How to set up my new PC HD as non-RAID, when the PC's been using RAID in the past?

[Ekliptix]

I had my PC set up from Memory Express with 2 x 250GB HDs but one of the HD's recently failed.

They were able to recover my data and put it on the 1 remaining 250GB HD that didn't fail.

I bought a new 500GB HD which I plan to use as my primary drive. The problem is, when I go to install Windows XP with only the new 500GB HD in place I get to the screen where I'm asked if I want to partition any drives. I say no, and then get the blue screen of death.

My question is, because the previous 2 250GB HDs were installed in a RAID setup, what do I need to do differently now that I'm installing 1 HD only?

Also:
- Does it matter which of the 2 available SATA power and SATA data cables going into the HD I pick? I don't see a sequence number on these cables.
- I hit F8 upon starting the PC to enter the RAID HD configuration page. With only the 500GB HD in place, it appears as thought the PC is recognizing the HD and the fact that it's a non-RAID HD.

Thanks for any input.

[Mibz]

Firstly, the cable order doesn't matter at all so don't worry about that.

Secondly, I'm confused. You say you used to have 2x250GB and one failed but at the end you say that only a 1x500GB is in there. Is that just a typo or does the BIOS still think you've got a 500GB array?

What's the model of your motherboard?

[eblend]

go into the bios and disable raid, once u do that, you will no longer see the raid configuration promps during bootup and your computer will now work in a standard non-raid setup

[Ekliptix]

Originally posted by Mibz
Firstly, the cable order doesn't matter at all so don't worry about that.

Secondly, I'm confused. You say you used to have 2x250GB and one failed but at the end you say that only a 1x500GB is in there. Is that just a typo or does the BIOS still think you've got a 500GB array?

What's the model of your motherboard?

I had 2 x 250GB HD's, but it bought a new single 500GB HD today to replace them. Thanks for the info about the cables.

Originally posted by eblend
go into the bios and disable raid, once u do that, you will no longer see the raid configuration promps during bootup and your computer will now work in a standard non-raid setup

Thanks! The options are RAID, IDE, or AHCI. What do you suggest?

[Mibz]

Originally posted by Ekliptix

I had 2 x 250GB HD's, but it bought a new single 500GB HD today to replace them. Thanks for the info about the cables.

Ah, makes sense now.

Originally posted by Ekliptix
Thanks! The options are RAID, IDE, or AHCI. What do you suggest?

AHCI is preferred but IDE will also work, you just don't get hot swapping or NCQ.

[Ekliptix]

Thanks. I now made it to a page during the Windows setup where I'm told: "The following list shows the existing partitions and unpartitioned space on this computer."

Unfortunately, there are 3 rows shown displaying "Unknown Disk (There is no disk in this drive)."

My options on this page are:
a) Set up Windows on one of the selected drives
b) create a partition in the unpartitioned space, or
c) delete the selected partition.


So, at this point, the computer does not seem to recognize the new HD.

[HyperZell]

Originally posted by Ekliptix
Thanks. I now made it to a page during the Windows setup where I'm told: "The following list shows the existing partitions and unpartitioned space on this computer."

Unfortunately, there are 3 rows shown displaying "Unknown Disk (There is no disk in this drive)."

My options on this page are:
a) Set up Windows on one of the selected drives
b) create a partition in the unpartitioned space, or
c) delete the selected partition.


So, at this point, the computer does not seem to recognize the new HD.

Just checking, but the jumpers on the back of the HD are on "master" and not "slave", correct?

[Xtrema]

What version of XP you have?

Best bet would be slipstream SP2/3 and patches with your install CD to make another one. Original XP and SP1 may have problem with 500GB.

The 2nd is, you may have ports that don't support RAID. Use those first. Or turn off RAID at BIOS.

[eblend]

If you have the mobo manual, perhaps your board has dedicated RAID sata ports (usually different color). Like others said, u need at least sp2 to work good with a 500gig hdd as the older version will max out at 137gigs.

Also if you get the option to delete the selected partition, just do it, since its a new disk and perhaps your raid utility has created a partion or wrote some info to disk before you made the change in the BIOS.

Also, it is very possible that windows cd does not have the drivers for your sata (doesn't sound like it since you say it detects a disk), but if it doesn't have the drivers, press F6 during the initial setup screen (the black screen, says Press F6 to install third party drivers...) and provide it with a floppy disk with proper drivers (can be found on motherboard manufacturers site, may be labeled as RAID drivers but will work in non-raid mode as well)