Upgrading to 160GB HD in WinXP-SP1

[Rob]

Hi and thanks for your attention!

I have two questions:

1. Western Digital says I might need Service Pack 1a to
ensure that my 160GB HD is supported as 1 partion. Is
that true? I have SP1 with all of the critical updates
(HotFixes) and Microsoft doesn't recommend installing
SP1a. They say it only removes Microsoft Virtual
Machine -- which I prefer not to lose -- and fixes some
bugs that are already included in the HotFixes. How can
I be sure that my new HD will be supported as 1 partition
if I don't update to SP1a?

2. Western Digital says that WindowsXP doesn't include
native drivers for their PCI ATA100 controller card so I
have to install it and their drivers prior to connecting
the new HD. However, my ASUS A7N266 board came with two
onboard Ultra DMA100 IDE channels that seem to work
fine. My current HD runs at Ultra DMA Mode 5 -- so does
that mean that I am alright to plug their ATA100
controller card in without installing their drivers?

Thanks again!

Rob

[R. C. White]

Hi, Rob.

"Big Drives", as Maxtor calls them, are drives over about 137 GB, which is
the limit of the addressing capabilities of older BIOSes and OS versions.
Larger drives need a 48-bit addressing system, rather than the 28-bit scheme
which works up to that point. For an overview, see these two articles (from
a Google search for "big drives"):

http://www.maxtor.com/en/technologies/big_drives/

and
Live Large with Big Drives
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,696755,00.asp

I'm not clear on how this is implemented in SP1 or SP1a, so I'll leave that
up to others.

As to your point 2, the ATA100 controller issue, it depends on whether you
plan to boot from this new HD, or only to use is as a secondary drive. To
use it as storage, all you need is to use Device Manager to install the
drivers from inside WinXP.

To boot from that new HD/controller, though, will probably require a longer,
more complex process. When WinXP Setup installs Windows on your computer,
one of the first things it does is inspect your hardware configuration, and
then it customizes YOUR copy of WinXP to fit that environment. It picks
drivers from the CD-ROM to fit your hardware, including your boot device.
If there is no suitable driver for the boot device on the CD, then Setup
will continue through its text phase, but will fail when it tries to reboot
into GUI mode. The most common symptom is a BSOD complaining of Stop 0x7B,
Inaccessible-Boot-Device. The only cure for this is the F6/floppy shuffle.
:>( Have the proper drivers for your boot drive/controller on a floppy
diskette before you begin Setup. As soon as Setup has detected the
hardware, it will flash a message onscreen to Press F6 if you need to
install drivers for SCSI or another mass storage controller. Press F6 and
wait while a lot of programs are transferred and Setup halts with
instructions onscreen telling how to use the floppy to install the drivers.
When this is completed, WinXP will be able to boot from that new drive and
continue installing.

Since WD says WinXP doesn't include native drivers for their hardware, I
suspect that you will need to go through this F6 procedure - which
essentially means a reinstallation of WinXP. :>( If you use Microsoft's
instructions for an "in-place upgrade", you can preserve all or most of your
installed applications and all of your data - and maybe some of your WinXP
"tweaks". As the KB article says, though, it is not intended as a
time-saver; it will take about as long as a fresh install and you will need
to visit Windows Update as soon as you get back online to be sure you have
all SPs and other fixes.

If you find a shorter solution, please let us ALL know. In a newsgroup, we
all learn from each other.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

"Rob" > wrote in message
...
> Hi and thanks for your attention!
>
> I have two questions:
>
> 1. Western Digital says I might need Service Pack 1a to
> ensure that my 160GB HD is supported as 1 partion. Is
> that true? I have SP1 with all of the critical updates
> (HotFixes) and Microsoft doesn't recommend installing
> SP1a. They say it only removes Microsoft Virtual
> Machine -- which I prefer not to lose -- and fixes some
> bugs that are already included in the HotFixes. How can
> I be sure that my new HD will be supported as 1 partition
> if I don't update to SP1a?
>
> 2. Western Digital says that WindowsXP doesn't include
> native drivers for their PCI ATA100 controller card so I
> have to install it and their drivers prior to connecting
> the new HD. However, my ASUS A7N266 board came with two
> onboard Ultra DMA100 IDE channels that seem to work
> fine. My current HD runs at Ultra DMA Mode 5 -- so does
> that mean that I am alright to plug their ATA100
> controller card in without installing their drivers?
>
> Thanks again!
>
> Rob

[Rob]

Thanks for your advice!

How does this strategy sound:

1. I connect the new HD to the IDE controller card.
2. Use Symantec's Norton Ghost 2003 to image my entire
system from the old HD onto the new one.
3. Disable the IDE controller card in Device Manager and
set BIOS not to boot from that device.
4. Switch HDs placing the new drive at the primary
onboard IDE channel and the old drive at the IDE
controller card.
5. Restart the system booting from the new drive while
the old drive is virtually invisible.
6. Enable the IDE controller card in Device Manager
whenever I need to update / backup my system image.

