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Windows Setup: Setup did not find any hard disk drives…

Hard Disk Gone Missing?

After booting from the Windows XP setup CD the blue setup screen appears and goes the through the usual process of installing it’s drivers. When you reach the Welcome Screen and choose to install Windows you are presented with the error “Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer” similar to the screenshot below.

Some Common Symptoms

  • You are presented with the error message: Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer at the point in the setup where you are asked to press ENTER to “setup Windows XP now”
  • You are presented with the error message Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer after pressing ‘R‘ to “repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console”

192.168.l. Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer

Explanation

This error will appear most often when your hard disk is on an SATA or SCSI controller and Windows setup does not have a suitable driver. In most cases these days you won’t have a floppy disk either to load the drivers. There are a few ways to deal with this ranging from the very simple (hopefully says you!) to the long and somewhat difficult. See the solutions below for more.

Solution 1 – Set Your SATA Controller to Compatability/IDE/Standard Mode

  1. Enter your BIOS/Setup Utility
  2. Locate the Serial ATA or SATA configuration section
    • I’ve seen this section called ‘On Chip Config’ on some Phoenix Award BIOS
    • On Lenovo/IBM ThinkPads it’s in Config > Serial ATA (Sata)
  3. Change the mode of the SATA controller from AHCI to IDE or Compatibility
  4. Save & Exit
  5. Reboot and begin the Windows Setup again.
  6. If Windows Setup successfully detects your hard disk this time then go ahead and perform the Windows Setup.
  7. When Windows setup completes change the mode back to AHCI in the BIOS
  8. If your problem still exists after changing this option then change it back to AHCI and proceed to Solution 2 below.

Solution 2 – Load your SATA drivers using a Floppy Disk (or CD)

UPDATE JAN 2011 – Create A Custom Windows XP CD with your SATA drivers as an alternative to using a floppy disk. If you need help finding your SATA drivers see the article How To Find Your SATA Drivers

    1. If you already have a floppy disk drive in your computer then great, proceed to Step 2. If you don’t, click here to get one
    2. Go to either your computer manufacturers support website or if you have a custom build then go to your mainboards manufacturers support website and download the SATA driver package. Some popular manuafacturers are listed below:
    3. Extract the downloaded driver to a blank floppy disk
    4. DO NOT insert the floppy disk into the computer that you are attempting to run Windows Setup on
    5. Insert your Windows XP CD and start your computer, press any key to boot from CD if requested
    6. As soon as the blue setup screen appears press F6 on your keyboard. The message to press F6 will disappear and be replaced by a message requesting you to press F2 for ASR. Do NOT press F2 (web page).
    7. After the “Setup is loading files” part is complete you will be presented with the screen below
    8. Insert the floppy disk you created and press S to Specify Additional Device. Windows will load your driver and you can now continue Windows Setup as normal.

192.168.1.1

Reader Interactions

Comments

      • satpal singh says

        Hi,
        Change the mode of the SATA controller from AHCI to IDE or Compatibility…I’m not able to find the option.Model HP.

        Reply

      • Dennis says

        Disabling the SATA allowed me to continue Windows XP Home Edition on my Compaq Preserio N5000. Thanks a Bunches!!!!

        Reply

    • Abhishek says

      how did u solved ur problem…my bios setup is locked…i don’t have manufacturer cd….now plzz tell me how to install xp…hard drive not found is problem….tell me how to use sata driver to load hard disk….thank uu..waiting for the solution…

      Reply

  3. PC Arbor says

    Interesting.

    Times are a changing.

    I like XP but it can be tough to fix sometimes. (But it is still easier for me to understand than NT!)

    Thanks for posting.

    Reply

  4. PC Arbor says

    Saw this during my Thursday night web searches. Amazing what stuff you can find doing a search XP repair ideas.
    Kind of caught me off guard.

    Thanks for posting.

    Reply

  5. Jaye says

    Hey man, good post but It doesnt work for me because i dont have that option in my BIOS i have phoenix version f.38, any ideas?

    Reply

  6. Rosco says

    HI Jaye,

    Try the following:

    In BIOS:

    Onboard Devices -> Flash Cache Module -> Set Off
    Onboard Devices -> SATA Operation -> Set ATA

    Let me know it works as I will update the article.

    Cheers

    Rosco

    Reply

    • kaseniv says

      I too have a problem with this I have pentium 4 old PC I don’t have the prescribed options in my BIOS plz advice

      Reply

  7. Sam says

    I have the similar problem, i found this article via google, I am stuck just like this same problem, I am going to try this method and let you all know if it works, Thankyou

    Reply

    • Muhammad says

      I can´t get into my BIOS, it seems it ignores the tab “DEL” Is/are there any other method to solve this problem, please. PC is Chilligreen. Wanted to upgrade with a 320GB SATA HD.

