Booting up help new system

[Halcyon]

Got my new Seagate Barracuda 120GB SATA H.D. and not too sure how to get it sorted to run.
Do I just put it in and then install Windows ?

I heard a rumour that I needed Service pack 2 to use SATA but I dont have Service pack 2 so can I still get it to work.

Not too sure how it works here.
Think I need to press F6 to install drivers at boot up or something.
Is that before Ive loaded XP, before I install anything, before Formatting, or what ?


2nd little problem I have is how do I format, and partition the drive in two before I install Windows ?
I need it to be NTFS right ? Not too sure here.

Thanks for all your great help.

[paulyoung666]

dont know about the SATA bit , but you could put it in the machine as a slave and then partition it and format it as you see fit , then ghost your old drive over to it , remove both drives and set it as master , i think

[Paulie]

Just googled this (booting sata hd in xp) and tons of info came up. It might help you out.

[ZrByte]

This how my mate does his.....
1) insert drive
2) make sure it detects in SATA controller setup
3) boot off windows CD
4) press F6 when prompted
5) Wait until it gets to the screen asking to insert driver disk and put your driver floppy in
6) once installed carry on installing windows as you would normally (Formatting & partitioning the drive can be done within windows setup)