Will this work, or am I missing something critical?

Thanks!

Rob

>-----Original Message-----
>Hi, Rob.
>
>"Big Drives", as Maxtor calls them, are drives over
about 137 GB, which is
>the limit of the addressing capabilities of older BIOSes
and OS versions.
>Larger drives need a 48-bit addressing system, rather
than the 28-bit scheme
>which works up to that point. For an overview, see
these two articles (from
>a Google search for "big drives"):
>
>http://www.maxtor.com/en/technologies/big_drives/
>
>and
>Live Large with Big Drives
>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,696755,00.asp
>
>I'm not clear on how this is implemented in SP1 or SP1a,
so I'll leave that
>up to others.
>
>As to your point 2, the ATA100 controller issue, it
depends on whether you
>plan to boot from this new HD, or only to use is as a
secondary drive. To
>use it as storage, all you need is to use Device Manager
to install the
>drivers from inside WinXP.
>
>To boot from that new HD/controller, though, will
probably require a longer,
>more complex process. When WinXP Setup installs Windows
on your computer,
>one of the first things it does is inspect your hardware
configuration, and
>then it customizes YOUR copy of WinXP to fit that
environment. It picks
>drivers from the CD-ROM to fit your hardware, including
your boot device.
>If there is no suitable driver for the boot device on
the CD, then Setup
>will continue through its text phase, but will fail when
it tries to reboot
>into GUI mode. The most common symptom is a BSOD
complaining of Stop 0x7B,
>Inaccessible-Boot-Device. The only cure for this is the
F6/floppy shuffle.
>:>( Have the proper drivers for your boot
drive/controller on a floppy
>diskette before you begin Setup. As soon as Setup has
detected the
>hardware, it will flash a message onscreen to Press F6
if you need to
>install drivers for SCSI or another mass storage
controller. Press F6 and
>wait while a lot of programs are transferred and Setup
halts with
>instructions onscreen telling how to use the floppy to
install the drivers.
>When this is completed, WinXP will be able to boot from
that new drive and
>continue installing.
>
>Since WD says WinXP doesn't include native drivers for
their hardware, I
>suspect that you will need to go through this F6
procedure - which
>essentially means a reinstallation of WinXP. :>( If
you use Microsoft's
>instructions for an "in-place upgrade", you can preserve
all or most of your
>installed applications and all of your data - and maybe
some of your WinXP
>"tweaks". As the KB article says, though, it is not
intended as a
>time-saver; it will take about as long as a fresh
install and you will need
>to visit Windows Update as soon as you get back online
to be sure you have
>all SPs and other fixes.
>
>If you find a shorter solution, please let us ALL know.
In a newsgroup, we
>all learn from each other.
>
>RC
>--
>R. C. White, CPA
>San Marcos, TX

>Microsoft Windows MVP
>
>"Rob" > wrote in message
...
>> Hi and thanks for your attention!
>>
>> I have two questions:
>>
>> 1. Western Digital says I might need Service Pack 1a to
>> ensure that my 160GB HD is supported as 1 partion. Is
>> that true? I have SP1 with all of the critical updates
>> (HotFixes) and Microsoft doesn't recommend installing
>> SP1a. They say it only removes Microsoft Virtual
>> Machine -- which I prefer not to lose -- and fixes some
>> bugs that are already included in the HotFixes. How
can
>> I be sure that my new HD will be supported as 1
partition
>> if I don't update to SP1a?
>>
>> 2. Western Digital says that WindowsXP doesn't include
>> native drivers for their PCI ATA100 controller card so
I
>> have to install it and their drivers prior to
connecting
>> the new HD. However, my ASUS A7N266 board came with
two
>> onboard Ultra DMA100 IDE channels that seem to work
>> fine. My current HD runs at Ultra DMA Mode 5 -- so
does
>> that mean that I am alright to plug their ATA100
>> controller card in without installing their drivers?
>>
>> Thanks again!
>>
>> Rob
>
>
>.
>

[R. C. White]

Hi, Rob.

Step by step inline...

"Rob" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks for your advice!
>
> How does this strategy sound:
>
> 1. I connect the new HD to the IDE controller card.

OK - be sure the card is recognized and its drivers installed.

> 2. Use Symantec's Norton Ghost 2003 to image my entire
> system from the old HD onto the new one.

I haven't actually used Ghost recently and don't recall if it also transfers
the boot sector, which is not a file and can't be handled by normal file
copiers. If it doesn't, then you'll have to run the Repair procedure,
booting from the WinXP CD-ROM, in Step 5, to get the boot sector onto your
new Drive C:.

> 3. Disable the IDE controller card in Device Manager and
> set BIOS not to boot from that device.

Good.

> 4. Switch HDs placing the new drive at the primary
> onboard IDE channel and the old drive at the IDE
> controller card.

Yes and no. Leave the old drive out altogether for now. It still has a
primary partition marked Active (bootable) and that's going to confuse
things in the next step, probably resulting in the first partition on your
NEW drive being labeled something other than Drive C: - and that's not easy
to fix.