      Reply

  8. Sam says

    GOOD NEWS, yep it worked i tryed the first method, where i needed to change the option
    AHCI to IDE, than it worked, but when i go back to change it after installtion, and restarted the pc, it doesnt load the OS anymore, i guess i would have to keep it on IDE option

    i installed Microsoft Windows XP XP3 in my Acer Aspire 5720z Laptop, All GOOD

    THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIPS AND TRICKS, it worekd flawlessly.

    Reply

  11. Ken says

    Again, I really need help. I need this computer being I’m starting college at the end of this semester, and I don’t have the money for a new one right now.

    Like I said, for step 1, I can’t find the settings you mentioned in the BIOS…..My BIOS are Phoenix 75.06. Help, please.

    Reply

  17. Kolynz says

    Hey , i have faced this problem majorly on toshiba machines but never solved any…
    now the floppy disk drive you talk about is not available on these laptops…
    in this case, can i use a disk to extract these drivers?

    i mean like a memory stick that uses usb..
    thanks big.

    Reply

  19. ken says

    Thanks! Changing Sata settings in BIOS worked with my Lenovo T61 and solved the problem. Great post!

    Reply

    • RAJ PANVAL says

      There is no compatibility option in lenovo K series desktops.Only DISBALE,IDE,ACHI,SCSI Options available there? how can i solve
      problem?

      Thnx,
      RAJ

      Reply

  20. John says

    Hey, Thanks a lot buddy!
    I’m not so good with computers and was having trouble with this for a long time. It really helped a lot ^_^.

    Reply

  22. Uri says

    Perfect .. thanks for the lead. Have an HP and only had an option to Disable SATA Native support from BIOS but it worked a treat.

    Reply

  23. Jason Egan says

    Thank you so much! I am working with an older IBM Thinkpad (Levono x60) and after I ran Active Killdisk and tried to load it with WinXPSP3, I got the same error. Setting the SATA config to Compatibility mode worked like a charm! I love the internet!

    Reply

  26. Benny says

    Hello,

    Thank you very much for the answer. its very valuable.

    Thanks for your generosity.

    Regrds
    Benny

    Reply

  27. johorean says

    Hello,
    I’m still cant solved my problem!
    HP Compaq Presario V3000 dont have a AHCI or IDE at BIOS.

    Still get the message “Setup did not find any hard………To quit Setup,press F3.

    Could u please help me.

    TQVM.

    Reply

  30. nhikol says

    I have the same problem after using DBAN. I don’t know what to do to fix this problem. I have a Toshiba Satellite L40-14Y Originally with Windows Vista. I triying to install Windows XP.

    Reply

    • Rosco says

      Hey Kelvin…glad a saved you a load of money….feel free to give it to me 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Don’t thin hard drives cost a lot these days anyway….I would think it saves hassle more than money….all that transferring of data, reinstalling windows…what a pain eh.

      Thanks for stopping by http://www.proposedsolution.com

      Rosco

      Reply

  33. adam says

    Kinda shocked I’ve never ran into this problem before. Thanks. Changing the SATA to “Raid/ATA” on a dell worked for me.

    Reply

  35. ktt says

    i am trying the first step…but when i couldn’t located AHCI to IDE or Compatibility. I found AHCI in the bio, but when i click on AHCI, there is no option for me to change to IDE. my laptop doesn’t have a floppy disk hard drive.

    plz help…what else can I do?Thanks in advance.

    Reply

  37. ROmmel VIllanueva says

    thanx you so much!! it work on my ASUS laptop!! so much time to research on how to fixed this kind of problem…. thank you so much!!!

    Reply

  39. James says

    well not worked for me
    have tried but i cant get the option of sata drives.. system bios are shadowed.. how to change this??

    Reply

  43. Noman says

    this is funny … i changed the boot-able CD .. however both were burnt from the same source but the other one worked … funny, isn’t it?

    Reply

  44. Rosco says

    Hi Noman,

    This error is most likely relted to the CD/DVD that you’re using. Make sure it’s clean and scratch free. If it is, try to use a different CD/DVD drive (borrow an external one if possible).

    Rosco

    Reply

  45. Christy says

    I have a Dell Precision T7400. In BIOS, there is only ATA and AHCI (no IDE). I have it set to ATA otherwise it BSODs when loading Windows XP 64 bit disk. I loaded SATA drivers from Dell’s website for XPx64 to a floppy but there are too many options. There are about 16 total different options when in the 3rd party SCSI or RAID driver screen. How do you know which one to pick?

    Reply

  46. Sandi L. says

    Thanks for this. You’re a lifesaver. It was a very big help for me. I used it on a Compaq Proliant ML370 server.

