Gigabyte K8N ULTRA 9 - doesnt recognize my SATA hard drive

[jayo1]

Hi,
I had this motherboard replaced in a new one, exactly the same, due to some error...
I have the same old SATA hard drive that already has win XP installed, but the new motherboard doesnt recognize it, and only tries to boot from the CD...
the drive doesn't show in the BIOS,
the motherboard automatically asks me if i want to enter the RAID setup afterwards... and in the RAID setup he does recognize the HD... although that from what I understand, i don't need to install any RAID thing...

I guess that everything worked fine 2 years ago when i bought the PC because I installed the XP from a CD and from there it went on good... but right now im in a situation where i dont need to install the XP... its already exist on the HD...
the only problem is that the HD isnt being recognized properly... so what can I do?

the HD is connectd with an orange SATA cable to one of four SATA II ports available on the Motherboard...

Thanks!

 

[o1die]

If your hardrive was retail boxed, then you should have a driver cd from the manufacturer. If it was oem, then you can download the software off their website and burn it to a cd. With the software, you can use it to format and partition your new drive while in windows or as a bootdisk. I use my maxblast software to make a drive to drive copy while running windows. Hook up both drives and your system will use the old drive to boot up. While in windows, copy the software to your windows operating system. Then open it and select the prepare your hardrive section. It will only format and partition the unused drive. It won't allow you to alter the drive that is running windows. You may have to select "other drives" if it doesn't see your new drive right away. Then you can format and partition the new drive, and select either use the drive as the new boot device or as a spare slave. If you select it as a boot device, then the software will make an exact copy of your old drive. If you just want it partitioned and formated, then you can use the cd as a bootdisk with just the new drive connected to your motherboard. The software can also create a floppy disk with the sata driver if you want to use the new drive only and load a fresh copy of windows.

 

[jayo1]

I don't think you understood me correct... I don't want to format or partition any hard drive, nor install windows again... I only want my replaced motherboard to recognize my hard drive which already has windows installed on it, thats it...

 

[simlev]

I don't know if this can help. I had problems too and they were solved by manually setting LBA as the "disk access mode" for all > 120GB hard drives.

 

[o1die]

Check your motherboard manufacturer's website for the specific sata driver for your new motherboard. You may have to back up your files first and do a fresh install of windows. During the installation process, windows will ask you to press F6 to install any raid or sata drivers. The hardrive software can create a floppy for this procedure. Also, be sure your power supply cable is making good contact with the hardrive. I've had cables separate from the hardrive during installation.