> 5. Restart the system booting from the new drive while
> the old drive is virtually invisible.

Make the old drive ENTIRELY invisible for now. Boot into WinXP on the new
drive and use Disk Management to specifically assign the drive letters, so
that WinXP won't use its built-in algorithm on the next boot and assign that
old Drive C: as Drive C: again!

> 6. Enable the IDE controller card in Device Manager
> whenever I need to update / backup my system image.

Go ahead and leave the new card enabled. So long as it is used only for
secondary drives, it will be fine. If you ever decide to boot from a drive
connected to that controller card, though, you will need to do the F6
procedure to get the driver integrated into YOUR copy of WinXP.

> Will this work, or am I missing something critical?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Rob

As I said, let us know how this works out for you - especially if you find a
shortcut - or if you find mistakes in what I've posted. I'm an accountant,
not a techie, and all I know is what I've experienced and read, so there are
a lot of things I would like to learn. ;<)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

> >Hi, Rob.
> >
> >"Big Drives", as Maxtor calls them, are drives over
> about 137 GB, which is
> >the limit of the addressing capabilities of older BIOSes
> and OS versions.
> >Larger drives need a 48-bit addressing system, rather
> than the 28-bit scheme
> >which works up to that point. For an overview, see
> these two articles (from
> >a Google search for "big drives"):
> >
> >http://www.maxtor.com/en/technologies/big_drives/
> >
> >and
> >Live Large with Big Drives
> >http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,696755,00.asp
> >
> >I'm not clear on how this is implemented in SP1 or SP1a,
> so I'll leave that
> >up to others.
> >
> >As to your point 2, the ATA100 controller issue, it
> depends on whether you
> >plan to boot from this new HD, or only to use is as a
> secondary drive. To
> >use it as storage, all you need is to use Device Manager
> to install the
> >drivers from inside WinXP.
> >
> >To boot from that new HD/controller, though, will
> probably require a longer,
> >more complex process. When WinXP Setup installs Windows
> on your computer,
> >one of the first things it does is inspect your hardware
> configuration, and
> >then it customizes YOUR copy of WinXP to fit that
> environment. It picks
> >drivers from the CD-ROM to fit your hardware, including
> your boot device.
> >If there is no suitable driver for the boot device on
> the CD, then Setup
> >will continue through its text phase, but will fail when
> it tries to reboot
> >into GUI mode. The most common symptom is a BSOD
> complaining of Stop 0x7B,
> >Inaccessible-Boot-Device. The only cure for this is the
> F6/floppy shuffle.
> >:>( Have the proper drivers for your boot
> drive/controller on a floppy
> >diskette before you begin Setup. As soon as Setup has
> detected the
> >hardware, it will flash a message onscreen to Press F6
> if you need to
> >install drivers for SCSI or another mass storage
> controller. Press F6 and
> >wait while a lot of programs are transferred and Setup
> halts with
> >instructions onscreen telling how to use the floppy to
> install the drivers.
> >When this is completed, WinXP will be able to boot from
> that new drive and
> >continue installing.
> >
> >Since WD says WinXP doesn't include native drivers for
> their hardware, I
> >suspect that you will need to go through this F6
> procedure - which
> >essentially means a reinstallation of WinXP. :>( If
> you use Microsoft's
> >instructions for an "in-place upgrade", you can preserve
> all or most of your
> >installed applications and all of your data - and maybe
> some of your WinXP
> >"tweaks". As the KB article says, though, it is not
> intended as a
> >time-saver; it will take about as long as a fresh
> install and you will need
> >to visit Windows Update as soon as you get back online
> to be sure you have
> >all SPs and other fixes.
> >
> >If you find a shorter solution, please let us ALL know.
> In a newsgroup, we
> >all learn from each other.
> >
> >RC
> >
> >"Rob" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> Hi and thanks for your attention!
> >>
> >> I have two questions:
> >>
> >> 1. Western Digital says I might need Service Pack 1a to
> >> ensure that my 160GB HD is supported as 1 partion. Is
> >> that true? I have SP1 with all of the critical updates
> >> (HotFixes) and Microsoft doesn't recommend installing
> >> SP1a. They say it only removes Microsoft Virtual
> >> Machine -- which I prefer not to lose -- and fixes some
> >> bugs that are already included in the HotFixes. How
> can
> >> I be sure that my new HD will be supported as 1
> partition
> >> if I don't update to SP1a?
> >>
> >> 2. Western Digital says that WindowsXP doesn't include
> >> native drivers for their PCI ATA100 controller card so
> I
> >> have to install it and their drivers prior to
> connecting
> >> the new HD. However, my ASUS A7N266 board came with
> two
> >> onboard Ultra DMA100 IDE channels that seem to work
> >> fine. My current HD runs at Ultra DMA Mode 5 -- so
> does
> >> that mean that I am alright to plug their ATA100
> >> controller card in without installing their drivers?
> >>
> >> Thanks again!
> >>
> >> Rob

[Rob]

Thanks again for your excellent feedback RC!