    Reply

  47. frank says

    thanks for the support, unfortunately i had phoenix bios on my compaq laptop, nad coldnt find the sata settings, only option for enable or disable, so i disbaled the sata and it worked…
    just sharing for future reference…

    Reply

  49. sk says

    Thanks Rosco for your post. It worked for me, have dv8000- xp pro.
    Changed, SATA native mode to Disable ( don’t have option for ACHI, IDE etc.)

    Reply

  52. wendimaye says

    thank you so much.. i didn’t even get the thought of changing ahci to ata.. and now it worked. Thank you! God Bless

    Reply

  60. Rahul says

    thanks a lot brother…..this trick of yours helped me a lot…thank you so much.,,god bless u….

    Reply

  61. Kama says

    Thankyou, changing ata in bios to compatablity mode solved the problem on Lenovo T61 Thinkpad. Hurray, goodbye vista, finally!! God bless the internet and people like you.

    Reply

  67. yk says

    When my IBM/Lenovo X60 stops working, a replace it with a SATA disk. After inserting the XP setup CD, it is unable to detect the presence of a hard disk. Then I follow the instructions per Solution 1 (change to Compatibility mode). It works better as it starts to load drivers from CD, etc. After accepting the licence terms, etc. it detects the hard disk presence. Sounds good.

    But after I create a partition and have the disk format routine runs to an end, it gives out a blue screen.

    A problem has been detected and windows has to shutdown to prevent damage to your computer. …Check with your hardware vendor for any bios updates. …restart your computer. etc….etc.

    I am still not sure what is going on. Have I missed any steps? Or it is just a general hard failure (hard disk interface controller or the hard disk itself). What do you reckon?

    I am either going to find another hard disk to try or re-test the replacement hard disk to verify the disk is in fact working.

    Thanks for reading.

    Reply

    • Rosco says

      Hi Yk,

      Since this article was written, there have been a few more recent ones that concentrate more on loading the correct SATA drivers for your hard disk from the outset.
      At this stage it is more advisable to try to download the correct drivers from the manufacturers website and either create a Windows XP CD with those drivers on it as detailed in this article: https://proposedsolution.com/howto/create-windows-xp-cd-sata-drivers/

      or else put the drivers on a separate floppy if you have a floppy drive and insert when prompted by Windows XP setup.

      In your case, it may be that compatability mode isn’t sufficient and it’s throwing a blue screen every time.

      R.

      Reply

      • yk says

        Rosco, thank you for trying to help. I believe this laptop has a bad drive interface (hardware fault). So matter what I did it can’t help.

        Reply

  70. drebirth says

    Please I need help. am using SONY VAIO VGN-NR32M. I pressed F2 In BIOS i cant find Onboard Devices no to talk of Flash Cache Module to Set Off and Onboard Devices -> SATA Operation -> Set ATA. Pleas help this vista is pissy

    Reply

  71. ell says

    Hi, i might be too late to get a reply from this 2 years old thread..but might be worth a try. My BIOS cannot detect hard disk after 2 years of using it. I might want to try your solution but i’ve read all the replies here is regarding new installation of windows. But in my situation, the hard disk can’t be detected after 2 years using it. Hundreds of artwork are on it… im desperately need all my data back. but windows cannot start and hard disk can’t be detected. 🙁 Im afraid by using your solution, it will make all the data gone? Is it safe for me to try the solution? Thank you very much..sorry for the long explanation!

    Reply

    • Rosco says

      Hi Ell,

      Long explanations are better then short ones 🙂

      This article is related to the error that Windows cannot find the hard disk during Windows XP setup.

      I suspect that if you have been happily using your PC that you are not trying to run Windows XP Setup – please confirm.

      Please try to explain as best you can what happens on the screen from the moment you switch the PC on to the moment you can’t get any farther.

      Rosco

      Reply

      • ell says

        Thanks for the reply! Yes, im not trying to run Windows XP setup…er sorry if i mistakenly in the wrong thread but the solutions seems promising.

        Ok, my problem is, when i startup the pc…there comes the black screen saying cannot find secondary drive, and ask me to hit f5 to retry in order to start the windows. The same error message come out redundantly if I hit f5. I wonder why it says secondary drive because its the only drive i have. (1 hard disk with no partition, yes all the data is only in C drive (i didn’t do the installation setup) The pc is now in IT department at my workplace and they said the hard disk is corrupted and wanted to replace with new hard disk. And now im all over the internet to find the solution to get it work or at least to get my data back… 🙁

        Reply

          • Rosco says

            Hi Ell

            If your IT Dept are suggesting that the drive is corrupt then u might
            be able to recover the data by installing it as a secondary drive and
            copying the data off of it.

            Firstly you’d have to install a new hard disk as primary and install
            windows on the good new drive. Then connect up your original drive as
            secondary so that both of them are in the pc at the same time. When
            the new windows boots open My Computer and you should see a C and a D
            where D is your old drive.

