Do I need to format/erase.. If so, how?

[jbenj01]

I've got a 160g Seagate Barracuda hdd with WinXP Pro installed on it. I want to "convert" it into just a plain data hdd (b/c I just bought a 37g WD Raptor SATA hdd and would like to use this as my primary hdd, i.e., WinXP and all my apps).

I've already installed WinXP and my apps on the Raptor.. Do I need to erase/format the Barracuda?? I tried several different ways to do so but could not... I did a search and dl'd an app called DiskWizard from Seagate's website to do a "Zero Fill" (low level format) and I coudn't even do that--the system wouldn't boot from the boot-CD that I made..

So now, when I boot up, I get a prompt screen that asks me which of the 2 OS's I want to boot from--the thing is, how do I know which is which --> which is OS from Raptor and which is OS from Barracuda??

When I set my BIOS to boot from the Raptor, I get an error message ("NTLDR missing"). When I set it to the Barracuda, I get an option to boot from 2 OS's (mentioned above)..

... a little confused... please advise. Thanks.

[Soulhunter]

How did you set the jumpers of the HD's ???

-> Raptor Master n' Barracuda slave...

Did you try to change some BIOS options ???

-> Select the Raptor as 1st boot device and disable all other ones !!!


Bye

[jbenj01]

Good question.. The system came with just one hdd--the Seagate 160g.. it was already set as master. I bought the Raptor separately and never changed the setting when i installed it.. But I know I installed it on a separate channel. Maybe they're both set to master but since they're on separate channels, does it matter?? I'll double-check when I get home. But in the interim, how should they be set?

Oh, I have a DVD-ROM and a burner too and they are both on the secondary channel--the burner is set to master and the ROM is set to slave..

[Alurker]

I think you have to partition your 160gig HD into 2 parts, since all most all bios cant handle a HD over something like 130gig. but other then that it should work as your 2nd HD. your 1st one set to master or cable select (if you have a cable select ribbon cable- which has a blue connector that connects to you mother board) and the 2nd set to slave or also cable select and connected in the middle connector (160 gig partitioned into 2 drives). so you would end up with drive C D & E for Hd's.
It seems the message you got for 2 os's means that you 160gig may have been format with bootable file so your system sees 2 os, just a guess, if you try and re partioton it into 2 drives it should remove any bootable files on it. again not positive on this, I had a friend who installed a 2nd HD and got that message but he just selected the first or top option and it worked just fine so he did not try to change anything.

[Mnl]

It is also possible that win xp is the culprit. Maybe you have to enable 48-bit logical block addressing support for ATAPI disk drives in win xp. Here's a link which describes how to do it:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;303013

Actually all you have to do in most cases is to install service pack 1. But I'm not sure that that will do the trick in all cases.

EDIT:

Here is a quote from the microsoft support site I posted above:

By default, the original release of Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional do not have 48-bit LBA support enabled.

You must meet the following requirements to use 48-bit LBA ATAPI support:

You must have a 48-bit LBA compatible BIOS.
You must have a hard disk that has a capacity that is greater than 137 GB.
You must have Windows XP SP1 installed.

So it seems that you have to check whether your BIOS is 48-bit LBA compatible.

hth

Mnl

[Angelus]

@Alurker

I don't think necessarily it's a bios problem as you described it. Last year I purchased a 200 GB WD drive for my old computer and there was a utility from WD that I ran to get over the 137 GB limit in the BIOS. So to jbenj01, check out Seagate to see if there's a utility like that. But that would be after you fix the drives.

For the first thing, you should put both HDD's on the same IDE channel, setting the Raptor to master and the Seagate to slave. You DO NOT want to put the hard drive on the same cable as your CD/DVD drives, as it would take forever to read/write when using both at the same time.

[jbenj01]

Thanks for the responses... OK, I confirmed last nite per BIOS:

Seagate 160g Primary IDE channel as master (no slave on the primary channel).

HP burner and ROM as master and slave, respecitively on the Secondary channel.

Raptor 37g SATA as master is on the... Third channel. I'm assuming it is called Third channel b/c it's installed on one of the two SATA inputs on the mobo..