Would you please clarify how to assign drive letters in
Disk Management and what you mean by going through the F6
procedure -- I'm not sure that I am familiar with those
functions.

Thanks!

Rob

>-----Original Message-----
>Hi, Rob.
>
>Step by step inline...
>
>"Rob" > wrote in message
...
>> Thanks for your advice!
>>
>> How does this strategy sound:
>>
>> 1. I connect the new HD to the IDE controller card.
>
>OK - be sure the card is recognized and its drivers
installed.
>
>> 2. Use Symantec's Norton Ghost 2003 to image my entire
>> system from the old HD onto the new one.
>
>I haven't actually used Ghost recently and don't recall
if it also transfers
>the boot sector, which is not a file and can't be
handled by normal file
>copiers. If it doesn't, then you'll have to run the
Repair procedure,
>booting from the WinXP CD-ROM, in Step 5, to get the
boot sector onto your
>new Drive C:.
>
>> 3. Disable the IDE controller card in Device Manager
and
>> set BIOS not to boot from that device.
>
>Good.
>
>> 4. Switch HDs placing the new drive at the primary
>> onboard IDE channel and the old drive at the IDE
>> controller card.
>
>Yes and no. Leave the old drive out altogether for
now. It still has a
>primary partition marked Active (bootable) and that's
going to confuse
>things in the next step, probably resulting in the first
partition on your
>NEW drive being labeled something other than Drive C: -
and that's not easy
>to fix.
>
>> 5. Restart the system booting from the new drive while
>> the old drive is virtually invisible.
>
>Make the old drive ENTIRELY invisible for now. Boot
into WinXP on the new
>drive and use Disk Management to specifically assign the
drive letters, so
>that WinXP won't use its built-in algorithm on the next
boot and assign that
>old Drive C: as Drive C: again!
>
>> 6. Enable the IDE controller card in Device Manager
>> whenever I need to update / backup my system image.
>
>Go ahead and leave the new card enabled. So long as it
is used only for
>secondary drives, it will be fine. If you ever decide
to boot from a drive
>connected to that controller card, though, you will need
to do the F6
>procedure to get the driver integrated into YOUR copy of
WinXP.
>
>> Will this work, or am I missing something critical?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Rob
>
>As I said, let us know how this works out for you -
especially if you find a
>shortcut - or if you find mistakes in what I've posted.
I'm an accountant,
>not a techie, and all I know is what I've experienced
and read, so there are
>a lot of things I would like to learn. ;<)
>
>RC
>--
>R. C. White, CPA
>San Marcos, TX

>Microsoft Windows MVP
>
>> >Hi, Rob.
>> >
>> >"Big Drives", as Maxtor calls them, are drives over
>> about 137 GB, which is
>> >the limit of the addressing capabilities of older
BIOSes
>> and OS versions.
>> >Larger drives need a 48-bit addressing system, rather
>> than the 28-bit scheme
>> >which works up to that point. For an overview, see
>> these two articles (from
>> >a Google search for "big drives"):
>> >
>> >http://www.maxtor.com/en/technologies/big_drives/
>> >
>> >and
>> >Live Large with Big Drives
>> >http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,696755,00.asp
>> >
>> >I'm not clear on how this is implemented in SP1 or
SP1a,
>> so I'll leave that
>> >up to others.
>> >
>> >As to your point 2, the ATA100 controller issue, it
>> depends on whether you
>> >plan to boot from this new HD, or only to use is as a
>> secondary drive. To
>> >use it as storage, all you need is to use Device
Manager
>> to install the
>> >drivers from inside WinXP.
>> >
>> >To boot from that new HD/controller, though, will
>> probably require a longer,
>> >more complex process. When WinXP Setup installs
Windows
>> on your computer,
>> >one of the first things it does is inspect your
hardware
>> configuration, and
>> >then it customizes YOUR copy of WinXP to fit that
>> environment. It picks
>> >drivers from the CD-ROM to fit your hardware,
including
>> your boot device.
>> >If there is no suitable driver for the boot device on
>> the CD, then Setup
>> >will continue through its text phase, but will fail
when
>> it tries to reboot
>> >into GUI mode. The most common symptom is a BSOD
>> complaining of Stop 0x7B,
>> >Inaccessible-Boot-Device. The only cure for this is
the
>> F6/floppy shuffle.
>> >:>( Have the proper drivers for your boot
>> drive/controller on a floppy
>> >diskette before you begin Setup. As soon as Setup has
>> detected the
>> >hardware, it will flash a message onscreen to Press F6
>> if you need to
>> >install drivers for SCSI or another mass storage
>> controller. Press F6 and
>> >wait while a lot of programs are transferred and Setup
>> halts with
>> >instructions onscreen telling how to use the floppy to
>> install the drivers.
>> >When this is completed, WinXP will be able to boot
from
>> that new drive and
>> >continue installing.
>> >
>> >Since WD says WinXP doesn't include native drivers for
>> their hardware, I
>> >suspect that you will need to go through this F6
>> procedure - which
>> >essentially means a reinstallation of WinXP. :>( If
>> you use Microsoft's
>> >instructions for an "in-place upgrade", you can
preserve
>> all or most of your
>> >installed applications and all of your data - and
maybe
>> some of your WinXP
>> >"tweaks". As the KB article says, though, it is not
>> intended as a
>> >time-saver; it will take about as long as a fresh
>> install and you will need
>> >to visit Windows Update as soon as you get back online
>> to be sure you have
>> >all SPs and other fixes.
>> >
>> >If you find a shorter solution, please let us ALL
know.
>> In a newsgroup, we
>> >all learn from each other.
>> >
>> >RC
>> >
>> >"Rob" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> >> Hi and thanks for your attention!
>> >>
>> >> I have two questions:
>> >>
>> >> 1. Western Digital says I might need Service Pack
1a to
>> >> ensure that my 160GB HD is supported as 1 partion.
Is
>> >> that true? I have SP1 with all of the critical
updates
>> >> (HotFixes) and Microsoft doesn't recommend
installing
>> >> SP1a. They say it only removes Microsoft Virtual
>> >> Machine -- which I prefer not to lose -- and fixes
some
>> >> bugs that are already included in the HotFixes. How
>> can
>> >> I be sure that my new HD will be supported as 1
>> partition
>> >> if I don't update to SP1a?
>> >>
>> >> 2. Western Digital says that WindowsXP doesn't
include
>> >> native drivers for their PCI ATA100 controller card
so
>> I
>> >> have to install it and their drivers prior to
>> connecting
>> >> the new HD. However, my ASUS A7N266 board came with
>> two
>> >> onboard Ultra DMA100 IDE channels that seem to work
>> >> fine. My current HD runs at Ultra DMA Mode 5 -- so
>> does
>> >> that mean that I am alright to plug their ATA100
>> >> controller card in without installing their drivers?
>> >>
>> >> Thanks again!
>> >>
>> >> Rob
>
>
>.
>