            At his stage you would hopefully be able to browse the drive and
            retrieve your files. If you do get this far, expect a few errors when
            copy and expect it to be slow but hope that it works long enough to
            retrieve the files!

            Rosco.

            Reply

  72. ell says

    Thank you! i will try the solution and will update here tonite! Thank you very much for the advice Rosco!

    Reply

  75. Dave says

    There is no option in my bios to change anything having to do with sata.
    Toshiba Satellite L45-S7409
    Please advise
    Thank you

    Reply

  79. BECKY says

    My advent laptop 7105 is saying no hard disk found system recovery cannot be continued help what can I do?

    Reply

    • Rosco says

      Hi Becky…did you check if your hard disk is detected in the BIOS? You can access the BIOS by pressing DEL key straight after you switch on the computer.

      Look for System Information.

      R.

      Reply

  80. SRAJU says

    Hi I have HP Pavilion DV5000, I could not install Windows XP, I was getting this message.

    “ Setup could not find a Hard disk drive on your system.”

    Steps Taken:
    1: Restart your computer
    2: Press F10 go BIOS
    3: SATA
    4: Save changes and Exit.

    After Disabling SATA I was able to install Windows XP, worked like a beauty.

    Reply

  81. S.RAJU says

    Hi I have a HP Pavilion DV5000, I could not install Windows XP, I was getting this message.

    “ Setup could not find a Hard disk drive on your system.”

    Steps Taken:

    1: Restart your computer
    2: Press F10 go BIOS
    3: Disable SATA
    4: Save changes and Exit.

    After Disabling SATA I was able to install Windows XP, worked like a beauty.

    Reply

  84. Andrew says

    Thanks mate, this worked for me. I had to disable flash module and switch from AHCI to ATA on a Dell.

    Reply

  85. Harish says

    i disabled SATA native support. it worked.was using windows7 on compaq presario v3000. thanks a lot for the article…..

    Reply

    • mj says

      how can you disabled the SATA native support on your presario v3000? I’m also have presario v300 but I cant find the SATA native support.

      Reply

  86. Gary says

    It was funny i actually changed the SATA controller to IDE before i read this but as i was restarting, I started searching for more options incase that one failed, but it worked and this is the first site i opened and it was at the top so i knew i luckily did the right thing, Thanks alot for sharing with everyone thought, This works on an Acer TravelMate 6592

    Reply

  88. Peter says

    Hi Rosco,
    I have a IBM ThinkPad T40 and it is giving me the problem.I just got a laptop and changed the harddrive and am not sure why its coming.

    Thanks,
    Peter

    Reply

  89. Abhi says

    Thanks a ton. Your first fix worked like a charm. I had given up on all the data which I had collected over the last 4 years why my vista gave up and was unable to install Xp. You ROCK !!

    Reply

  90. Abhi says

    Thanks a ton. Your first fix worked like a charm. I had given up on all the data which I had collected over the last 4 years when my vista gave up and was unable to install Xp. You ROCK !!

    Reply

  92. webleet says

    I have a Gateway 450sx4 laptop I got from a reclamation sale with no hard drive. I put a HD(IDE) in and now I’m getting the unable to fin HD error and Error codes PXE-E61 andPXE-M0F. WinXPPro start up disks get me to Install WinXP hit enter, then no hd detected. I do not have the option to change ACHI to IDE. Phoenix Bios version 35.02.01.

    Reply

    • Rosco says

      Hi webleet,
      This looks like a different problem to the one described in the article above.

      You should make sure the hard disk is physically installed and detected in the BIOS first before even attempting to start Windows setup. If it’s not in the BIOS, windows setup will never detect it.

      Take out the hard disk and see if it has any jumper pins on it. If it does it does, it should be configured as master. See diagram on the hard disk or manufacturers website for details.
      If it doesnt have jumpers or it’s already configured as master then pop it back into the laptop and switch on. Enter the BIOS and check if the drive is detected in system information. If not, reset the Bioks to factory defaults, restart and check again. If it’s still not detected then it’s possibly a hard disk problem or a system board problem with the laptop.

      Let me know how you get on.

      R.

      Reply

  93. Echo says

    Hi, I also met the same problem during I install Windows Server 2003 on HP ProLiant LD140 G3 server. would you please tell me how to set the ATA in BIOS? The ways you said above, i tried, but failed. 🙁

    Reply

  96. Jason says

    Hi,

    I have a compaq nc6320, and window setup could not find hard drive either with the blue screen message. I am also try the method of incorporating the BIOS, SATA and Chipset drivers updates into the window setup using nLite, but I am not sure what files to be loaded into the nLite. I have downloaded the drivers from the HP website and extracted, and the procedure to use the nlite is very confusing. Please help.