So this begs the question.. How do I set the Raptor as Primary drive if it's a SATA drive installed on a SATA port on the mobo (i.e., switch setting on Seagate from master to slave??)?

And how would I put both drives on the same channel, given one is SATA (Raptor 37g) and the other is IDE (Seagate 160g)--with some sort of an adapter?

Note: I want to optimize for the fastest re-encoding ability. For example, I'd rip to Raptor (OS and apps) and re-encode to Seagate (data only).

[Mnl]

So this begs the question.. How do I set the Raptor as Primary drive if it's a SATA drive installed on a SATA port on the mobo (i.e., switch setting on Seagate from master to slave??)?

If by primary drive you mean that you want to boot from the disk all you have to do is enable boot from sata drives in your bios.

And how would I put both drives on the same channel, given one is SATA (Raptor 37g) and the other is IDE (Seagate 160g)--with some sort of an adapter?

The only way to do that is to buy a sata -> pata adapter as the sata interface only allows one unit per channel/controller.

[jbenj01]

Mnl,

I don't see any option in BIOS to set 'to boot from SATA drives'.. The only thing I see is options to set your primary, secondary and tertiary boot devices. Currently, they are set to floppy, Seagate hdd and DVD-ROM, respectively. The Raptor doesn't even show up in the options to select it...

In order for it to show up, I have to go change my 'Primary Drive' from the Seagate to the Raptor, then go change my Boot Device options (mentioned above) and set it to boot from the Raptor.. But when i do that, the system will not boot.. I get a "Missing NTDLR" error.. ??

One thing I have not done yet is to change the pin settings on the back of the Seagate from master to slave.. But the thought of actually getting to the drive is painful, as the system is a mini-tower and getting to the drive probably means pulling out other 'stuff' in order to get to it..

[Mnl]

Hi jbenj01

I just reread your initial post, and I think I misunderstood you completely in the first case... In that case my two previous posts don't make a whole lot of sense - sorry 'bout that :o

As I understand your problem now I see that you have already managed to make your computer boot from the sata disk, and have installed win xp on it - and now you want to delete everything on your seagate disk so that you can use it as a storage drive (is this correct?).

If I have understood you correctly, I think all you have to do is boot up your computer from your xin xp installation cd. After doing this you should be able to see all your drives in the installation menu, and should be able to delete the existing partitions and make new partitions on your seagate disk. But this will of course delete all existing data on the drive, so remember to back up everything you want to keep from the drive beforehand.

If you want to check whether or not you can boot up from the sata disk, you could try to unplug the power cable from your seagate disk and turn on the computer.

As the master/slave configuration doesn't exist with the sata standard - there can only be one unit per controller (i.e. a sata disk is so to speak always set to "master"), it shoulden't matter whether your seagate disk is set to master or slave.

Hope this helps

[jbenj01]

Mnl,

Yes, you are correct--I've already installed XP on the Raptor and simply want to delete/erase/reformat EVERYTHING on the Seagate to use as a data drive exclusively..

I thought about using the XP install CD to reformat the Seagate, but did not b/c I thought when you use the the CD, the assumption is that you want to install the OS--so after the reformat, the CD continues the OS installation, no?? So do I just stop/exit the installation by simply hitting Esc or F8 or ... ??

[Mnl]

You don't have to install windows when using your installation disc. You just create the partitions and then quit the installation (don't format - you can do this from windows).

That is: delete all existing partitions on the seagate and create new ones. Either one large partition or more smaller partitions (this would probably be the best idea considering the size of your disk) and then quit the installation - don't format. After this you can format the partition(s) you created from windows.

[jbenj01]

Thanks, Mnl.. I'll try that this weekend.. hopefully you won't hear back from me.. :)

[theReal]

You could also use a DOS boot CD with Partition Magic to partition and format the drive (it has a nice GUI where you actually see what you do)

And btw DON'T low level format a healthy drive!! The only time you'd want to low level format a drive is when you experience read and/or write errors that are not otherwise recoverable.

Low level formatting can damage a perfectly good drive, it's only a last resort!!