[R. C. White]

Hi, Rob.

First, the F6 procedure, as I said in my first post:

"Have the proper drivers for your boot drive/controller on a floppy
diskette before you begin Setup. As soon as Setup has detected the
hardware, it will flash a message onscreen to Press F6 if you need to
install drivers for SCSI or another mass storage controller. Press F6 and
wait while a lot of programs are transferred and Setup halts with
instructions onscreen telling how to use the floppy to install the drivers.
When this is completed, WinXP will be able to boot from that new drive and
continue installing."

The quickest way to find Disk Management, rather than follow the mouse-click
trail, is to type at the Run prompt: diskmgmt.msc

Once there, study the screen and the Help file. It's very informative about
hard drives and file systems. Click View to set up the screen the way you
like; I like the Volume List on top and the Graphic View at the bottom.

To assign or reassign a drive letter, just right-click on the volume, then
click Change Drive Letter and Paths...

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP


"Rob" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks again for your excellent feedback RC!
>
> Would you please clarify how to assign drive letters in
> Disk Management and what you mean by going through the F6
> procedure -- I'm not sure that I am familiar with those
> functions.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Rob
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Hi, Rob.
> >
> >Step by step inline...
> >
> >"Rob" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> Thanks for your advice!
> >>
> >> How does this strategy sound:
> >>
> >> 1. I connect the new HD to the IDE controller card.
> >
> >OK - be sure the card is recognized and its drivers
> installed.
> >
> >> 2. Use Symantec's Norton Ghost 2003 to image my entire
> >> system from the old HD onto the new one.
> >
> >I haven't actually used Ghost recently and don't recall
> if it also transfers
> >the boot sector, which is not a file and can't be
> handled by normal file
> >copiers. If it doesn't, then you'll have to run the
> Repair procedure,
> >booting from the WinXP CD-ROM, in Step 5, to get the
> boot sector onto your
> >new Drive C:.
> >
> >> 3. Disable the IDE controller card in Device Manager
> and
> >> set BIOS not to boot from that device.
> >
> >Good.
> >
> >> 4. Switch HDs placing the new drive at the primary
> >> onboard IDE channel and the old drive at the IDE
> >> controller card.
> >
> >Yes and no. Leave the old drive out altogether for
> now. It still has a
> >primary partition marked Active (bootable) and that's
> going to confuse
> >things in the next step, probably resulting in the first
> partition on your
> >NEW drive being labeled something other than Drive C: -
> and that's not easy
> >to fix.
> >
> >> 5. Restart the system booting from the new drive while
> >> the old drive is virtually invisible.
> >
> >Make the old drive ENTIRELY invisible for now. Boot
> into WinXP on the new
> >drive and use Disk Management to specifically assign the
> drive letters, so
> >that WinXP won't use its built-in algorithm on the next
> boot and assign that
> >old Drive C: as Drive C: again!
> >
> >> 6. Enable the IDE controller card in Device Manager
> >> whenever I need to update / backup my system image.
> >
> >Go ahead and leave the new card enabled. So long as it
> is used only for
> >secondary drives, it will be fine. If you ever decide
> to boot from a drive
> >connected to that controller card, though, you will need
> to do the F6
> >procedure to get the driver integrated into YOUR copy of
> WinXP.
> >
> >> Will this work, or am I missing something critical?
> >>
> >> Thanks!
> >>
> >> Rob
> >
> >As I said, let us know how this works out for you -
> especially if you find a
> >shortcut - or if you find mistakes in what I've posted.
> I'm an accountant,
> >not a techie, and all I know is what I've experienced
> and read, so there are
> >a lot of things I would like to learn. ;<)
> >
> >RC
> >
> >> >Hi, Rob.
> >> >
> >> >"Big Drives", as Maxtor calls them, are drives over
> >> about 137 GB, which is
> >> >the limit of the addressing capabilities of older
> BIOSes
> >> and OS versions.
> >> >Larger drives need a 48-bit addressing system, rather
> >> than the 28-bit scheme