    Reply

  99. AZSarge says

    I can change the setting in the BIOS from SATA – Enhanced to IDE – ‘Compatible’, but once done the computer will not reboot? Any suggestions?

    Reply

  100. Dennis Foo says

    Thanks! Your solution works flawlessly on IBM T60 notebook.
    OS – Windows XP SP3.
    Go to BIOS -> config -> Serial ATA – (AHCI to Compatibility)

    Reply

  104. edwin woods says

    Hi

    I removed the memory card from my computer to check it as I want to upgrade the memory but when I replaced it, I cant seem to boot windows XP!!From post screen, it asks me to enter disc so I put in my windows xp recovery disc but then I get the message about the set up did not… and dont know what to do…

    I have a foxconn motherboard 760gxk8mx but cant locate where to change sata to ide in cmos or bios.. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also I dont have a floppy drive so cant download from there.

    thanks

    Edwin

    Reply

  106. sayham says

    hi
    i have a Gigabyte G41M-ES2L motherboard.
    i am unable to find my sata configaration section.
    can you plz plz plz plz plz tell me where is it.
    where can i find my sata configaration section.

    Reply

  109. prasanth says

    Hey guys my system recently formated after that my display driver got some problem, while browsing its freeze and system automatically restarts,,pls help us i tried a lot couldn’t fix it i tried registery clean up

    Reply

  110. lea says

    Rosco, do you have any idea as to where exactly in a compaq presario cq40 bios setup i can change the controller to IDE? my laptop was working just fine, a few days back. i also just did a complete scan w/ no virus detected. after a few days of having my mom use my laptop, it just doesn’t start up and when i did a diagnostic on the hard disk, it says it doesn’t exist? will changing it to IDE do any good or does this mean that my os is simply corrupted? any thoughts? 🙁

    Reply

  111. Canvan says

    Hi, Rosco,

    Your solution #1 works for me up to the step #6. But I could not change the BOIS setting back to SATA after the XP setup. If I do so, the blue screen will come back again saying the HD can not be found.

    Should I keep on using “compatibility” setting? How can I change back to use AHCI setting?

    Thanks,
    Van

    Reply

    • Rodrigo says

      I got home from work yesterday afnetroon and mowed the lawn and blew leaves before the rain came today. After I mowed my lawn, I went next door to my neighbors house and mowed his lawn and blew the leaves off his property. I slipped a pay it forward card under his door mat when I was finished. He came over and thanked me for what I’d done, and also asked me about pay it forward. I often do things for other people, but yesterday it felt a little different because it gave me the opportunity to tell him about paying it forward; also in hopes that it would have a chain reaction and many lives would be effected by such a positive and simple notion of paying it forward .

      Reply

  114. trevor says

    hi i need help finding my drivers and putting onto floppy ive looked and looked and im not having any luck im kinda a noob plz help i have a soltek motherboard and a nvidia nforce2 ive been trying to reformat for 4 days and i keep getting the cant find hard disk drive msg PLZ HELP

    Reply

  116. trevor says

    ok so now ive found my driver (i think) and i hit f6 get prompted to put in the floppy and when i do i get “the file txtsetup.oem could not be found” what now?

    Reply

  119. swapnil says

    i have the compaq pc having foxconn motherboard on it.i m getting the same error with my original hdd which comes with my pc.but when i attach another hdd it works fine.
    but my older hdd still undetectable in bios also.plz plz help me i have imp data on it

    Reply

    • Edward says

      September 20, 2013 at 10:49 amElkeFeuerThanks, Liz! Writading a bio is usuadally the last thing on people’s minds. They’re usuadally in exitceadment mode that their book is going to be pubadlished. Color me guilty.

      Reply

  121. Josh says

    OK so I followed Solution 1 and was able to install Windows just fine that way, but now when I switch the setting back to AHCI my laptop gives me a BSOD when attempting to load Windows. Switching it back to “Compatibility” mode allows me to boot Windows normally. Any suggestions?

    Reply

    • Rob L says

      Josh, same problem here – MS KB advises this is (likely) a missing driver issue. Windows still does not have the specific SATA comptible drivers installed at this point.

      Reply

  122. Marcos says

    Se for servidor, utilize o CD de instalação do server. EX: IBM que tem o server guide, através dele consegue fazer a instalação normalmente, sem o problema de driver.

    Reply

  123. Anonymous says

    Problem solved
    thanks
    (solition1: Change the mode of the SATA controller from AHCI to IDE or Compatibility)

    Reply

  126. Sham says

    hello sir i follow your step to solve my problem but i am not find any setting in my BIOS settings please tell me the solution according to my motherboard as uner noted:
    ASUS motherboard P5KPL-AM/PS G31

    Reply

  129. Samoun says

    Your first solution work for my laptop acer aspire 5710z. Fist I can’t set to IDE mode, but after I update my BIOS, I can. Then I can continue set up windows xp normally.

