My newegg order has been processed and I am waiting for the components to my new computer. I will be using a SATA 74 GB Raptor for windows and games and a WD1200JB as a storage drive. I was wondering how to install windows on the raptor. I saw in another thread that it requires a floppy drive, which I do not have. Is this the case? If so, are there any workarounds? The mobo is an Asus K8V. Thanks in advance.
Installing windows on a SATA drive
- Thread starter mitchafi
- Start date
floppy drive is easiest. you somehow need to provide the SATA drivers from the floppy disk to the windows installer program when it asks if you want to load any raid controllers. (the "raid" is misleading; this is the only way to give the windows xp installer the needed sata drivers).
You could see if burning it to a cd works, but it's so much easier to spend $10 on a floppy drive.
You could see if burning it to a cd works, but it's so much easier to spend $10 on a floppy drive.
You need a floppy drive. It is by far the easiest way to do this. If you really don't want to spend the ~$10 search the archives (maybe current too) threads here at AT, there were some posts in the past on how to do this. I also believe you can do this with an unattended install of Windows. You can find directions/links on that here as well, or on Google.
\Dan
\Dan
I used this and it worked great.
I had a problem where my SATA drivers wouldn't even get recognized on a floppy.
I had a problem where my SATA drivers wouldn't even get recognized on a floppy.
Alright so I searched through the boards and couldn't find much, then went on google where I found a post about it on storagereview.com: http://forums.storagereview.net/index.php?showtopic=14753 Unfortunately, everyone seems to be saying different things. So can someone please give me specific instructions on how to install two drives, a SATA raptor (for winxp) and an EIDE WD1200JB (for storage). If a floppy drive is neccesary I can take it out of my old PC temporarily, but from what I read I am still unsure. Thanks
ummmmmm...
See my post. It'll take your windows CD and slipstream the drivers necessary to access your SATA drive during install.
See my post. It'll take your windows CD and slipstream the drivers necessary to access your SATA drive during install.
Get the drivers from your mobo or SATA card manufacturer. The follow the instructions on the page I linked.
Another cool thing you can do is add some programs that you want to install and then create a batch file to install them through a command line and Windows will install those files fresh off the CD (or DVD).
Not to discount the sometimes great advice you can get on this forum, Mitch, but I have two suggestions that may save you some time and anxiety: 1) Why not just call Western Digital and ask about the floppy situation? Their corporate HQ number is (949) 672-7000. They're in Southern California, so hours are probably 9-5 PST. Just tell 'em you're planning on buying a Raptor and want to know if you'll absolutely have to have a floppy to boot to Windows. They'll tell you and you'll know what to do. Prob solved.
2) If your new hard drives arrive and you get stuck anywhere along the way, just call their tech support line. As long as you've bought retail and not OEM versions of these drives, WD gives you 30 days of free tech support (that's 30 days from the first time you call, not 30 days from when you receive the drives). Yeah, ideally you'd prefer to 'save' your first tech support call for something else, but when you think about it, installation is really the most likely time you'll need tech support anyway. WD hard drives are so reliable you'll probably never need to call again anyway. WD's toll-free tech support # is (800) 275-4932. Hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST (I guess their tech support staff is in another area of the country).
In case anyone's wondering, no, I don't have any affiliation with WD. I just like their drives.
Good luck. 🙂
Ken
PS: If I were you, I'd buy a floppy drive and keep it around for situations like this. Every so often I still find myself needing a floppy drive for something. You can pick up a cheapy, bulk no-name internal model for about $10 at Fry's or Micro Center, and even Mitsumis are only about $15 (still cheapy, but a slight step up). Personally, I like the new 2X speed external floppy drives from TDK and YE Data. Apple even recommends the YE Data Platinum (or is it called "Titanium"?) 2X speed floppy drive. As the 2X moniker implies, they read & write floppies at double speed. And there is even a 4X speed drive now (I think YE Data makes it too). They run about $50, but they're USB 2.0 (I think) and lessen the otherwise agonizing wait time associated with using floppies. There are, of course, much cheaper regular-speed external drives out there too.
2) If your new hard drives arrive and you get stuck anywhere along the way, just call their tech support line. As long as you've bought retail and not OEM versions of these drives, WD gives you 30 days of free tech support (that's 30 days from the first time you call, not 30 days from when you receive the drives). Yeah, ideally you'd prefer to 'save' your first tech support call for something else, but when you think about it, installation is really the most likely time you'll need tech support anyway. WD hard drives are so reliable you'll probably never need to call again anyway. WD's toll-free tech support # is (800) 275-4932. Hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST (I guess their tech support staff is in another area of the country).
In case anyone's wondering, no, I don't have any affiliation with WD. I just like their drives.
Good luck. 🙂
Ken
PS: If I were you, I'd buy a floppy drive and keep it around for situations like this. Every so often I still find myself needing a floppy drive for something. You can pick up a cheapy, bulk no-name internal model for about $10 at Fry's or Micro Center, and even Mitsumis are only about $15 (still cheapy, but a slight step up). Personally, I like the new 2X speed external floppy drives from TDK and YE Data. Apple even recommends the YE Data Platinum (or is it called "Titanium"?) 2X speed floppy drive. As the 2X moniker implies, they read & write floppies at double speed. And there is even a 4X speed drive now (I think YE Data makes it too). They run about $50, but they're USB 2.0 (I think) and lessen the otherwise agonizing wait time associated with using floppies. There are, of course, much cheaper regular-speed external drives out there too.
I see you took some time to write that, but what happens when Western Digital tells him that the problem he's having isn't with the drive, but with his onboard SATA driver or the driver for his SATA card and then he has to call someone else. 😉
I've done what he's trying to do and the drivers from my mobo manufacturer wouldn't even work with a floppy. It'd get to a point and then wouldn't copy the drivers over. Making a bootable DVD with the driver slipstreamed was not only easier, but now I have it for future references and I can keep an up-to-date drivers slipstreamed on the disc for whenever I upgrade hardware or need to do a reinstall.