> >> >which works up to that point. For an overview, see
> >> these two articles (from
> >> >a Google search for "big drives"):
> >> >
> >> >http://www.maxtor.com/en/technologies/big_drives/
> >> >
> >> >and
> >> >Live Large with Big Drives
> >> >http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,696755,00.asp
> >> >
> >> >I'm not clear on how this is implemented in SP1 or
> SP1a,
> >> so I'll leave that
> >> >up to others.
> >> >
> >> >As to your point 2, the ATA100 controller issue, it
> >> depends on whether you
> >> >plan to boot from this new HD, or only to use is as a
> >> secondary drive. To
> >> >use it as storage, all you need is to use Device
> Manager
> >> to install the
> >> >drivers from inside WinXP.
> >> >
> >> >To boot from that new HD/controller, though, will
> >> probably require a longer,
> >> >more complex process. When WinXP Setup installs
> Windows
> >> on your computer,
> >> >one of the first things it does is inspect your
> hardware
> >> configuration, and
> >> >then it customizes YOUR copy of WinXP to fit that
> >> environment. It picks
> >> >drivers from the CD-ROM to fit your hardware,
> including
> >> your boot device.
> >> >If there is no suitable driver for the boot device on
> >> the CD, then Setup
> >> >will continue through its text phase, but will fail
> when
> >> it tries to reboot
> >> >into GUI mode. The most common symptom is a BSOD
> >> complaining of Stop 0x7B,
> >> >Inaccessible-Boot-Device. The only cure for this is
> the
> >> F6/floppy shuffle.
> >> >:>( Have the proper drivers for your boot
> >> drive/controller on a floppy
> >> >diskette before you begin Setup. As soon as Setup has
> >> detected the
> >> >hardware, it will flash a message onscreen to Press F6
> >> if you need to
> >> >install drivers for SCSI or another mass storage
> >> controller. Press F6 and
> >> >wait while a lot of programs are transferred and Setup
> >> halts with
> >> >instructions onscreen telling how to use the floppy to
> >> install the drivers.
> >> >When this is completed, WinXP will be able to boot
> from
> >> that new drive and
> >> >continue installing.
> >> >
> >> >Since WD says WinXP doesn't include native drivers for
> >> their hardware, I
> >> >suspect that you will need to go through this F6
> >> procedure - which
> >> >essentially means a reinstallation of WinXP. :>( If
> >> you use Microsoft's
> >> >instructions for an "in-place upgrade", you can
> preserve
> >> all or most of your
> >> >installed applications and all of your data - and
> maybe
> >> some of your WinXP
> >> >"tweaks". As the KB article says, though, it is not
> >> intended as a
> >> >time-saver; it will take about as long as a fresh
> >> install and you will need
> >> >to visit Windows Update as soon as you get back online
> >> to be sure you have
> >> >all SPs and other fixes.
> >> >
> >> >If you find a shorter solution, please let us ALL
> know.
> >> In a newsgroup, we
> >> >all learn from each other.
> >> >
> >> >RC
> >> >
> >> >"Rob" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >> >> Hi and thanks for your attention!
> >> >>
> >> >> I have two questions:
> >> >>
> >> >> 1. Western Digital says I might need Service Pack
> 1a to
> >> >> ensure that my 160GB HD is supported as 1 partion.
> Is
> >> >> that true? I have SP1 with all of the critical
> updates
> >> >> (HotFixes) and Microsoft doesn't recommend
> installing
> >> >> SP1a. They say it only removes Microsoft Virtual
> >> >> Machine -- which I prefer not to lose -- and fixes
> some
> >> >> bugs that are already included in the HotFixes. How
> >> can
> >> >> I be sure that my new HD will be supported as 1
> >> partition
> >> >> if I don't update to SP1a?
> >> >>
> >> >> 2. Western Digital says that WindowsXP doesn't
> include
> >> >> native drivers for their PCI ATA100 controller card
> so
> >> I
> >> >> have to install it and their drivers prior to
> >> connecting
> >> >> the new HD. However, my ASUS A7N266 board came with
> >> two
> >> >> onboard Ultra DMA100 IDE channels that seem to work
> >> >> fine. My current HD runs at Ultra DMA Mode 5 -- so
> >> does
> >> >> that mean that I am alright to plug their ATA100
> >> >> controller card in without installing their drivers?
> >> >>
> >> >> Thanks again!
> >> >>
> >> >> Rob

[Rob]

Thanks RC -- you are a great source of information!