    Reply

  132. Tony says

    please help me , if i change sata drive to raid or id or inverse , i lose my data on all of hard disk?

    Reply

  133. HelpPleaSE!! says

    i have problems with step 2

    Locate the Serial ATA or SATA configuration section
    I’ve seen this section called ‘On Chip Config’ on some Phoenix Award BIOS
    On Lenovo/IBM ThinkPads it’s in Config > Serial ATA (Sata

    I cant locate the serial ata or sata for my phoenix, there is nothing close to chip config or anything, ive checked all the options im tottaly lost.. please help me and future people who read this article.

    Reply

  135. thoma says

    what am i missing? I have an old Gateway mt6705 that I reformatted the hard drive on in hopes of never,ever seeing Vista again and loading a clean copy of XP pro. But after getting the dreaded blue screen and message ‘hard drive not found’ your solution seemed the ideal fix. But on start-up I can’t do anything to change my Phoenix Bios 77.11 besides maybe changing the system time or date.
    What am I doing wrong? How do I edit the bios?

    Reply

    • Rosco says

      Hi Thoma..
      Seems a bit strange that you can’t edit the BIOS. Can you send me a photo of the screen?

      Before that, make sure are upgraded to the latest version of the BIOS….you should find BIOS upgrades on the Gateway Support site for your model. I believe the latest is 77.12.

      After that, send me a pic if you still can’t edit anything.

      R.

      Reply

  137. Jwalin says

    Thank you so much. I own T61 and your post was very helpful. Resolved with option 1. Keep up the good work …

    Reply

  141. nazmul says

    I pressed during xp set up “To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, pressR”. now my laptop is showing no hard drive on it…its win7 based laptop…plz,solve

    Reply

  144. Laxman Dangol says

    I have Toshiba Dynabook SS L11 17L/4 laptop and bios config is 1Raid-0, when I install windowsxp bootable cd then display this message Setup could not find any hard drive.

    any solution

    Reply

  147. NL says

    we just got a used Toshiba satellite L40 Laptop(PSL40E) with no OS on it. In the set up, I can not find anywhere to change the HHD controller. Once the laptop is up and running, there is C:\> is there anyway to get to the control from there?

    Reply

    • Rosco says

      NL, Can you explain how you get to a C:\ prompt?

      That fact that you are getting that far indicates that the hard disk is being detected (although C: could be mapping to a different drive such as your DVD).

      What’s happening with Windows setup?

      R.

      Reply

  148. NL says

    When I turn it on it show the Toshiba/Intel screen, the flashes past a windows 98 screen and then goes black and the screen reads;
    Microsoft (R) Windows 98
    (C)Copyright Microsoft Corp 1981-1999.
    C:\>_

    When I run Windows Pro with SP2, from the CD/DVD it runs windows set up, loading most if not all files and then comes to a blue screen that ends in:
    stop:0x0000007E (0xc0000005, 0xF75DD0BF, 0xF7A29208, 0xFA28F08)
    pci.sys – address F75DD0BF base at F75D6000, DateStamp 3b7d855c

    thanks

    Reply

  151. Jayanta says

    I can’t find ACHI or IDE in BIOS. I am getting onboard devices—>Integrated NIC or MiniPCI status and Modem enables. Can’t find anything so that I can change to SATA drive. I have windows XP CD and using dell inspiron 6000 laptop. Can you please suggest what should I do or where can I download SATA files so that I can use F6 and then F2 option as suggested in option 2.

    Thanks….

    Reply

  152. Vij says

    Thanks. Still works after all these years! Disabled SATA on HP Pavilion laptop and was able to instal XP which was corrupt!

    Reply

  153. RAJ PANVAL says

    I WANT TO INSTALL WIN 7 ON THE SYSTEM. WIN Xp getting installed properly. but problem with wind 7. There is no compatibility/ATA option in lenovo K series desktops.Only DISBALE,IDE,ACHI,SCSI Options available there? how can i solve problem?

    Thnx,
    RAJ

    Reply

  154. anand says

    I have Toshiba SaTELLITE pRO a 205 lAPTOP. i WANT TO FORMAT FROM VISTA TO WINDOWS XP. bUT HARD DIST NOT DETECT F3 TO QUIT. hOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. i CHECK IN BIOS ALSO BUT NO SATA CONFIGURATION IN MY BIOS HOW TO SOLVE IT PLEASE HELP ME.