I've done what he's trying to do and the drivers from my mobo manufacturer wouldn't even work with a floppy. It'd get to a point and then wouldn't copy the drivers over. Making a bootable DVD with the driver slipstreamed was not only easier, but now I have it for future references and I can keep an up-to-date drivers slipstreamed on the disc for whenever I upgrade hardware or need to do a reinstall.
Thanks Ken, I pretty much overlooked using tech support due to my bad experiences with it in the past (not WD's tech support, just tech support in general) but I'll keep that in mind If I do in fact have trouble ::crosses fingers:: I have a floppy in my old PC and if that doesn't work out then I'm reading about xpcreate right now so I'll use that. 🙂
Mitch: Yeah, tech support can be anywhere from horrible to outstanding, depending on the company (obviously!). I can tell you that I've called WD about 3 times in the last month just for some pre-sales product info, and each time they cheerfully transferred me to their tech support line 'cuz I had some technical questions about Raptors and their Special Edition EIDE drives. Each call, their folks were outstanding -- patient, very knowledgeable, didn't put me on hold, answered all of my questions very thoroughly, and they speak clear English. They also told me about an upgrade program they have that I didn't know about. First class operation, at least in my dealings with them. And they're here in the states. (And no, I really don't work for WD!) I guess maybe I'm gushing about them because I too have had bad experiences in the past with lousy tech support from other companies and this is nice for a change.
Pulse: I agree with you. I was simply trying to address the "do I need a floppy drive or is there some other way to do this?" part of his question. Nothing wrong with your idea; I personally just think it would be a easier to just buy a $10 floppy drive than go thru extra steps, that probably aren't familiar to someone who hasn't done them before, that someone has posted on an online forum. The fact that Mitch wasn't entirely clear on some of the thoughts posted before and had to ask again made me think that a more basic approach would work better for him. What's easy for you to understand ('cuz you already know how to do it) might not be as quick & easy for non-experts to grasp & implement, particularly someone setting up a Raptor config for the first time. That's all. 🙂
As for what would happen in your scenario, I don't know off the top of my head if the Asus K8V comes SATA ready (it probably does) or if Mitch will have to buy a separate serial card, but I assumed (maybe in error) that he looked into that before deciding on the K8V and bought accordingly. I don't know what mobo & drivers you had trouble getting to work with a floppy (was it with an older operating system?), but I would hazard a guess that what you encountered is unusual. I wouldn't think he'll have any problems with a K8V/floppy/drivers procedure. Additionally, he can get the SATA card (if he needs it) from WD and there shouldn't be any "problem" with it either. I really don't think he's gonna have any problems at all installing a SATA drive and need to call anyone else if he just uses a floppy drive with his K8V. We're probably freaking him out unnecessarily! Admittedly, I haven't installed dozens of these things or anything, but I haven't heard that Raptors are traumatic to install or anything as long as quality, compatible components & software are being used all around.
I like your posts, by the way, and have learned some things I didn't know before. Thank you. By the way, how does one create a batch file?
No more mile-long posts for me on this subject. As George Costanza once said, "I'm out!"
Ken
PS: WD told me that Raptors install very easy & reliably with Windows XP and Windows 2000. I can't comment on how older op systems might affect the process.
Pulse: I agree with you. I was simply trying to address the "do I need a floppy drive or is there some other way to do this?" part of his question. Nothing wrong with your idea; I personally just think it would be a easier to just buy a $10 floppy drive than go thru extra steps, that probably aren't familiar to someone who hasn't done them before, that someone has posted on an online forum. The fact that Mitch wasn't entirely clear on some of the thoughts posted before and had to ask again made me think that a more basic approach would work better for him. What's easy for you to understand ('cuz you already know how to do it) might not be as quick & easy for non-experts to grasp & implement, particularly someone setting up a Raptor config for the first time. That's all. 🙂
As for what would happen in your scenario, I don't know off the top of my head if the Asus K8V comes SATA ready (it probably does) or if Mitch will have to buy a separate serial card, but I assumed (maybe in error) that he looked into that before deciding on the K8V and bought accordingly. I don't know what mobo & drivers you had trouble getting to work with a floppy (was it with an older operating system?), but I would hazard a guess that what you encountered is unusual. I wouldn't think he'll have any problems with a K8V/floppy/drivers procedure. Additionally, he can get the SATA card (if he needs it) from WD and there shouldn't be any "problem" with it either. I really don't think he's gonna have any problems at all installing a SATA drive and need to call anyone else if he just uses a floppy drive with his K8V. We're probably freaking him out unnecessarily! Admittedly, I haven't installed dozens of these things or anything, but I haven't heard that Raptors are traumatic to install or anything as long as quality, compatible components & software are being used all around.
I like your posts, by the way, and have learned some things I didn't know before. Thank you. By the way, how does one create a batch file?
No more mile-long posts for me on this subject. As George Costanza once said, "I'm out!"
Ken
PS: WD told me that Raptors install very easy & reliably with Windows XP and Windows 2000. I can't comment on how older op systems might affect the process.
Great advice! Anyone who has had to reload their system more than once will appreciate this site.
OK I am trying the floppy drive method right now I have everything setup I just need to know where to find the drivers to put on the floppy. I can only find the SATA Raid drivers on the Asus site. Are those what I need? I noticed they are 7 MB, how will that fit on a disk? I'm trying desperately to get this thing up and running before I go to bed.
Put Asus CD in cd drive open and look for makedisk.exe for the sata controller your using. It'll make a floppy with the drivers you need to use
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