Rob

>-----Original Message-----
>Hi, Rob.
>
>First, the F6 procedure, as I said in my first post:
>
>"Have the proper drivers for your boot drive/controller
on a floppy
>diskette before you begin Setup. As soon as Setup has
detected the
>hardware, it will flash a message onscreen to Press F6
if you need to
>install drivers for SCSI or another mass storage
controller. Press F6 and
>wait while a lot of programs are transferred and Setup
halts with
>instructions onscreen telling how to use the floppy to
install the drivers.
>When this is completed, WinXP will be able to boot from
that new drive and
>continue installing."
>
>The quickest way to find Disk Management, rather than
follow the mouse-click
>trail, is to type at the Run prompt: diskmgmt.msc
>
>Once there, study the screen and the Help file. It's
very informative about
>hard drives and file systems. Click View to set up the
screen the way you
>like; I like the Volume List on top and the Graphic View
at the bottom.
>
>To assign or reassign a drive letter, just right-click
on the volume, then
>click Change Drive Letter and Paths...
>
>RC
>--
>R. C. White, CPA
>San Marcos, TX

>Microsoft Windows MVP
>
>
>"Rob" > wrote in message
...
>> Thanks again for your excellent feedback RC!
>>
>> Would you please clarify how to assign drive letters in
>> Disk Management and what you mean by going through the
F6
>> procedure -- I'm not sure that I am familiar with those
>> functions.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Rob
>>
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >Hi, Rob.
>> >
>> >Step by step inline...
>> >
>> >"Rob" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> >> Thanks for your advice!
>> >>
>> >> How does this strategy sound:
>> >>
>> >> 1. I connect the new HD to the IDE controller card.
>> >
>> >OK - be sure the card is recognized and its drivers
>> installed.
>> >
>> >> 2. Use Symantec's Norton Ghost 2003 to image my
entire
>> >> system from the old HD onto the new one.
>> >
>> >I haven't actually used Ghost recently and don't
recall
>> if it also transfers
>> >the boot sector, which is not a file and can't be
>> handled by normal file
>> >copiers. If it doesn't, then you'll have to run the
>> Repair procedure,
>> >booting from the WinXP CD-ROM, in Step 5, to get the
>> boot sector onto your
>> >new Drive C:.
>> >
>> >> 3. Disable the IDE controller card in Device Manager
>> and
>> >> set BIOS not to boot from that device.
>> >
>> >Good.
>> >
>> >> 4. Switch HDs placing the new drive at the primary
>> >> onboard IDE channel and the old drive at the IDE
>> >> controller card.
>> >
>> >Yes and no. Leave the old drive out altogether for
>> now. It still has a
>> >primary partition marked Active (bootable) and that's
>> going to confuse
>> >things in the next step, probably resulting in the
first
>> partition on your
>> >NEW drive being labeled something other than Drive
C: -
>> and that's not easy
>> >to fix.
>> >
>> >> 5. Restart the system booting from the new drive
while
>> >> the old drive is virtually invisible.
>> >
>> >Make the old drive ENTIRELY invisible for now. Boot
>> into WinXP on the new
>> >drive and use Disk Management to specifically assign
the
>> drive letters, so
>> >that WinXP won't use its built-in algorithm on the
next
>> boot and assign that
>> >old Drive C: as Drive C: again!
>> >
>> >> 6. Enable the IDE controller card in Device Manager
>> >> whenever I need to update / backup my system image.
>> >
>> >Go ahead and leave the new card enabled. So long as
it
>> is used only for
>> >secondary drives, it will be fine. If you ever decide
>> to boot from a drive
>> >connected to that controller card, though, you will
need
>> to do the F6
>> >procedure to get the driver integrated into YOUR copy
of
>> WinXP.
>> >
>> >> Will this work, or am I missing something critical?
>> >>
>> >> Thanks!
>> >>
>> >> Rob
>> >
>> >As I said, let us know how this works out for you -
>> especially if you find a
>> >shortcut - or if you find mistakes in what I've
posted.
>> I'm an accountant,
>> >not a techie, and all I know is what I've experienced
>> and read, so there are
>> >a lot of things I would like to learn. ;<)
>> >
>> >RC
>> >
>> >> >Hi, Rob.
>> >> >
>> >> >"Big Drives", as Maxtor calls them, are drives over
>> >> about 137 GB, which is
>> >> >the limit of the addressing capabilities of older
>> BIOSes
>> >> and OS versions.
>> >> >Larger drives need a 48-bit addressing system,
rather
>> >> than the 28-bit scheme