    Reply

  156. Seth says

    I have a laptop Compaq Presario R3000 , & I enter into Setup & there is nothing that says where I can change the BIOS from ACHI to IDE. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙁

    Reply

  157. Victor Bird says

    Thanks a lot for a post. Worked like a charm!
    To bad I still need to have some kind of Window$ on my machine parallel with Linux for compatability reasons…

    Reply

  159. chad painter says

    I have a Compaq presario sr2010nx preloaded with XP SP2
    The restore cd is XP SP2, but I had SP3 installed on it.
    One day when I fired it up it said “disk boot failure please install……”
    I ran the OS CD to repair XP and when it came to the part when I press R (to repair) ,it gave the “no hard disk drive found…” error.
    doesnt the XP SP2 restore cd have all the drivers needed? And my PC doesnt have the “ribbon” connection anyway it has the newer smaller connections.
    Is the data on the Hard Drive salvageable????

    Reply

  161. vivek says

    Hi Rosco,
    this is vivek. I am having a hp pavillion dv6700 . i got this problem – setup did not find any hard disk installed in blah blah blah,… i followed the procedure of nlite but then the last stage of making ISO did not come. what shall i do?
    i mailed you also …please help me out…

    Reply

  162. Vivek says

    My laptop is hp pavillion dv6700 . There is no option to change from sata to IDE in Phoenix bios. How shall I do it. Tell me please.
    I did the n lite process also but when I put the new cd which I made , it does asks to boot from cd. Just a black screen and nothing happens

    Reply

  164. George Lass says

    I only had the option to disable SATA in the BIOS. Didn’t help though. My solution: Install Win XP on an IDE drive. Don’t activate Windows yet. Next, install your SATA drive as a slave (additional drive). Windows will find it and install the drivers needed. Boot using Ubuntu live CD. Clone the IDE drive onto the SATA drive using the dd command in a terminal window. Bingo. (Alot of extra work, but I had no alternative) My bios must be a stinker.

    Reply

  165. iftikhar haider says

    i can not find the the solution of my problem. I am not finding the serial SATA option in BIOS setup of Server 7800 series.

    Reply

  166. Kerby says

    I have found the SATA driver for solution 2 (no option to disable on my Conmpaq Mini) but when I press S to select it from my USB flash drive, I get ‘Setup could not find a floppy drive on your machine to load OEM drivers from floppy disk.’

    I don’t have a floppy drive! Help!

    Reply

  167. mhigyh says

    hey sir, i got the same problem. i got a hp 530 notebook laptop.. i cant fix it, always crashing,. pls help me. tnx

    Reply

  168. uttam says

    sir, thank you so much for your advice. i solve my problem in dell vostro 1400. i have a more problem, my battery charging light is flashing continuously(orange colour). what can i do? also i want to update my bios A07 to latest. can you tell me how to update my bios safely. thank you.

    Reply

  169. Mary says

    Hi, I tried what you have posted here and changed the Serial ATA (SATA) to compatibility , I have an IBM ThinkPad T60, but it didn’t work, it kept giving me the message “NTLDR is missing, press Ctrl+ Alt+Del to restart.” Any suggestions?
    Thank you

    Reply

  170. madocter says

    THANKS bro you saved my life you cant imagine,
    i buyed my first dedicated and this post helped me to instal lwindows server on it me and my users will be happy

    Reply

  171. meidan says

    Hi,
    I did the second suggestion, it works till i hit the R button and then i get a screen with:
    1:c:\windows
    2:d\windows
    which windows installation would you like to log onto (to cancel press ENTER)?
    when i write 1, i get a list of commands and i have no idea where to go from here.

    i need to mention that i have a Asus P5S800 and windows xp home edition. i have 2 HDs 1Tr & 75 GB.

    btw: on the floppy i have a list of 4:
    SRV 2003 SIS RAID/IDE Controller
    WIN XP 32 bit SIS RAID/IDE Controller
    WIN 2000 SIS RAID/IDE Controller
    WINDOWS 64 bit SIS RAID/IDE Controller

    Since i have windows xp, i am selecting win xp 32 bit.

    Really appreciate your help!!!
    Thanks!

    Reply

  177. Nigel says

    Found your information after Google search. Was trying to re-install Win XP Pro on an old HP Compaq nx6310 from CD and your tip worked. Terrific! Thank you so much – much time and possible expense saved!

    Reply

  178. Fester says

    Thank you very much for the tip, that saved me a lot of trouble. But would it greatly change my laptop by disabling the SATA?

    Reply

  179. Meathead says

    This webpage was the first hit via google for this problem.

    Followed solution 1 and seemed to do the trick – thanks! Yes there’s still some of us out there tasked with reinstalling WinXP 😛

    These settings were changed in the BIOS of a HP Compaq 8510w laptop:

    System Configuration -> Device Configuration
    Parallel Port Mode = ECP
    SATA Native Mode = Disabled

    I also set the boot order to HDD = First, Optical Drive = Second. If in doubt hit F9 on boot and select your Optical Drive to load first.

