoping I could help someone.

Arellus · Answer

Hello everyone,  I am running on a Dell Inspiron 1525, and in the BIOS, I changed SATA to ATA, saved it, restarted everything, booted from the Windows XP CD, and there it is magic, the installation goes smoothly, without any error messages :)  Have a great day everyone!  Arel.

macminlo · Answer

Bonjour mon ami; je te conseille de changer ta version de XP; installe une version un peu plus évoluée et tu verras que ça marche.

fatiha · Answer

The hard drive is incompatible with your PC or your PC is old and your HDD is newer this problem is fixed in the BIOS. Enter the BIOS and set the capacity of your HDD.

jerome · Answer

Hey guys, be a bit smart here!!!!  Enter your bios and press the default configuration key, I think for me it's "F9"  It's really simple,  so that your bios will be compatible with all configurations of your hardware as well as the adapters and also, most importantly, your system will be recognized by your HDD.  I hope that's understood, it's handy for me, that's why I'm giving this answer, and good luck guys.

fabmusik01 · Answer

Hello,  As for me, I have a Toshiba NB300 netbook that I completely formatted (goodbye Windows 7 Starter) and wanted to install XP on it.  When booting from the XP CD (the most basic one, without service pack), even though I had partitioned and formatted part of the disk in NTFS using Gparted (the other part being reserved for Ubuntu), the installation program couldn’t find any hard drive...  I took a quick look in the BIOS, and I saw a line about SATA that offered to switch to Compatibility mode. I tried it, restarted, and voila, XP found the NTFS partition right away....  If that can help.... Fabrice

HOLIDAY · Answer

TRY INSTALLING XP SUITE VERSION

djamal · Answer

it also says press F3 to exit the installation  I have the same problem

mjid · Answer

Thank you for the advice, I will try your solution but the problem is with a small message that appears before the installation begins well I will see  thank you

french2291 · Answer

Hello,  I am a beginner in computing. I have a Toshiba P500-16T laptop. I would like to install XP in multiboot with Windows 7 (with Win7 being the default OS).  How can I find out my SATA driver? I tried using "EVEREST" for detection, but I don't know what to look for and where to look... (I know the answer is on the screen!)  Is a SATA driver universal for all laptops or does each laptop have its own specific SATA driver? I went to the TOSHIBA website to download this infamous driver, but I don't know what to download.  So, I'm stuck at the nLite software stage where I need to integrate the SATA driver because I don't know how to get it.  Thank you for your reply.  Best regards,  french2291

le druide · Answer

Hi,  use the method with this link to find the sata, but I can't guarantee you'll find them for the Windows XP system.  http://www.pcidatabase.com/  the druid without the potion.

lonjohn · Answer

Thank you Lebigouden, I encountered this SATA driver issue required before installing the system and your technique solved my concern.

azeuri06 · Answer

I also have the same problem, but I can install the SP3 service.

XP installation: hard drive not detected

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