>> >> >which works up to that point. For an overview, see
>> >> these two articles (from
>> >> >a Google search for "big drives"):
>> >> >
>> >> >http://www.maxtor.com/en/technologies/big_drives/
>> >> >
>> >> >and
>> >> >Live Large with Big Drives
>> >> >http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,696755,00.asp
>> >> >
>> >> >I'm not clear on how this is implemented in SP1 or
>> SP1a,
>> >> so I'll leave that
>> >> >up to others.
>> >> >
>> >> >As to your point 2, the ATA100 controller issue, it
>> >> depends on whether you
>> >> >plan to boot from this new HD, or only to use is
as a
>> >> secondary drive. To
>> >> >use it as storage, all you need is to use Device
>> Manager
>> >> to install the
>> >> >drivers from inside WinXP.
>> >> >
>> >> >To boot from that new HD/controller, though, will
>> >> probably require a longer,
>> >> >more complex process. When WinXP Setup installs
>> Windows
>> >> on your computer,
>> >> >one of the first things it does is inspect your
>> hardware
>> >> configuration, and
>> >> >then it customizes YOUR copy of WinXP to fit that
>> >> environment. It picks
>> >> >drivers from the CD-ROM to fit your hardware,
>> including
>> >> your boot device.
>> >> >If there is no suitable driver for the boot device
on
>> >> the CD, then Setup
>> >> >will continue through its text phase, but will fail
>> when
>> >> it tries to reboot
>> >> >into GUI mode. The most common symptom is a BSOD
>> >> complaining of Stop 0x7B,
>> >> >Inaccessible-Boot-Device. The only cure for this
is
>> the
>> >> F6/floppy shuffle.
>> >> >:>( Have the proper drivers for your boot
>> >> drive/controller on a floppy
>> >> >diskette before you begin Setup. As soon as Setup
has
>> >> detected the
>> >> >hardware, it will flash a message onscreen to
Press F6
>> >> if you need to
>> >> >install drivers for SCSI or another mass storage
>> >> controller. Press F6 and
>> >> >wait while a lot of programs are transferred and
Setup
>> >> halts with
>> >> >instructions onscreen telling how to use the
floppy to
>> >> install the drivers.
>> >> >When this is completed, WinXP will be able to boot
>> from
>> >> that new drive and
>> >> >continue installing.
>> >> >
>> >> >Since WD says WinXP doesn't include native drivers
for
>> >> their hardware, I
>> >> >suspect that you will need to go through this F6
>> >> procedure - which
>> >> >essentially means a reinstallation of WinXP. :>(
If
>> >> you use Microsoft's
>> >> >instructions for an "in-place upgrade", you can
>> preserve
>> >> all or most of your
>> >> >installed applications and all of your data - and
>> maybe
>> >> some of your WinXP
>> >> >"tweaks". As the KB article says, though, it is
not
>> >> intended as a
>> >> >time-saver; it will take about as long as a fresh
>> >> install and you will need
>> >> >to visit Windows Update as soon as you get back
online
>> >> to be sure you have
>> >> >all SPs and other fixes.
>> >> >
>> >> >If you find a shorter solution, please let us ALL
>> know.
>> >> In a newsgroup, we
>> >> >all learn from each other.
>> >> >
>> >> >RC
>> >> >
>> >> >"Rob" > wrote in message
>> >> ...
>> >> >> Hi and thanks for your attention!
>> >> >>
>> >> >> I have two questions:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> 1. Western Digital says I might need Service Pack
>> 1a to
>> >> >> ensure that my 160GB HD is supported as 1
partion.
>> Is
>> >> >> that true? I have SP1 with all of the critical
>> updates
>> >> >> (HotFixes) and Microsoft doesn't recommend
>> installing
>> >> >> SP1a. They say it only removes Microsoft Virtual
>> >> >> Machine -- which I prefer not to lose -- and
fixes
>> some
>> >> >> bugs that are already included in the HotFixes.
How
>> >> can
>> >> >> I be sure that my new HD will be supported as 1
>> >> partition
>> >> >> if I don't update to SP1a?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> 2. Western Digital says that WindowsXP doesn't
>> include
>> >> >> native drivers for their PCI ATA100 controller
card
>> so
>> >> I
>> >> >> have to install it and their drivers prior to
>> >> connecting
>> >> >> the new HD. However, my ASUS A7N266 board came
with
>> >> two
>> >> >> onboard Ultra DMA100 IDE channels that seem to
work
>> >> >> fine. My current HD runs at Ultra DMA Mode 5 --
so
>> >> does
>> >> >> that mean that I am alright to plug their ATA100
>> >> >> controller card in without installing their
drivers?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Thanks again!
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Rob
>
>
>.
>