    Thanks again

    Reply

  180. joseph jp says

    yoooohhh man your great.. installed linux and tried to install windows xp again after which this issue came.. your solution worked on my acer travel mate..
    thanks aaaaaa loooooooot

    Reply

  182. Mario says

    Hi Rosco,
    I’m trying to recover some files from a defunct computer with this error. I’m trying to work through your solutions, but the options you present are not available on my machine. I have a DELL 4600 desktop. Bios is Phoenix ROM Bios Plus Version 1.10 A07
    I don’t show the alternatives on the solutions you present as option 1, and when I tried 2, I’m having trouble locating the appropriate files as the drivers I have extracted don’t seem to have the files I’m looking for.
    Any specific help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks ahead!

    Reply

  183. Musavir says

    hey guys,. if u will not find the option to change the mode from ahci to ide,. then there is a option to disable sata,. just diable that and restart ur installing ,. it will get done,. if not can call me on +91-9819000732

    Reply

  188. rj says

    i v only option as follows:

    onboard ide operatemode : disble , compatible, enhnced…

    then below dat: s-ata + p-ata , s-ata, p-ata…

    didnt find any achi mode dat u guyz r keep on saying…
    My mother board is “Asus P5gz- mx”
    it is of year 2005….

    Reply

  189. Abbas says

    Thanks a lot dude, just disabled the native sata support n setup has initiated, I spent about good few hours to figure out the solution but thanks to ur suggestions, u r a star….

    Reply

  190. Robert Tipping says

    Thanx life saver got as far as changing drive in bios (compatible)was able to boot into C:\windows from there and able to execute fixmbr -fixboot thank you so much

    Reply

  191. Awais Awan says

    Hi Dear,
    Me from Pakistan, I also facing same problem when I read this information and apply the same in my HP Laptop Compaq 6910p. Error is resolve and window xp installed in my computer.
    Again Thankx alox to your goodself.

    Reply

  195. Kathiresan says

    Hi Rosco,
    I’m trying to recover some files from a defunct computer with this error. I’m trying to work through your solutions, but the options you present are not available on my machine. I have a DELL 4600 desktop. Bios is Phoenix ROM Bios Plus Version 1.10 A07
    I don’t show the alternatives on the solutions you present as option 1, and when I tried 2, I’m having trouble locating the appropriate files as the drivers I have extracted don’t seem to have the files I’m looking for.
    Any specific help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks ahead!

    Reply

  198. Adrienne says

    Hey,
    I just bought a new ASUS Notebook PC and I want to install a disc that has practice exams on it for me to take on the computer. When I go to install the disc it takes me through the whole installing process
    1. Do you want to install this onto your computer?
    Publisher: Spearhead Global Inc
    Application: TherapyEd’s NPTE Review and Study Guide

    2. It asks me for the installing preferences (shortcut and whatever)

    3. and then gives me an error. “The application could not be installed because the installer file is damaged. Try obtaining a new installer file from the application author.”

    I tried to install a similar CD and that same error occurred, but the place gave me a brand new computer because it was still under warranty. I tried to install the new disc on my brand new computer and it worked with no other programs installed on the computer.

    Do I need to delete a program that I currently have downloaded (Adobe Air?)?
    Any thoughts on how to fix this would be awesome!! Thanks

    Reply

  203. Sandeep says

    Hi,Thanks for the solution.

    My system came up with the error “NTLDR missing” I did some settings in BIOS couldn’t resolve the issue, Also tried to reinstall windows XP but HDD was been recognised in BIOS but used to come up with “0 capacity”.

    I changed the mode from AHCI to IDE, rebooted the computer and I was able to login and my issue was resolved. Thanks for all your help.

    Take care…
    Sandeep

    Reply

  204. Femii says

    I am having a Greatwall 630 notebook and i was trying to setup a windows XP 2005 on it using a SATA drive. But i was getting this error ‘Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed’ …
    How do i locate the SATA configuration in BIOS settings on this machine?

    Reply

  205. kirsh says

    I have HP Z400 model with SAS HDD connected. I am not able to install Windows XP OS CD. In BIOS AHCI changed IDE. After that also facing HDD not detecting error during the installtion time.

    Reply

  209. ToddP says

    DO you actually have the instructions to install the Scsi drives as you stated in your title that you seemed to completely failed to put in you article?

    Reply

  211. Waqar Ahmad says

    Assalam o Alaikum Sir. I am very thankful to you sir for solving my problem. My laptop don’t show hard drive during instalation of window. with the help of above sloution noe my laptop show drives.
    Thank you sir

    Reply

  212. Anonymous says

    Hi could anyone help me my windows xp installation progress is not getting ahead of 26% it is stuck on checking disk

    Reply

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