Hi,

I just got a SATA drive and I've been trying to install Windows XP Pro on it. Currently I'm running windows off a 40 gig IDE drive. If I unplug the IDE drive and try to boot off the XP CD it will say "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration" but wont ask me to "Push any key to boot off the CD". If the IDE drive is plugged in I boot off the XP disk and push F6 when prompted and load the drivers off a floppy disk. I choose to install windows onto the SATA drive when asked and get to the part where it says "Your computer will reboot in 15 seconds". The computer reboots and the screen just stays black.

Please help

i dont think that the problem is the SATA hd cause your system doesnt detect the bootable cd anyway.tell me,is your cd/dvd rom attached to same cable as your ide drive? if it is then when you remove the ide hd do you choose the correct primary/master switch in back of the drive?

no
My DVD drive isn't on the same cable as the IDE hd.

"If I unplug the IDE drive and try to boot off the XP CD it will say "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration" but wont ask me to "Push any key to boot off the CD". ==> this condition is normal since window xp cd can not detect a valid OS in your system, Then setup is automatically run.

On the other hand, what is your brandname of your SATA drive , is it a new one?

You can download disk manager from the official web site of HDD. such as seagate/maxtor to test the integrity of your HDD. Furthermore, pls. change back the boot sequence from your BIOS C->cdrom->others after copying all temp file to your HDD

The drive is a Seagate Barracuda, I'll head over to Seagate's website and take a look.

Try to update your BIOS. Also did you set your BIOS well or are you new to this?