asked on

Why can't XP see my SATA drive?

I have a VIA KT600 motherboard "KT6V Series" motherboard with built in SATA ports. I installed XP on one of the IDE hard drives, and I can see the other IDE drive, but I cannot see the SATA drive. I know the drive is still working and it is hot when I turn off the computer (which makes me assume that its getting power).

There is a floppy disk with a VIA SATA RAID Driver, which I thought I only needed if I wanted to do the RAID protocol, which I don't need. Is it possible that I need to install a driver to use the SATA drive even though the SATA port was already on the motherboard?

The instructions for installing the drivers are very confusing. I think the instructions say to put the files in a certain folder and then restart. Where would 75KB file "viasraid"?

If its not that simple then what do I have to do to get the OS recognize the drive? (It looks like BIOS can see it, but I'm not sure)

thank you!
-Max

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Merete

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

Merete

How To Install and Troubleshoot Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Drives
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/howto/sata_install_tshoot.html
http://www.theeldergeek.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19100
that should help you all together :)

nobus

>> Is it possible that I need to install a driver to use the SATA drive even though the SATA port was already on the motherboard? << YES, you need to install the driver. Also check in the manual if the ports are for raid only, or can be used as sata drive only

nobus

on the mobo page, they say it can be used for sata/raid, so that should work. you can find manual and drivers here :
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=511

Code3_HelpDesk

Also make sure the SATA controller is turned on in the BIOS.

Merete

thank you barvinpeawell I take it you have success, great .