Okay I need some help from fellow IT minded Gurus.

I have a Compaq Presario V6000. A few weeks ago it died. Wouldn't boot up, nothing. I'm guessing MB went bad.

I bought a cheap V6000 on Ebay that had a cracked screen. I received it, swapped my good screen and my 2 GB worth of RAM into the donor laptop along with my top plate which was in better shape.

I then booted it up using HIS hard drive and it booted up fine. It ran like crap though from years of use with no maintenance or updates or care with programs and such.

I have a spare copy of Windows XP Pro and I am attempting to load it on this compilation laptop onto the drive that actually boots up and is usable.

Once I boot using my Windows CD, it starts the process normally but when I hit enter to install Windows it tells me it can't find a hard drive and to exit setup.

WTF !!!

Okay, so I try my old hard drive. It won't boot up at all so I think maybe it was never my MB at all and it was the HD instead that was the issue. never the less, I try installing the new Windows on IT. Nope...same error.

Okay, so I use a CD with an ISO of a program that wipes hard drives. I wipe the other guy's hard drive...the one that booted up fine. It's wiped and I try installing Windows. Same error.

UGGGG !!!

I dig out a smaller spare HD that was new and wiped and never even used. So now not only does the MB have a fresh set of Windows XP BIOS but it's got an HD that's never been loaded and I've even tried a few different CD/DVD drives.

In no configuration will it load Windows without the error saying Setup can't locate a hard drive.

The computer booted up on the guy's hard drive just fine and moments later it can't find it? W...T...F ???

A quick explaination;
You'll need to download an additional driver for the HD. When the windows install gives the F6 option to add additional drivers, point to your USB or have the driver ready on a CD.

A coupla of Google searches will help you with more specific instructions.

Quote:


Good idea. Does that driver need to be specific to both the HD being used, a general brand, or both the specific brand HD and the MB / OS?

Edit: Setback. The HD manufacturers defer to MB driver's for HD use. I checked on the HP site, being a Compaq, and the only driver's they offer that are even close, are BIOS downloads...which I already installed.

JrRC - Were you saying I need a specific driver installed in DOS that'll tell the computer to find the HD, or were you saying the HD has it's own driver that needs to be installed?

I think what you need is the driver for the hard drive controller which is integrated into the laptop motherboard. Windows XP has a ton of drivers for various hardware but it doesn't have all of them. And it wouldn't have the driver for your laptop's controller if it's newer than XP (or maybe the latest XP service pack). That's usually why Windows can't see the hard drive during the install process. And that's why the eBay loaner with XP booted up fine - it already had the driver that allowed it to access the hard drive...

I tried the AMD Sata drive controller, burned the ISO onto a disc and installed it just fine. However, the computer still couldn't see the hard drive.

I then took it all apart again, and put my old MB back into operation. This time though I used the smaller HD that was never used.

Problem is now I am back to the original problem, which is the laptop won't power up. The lights all come on and the disc drive whirs a bit and then the lights flash off, on again, off again a few times, and then off altogether.

The screen never even burps. I've now changed almost everything on the laptop with the old MB...which is the best of the two I have, and nothing. It's also the most rare on Ebay.

Looks like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new MB for this laptop...which would still be 1/6th the cost of buying a new laptop. We already bought a new Sony Vaio for the wife but it's PINK and I just don't feel comfortable using that one in public. LOL.

If the donor laptop and original HDD booted up XP ok (albeit slow from neglect) initially but the HDD isn't recognized during the XP install then it's got to be a HDD controller driver issue. During the initial XP install, there's a point where you have the option of installing a third party controller driver and prompts you to install the driver disk. That's when you have to feed it the controller driver...