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Thread ID: 41026	2003-12-27 10:20:00	Further to the large HDD in old computer problem...	Mike (15)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
203475	2003-12-27 10:20:00	We've somehow managed to get the computer to recognise the drive. However we can't get Windows 2000 to install on the drive. I've tried with and without the Western Digital drive overlay program. The W2K installer gets to formatting and then sits at 0% with no disk activity at all. So I put the drive in my machine and formatted, put it back and started the W2K installation again, this time it gets to the next step where setup files should be copied across to the drive, however I get a message something like "there was an error writing partition information to the disk". I don't get this error, as AFAIK there shouldn't be any partition info that needs writing to disk. But anyway, that's as far as we can get. Any suggestions? Would I have any more luck with W98 or XP? Machine is an AMD k6-2 450 with 192mb of RAM. the HDD is a 40gb Western Digital, which is recognised by the bios (and is so formatted) as a 32gb. I formatted in Fat32 - should I have formatted as NTFS? Mike.	Mike (15)
203476	2003-12-27 11:16:00	Ensure the 40Gb drive can have an OS installed - both when installed in the 40Gb in the AMD and when installed in a known good machine. Use a DOS based OS Reduce the primary partition size on the 40Gb drive - start at 2Gb Consider removing the 2Gb secondary drive during installation to avoid possible conflicts with the WD Get a smaller - second-hand - hard drive Men are four: He who knows not and knows not he knows not, he is a fool -- shun him; He who knows not and knows he knows not, he is simple -- teach him; He who knows and knows not he knows, he is asleep -- wake him; He who knows and knows he knows, he is wise -- follow him! - Lady Burton (wife of Sir Richard Francis Burton), given as an Arabian proverb	Merlin (503)
203477	2003-12-27 11:26:00	> Ensure the 40Gb drive can have an OS installed What do you mean by that? > Reduce the primary partition size on the 40Gb drive - start at 2Gb Will do - I've formatted at 32gb as that's what the BIOS detected the drive at, but I'll try making them smaller to see. > Consider removing the 2Gb secondary drive during > installation to avoid possible conflicts with the WD There is no other drive in the machine. > Get a smaller - second-hand - hard drive Not possible. Thanks for your help, Mike.	Mike (15)
203478	2003-12-27 15:03:00	I installed a 80G hdd to a P3 750 a year ago. From that experience i learnt that even tho the pc recongised your drive size correctly, that doesnt mean its compatible. I have exactly the same problem with you that there is no disk activity during format. perhaps, you should set your disk jumper to the limit drive capacity. that should work fine, but it reduce your disk size down to 32G i think.	Blue_face (1148)
203479	2003-12-27 20:38:00	> set your disk jumper to the limit drive capacity Already been done - the drive has been limited to 32gb, which is the same as what the BIOS recognises it as. Mike.	Mike (15)
203480	2003-12-27 22:46:00	I set a smaller partition size (set to 8gb for starters), and it gets one step further, and then says that it can't create the directory "/winnt". Mike.	Mike (15)
203481	2003-12-27 23:00:00	Have you updated the BIOS in the computer? Also try the util from WD that allows you to lock the drive in UDMA33 mode.	ugh1 (4204)
203482	2003-12-27 23:06:00	Hi Mike, I would start to suspect that the PC's PSU isn't up to scratch for the job. As you now have an 8GB and I presume a 24GB partition it might be easier to load the installation on to the second partition and install from there. It would probably be easier to pop the new drive into your machine and copy the CD from there. :)	Gorela (901)
203483	2003-12-27 23:18:00	Do you know how to start the Windows 2000 setup from a dos prompt? Whenever I run setup.exe it tells me it can't be run in DOS mode. Mike.	Mike (15)
203484	2003-12-28 08:46:00	When installing Windows 2000 after booting from a DOS boot disk, ensure the destination drive has been previously formatted with the same file structure as that used when the boot disk was created . FAT16 does not recognise FAT32 Consider booting from the CD as an alternative . Men are four: He who knows not and knows not he knows not, he is a fool -- shun him; He who knows not and knows he knows not, he is simple -- teach him; He who knows and knows not he knows, he is asleep -- wake him; He who knows and knows he knows, he is wise -- follow him! - Lady Burton (wife of Sir Richard Francis Burton), given as an Arabian proverb	Merlin (503)
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