can’t install windows.Help URGENT!

bought a new sata 2 hdd.as i’am using sata 1 port.bios detected it as ide drive.
hardware seems ok.but when i install xp after copying file and retart to install xp.
it says bootmngr is missing.i used the sata edition xp cd.neither can i install vista.
at the drive option when i click next.it says windows cannot verify it to be a valid volume.
is it because i have to use tool from the hdd maker to format the hdd first?
any solutions?thanks.
Answer #1
Make sure the primary partition is active….
Answer #2
Make sure the primary partition is active....
it’s master.only one drive with single partition
Answer #3
One drive with one single partition still have to be active….
Answer #4
One drive with one single partition still have to be active....
how to set as active?drive empty.
Answer #5
The easy way…If you don’t have no data in the drive…Use Acronis Disk Director…Just right click…Delete partition…Then create partition…Primary + ntfs…Commit the changes..Acronis Disk Director will automatically make the partition active…
Acronis Disk Director included in Hiren’s BootCD:
http://www.google.com?t=2317749&highlight=
Answer #6
or there may be an option to just make it active without re-partitioning
detected it as ide drive. / sata edition xp cd
and if that don’t work in the bios try changing your hard drive controller to AHCI mode (from IDE) as both the OS’s you are trying to install are AHCI (SATA mode) enabled
Answer #7
i use fixmbr from xp recovery console instead and it works.
anyway thanks for the help.
Answer #8
or there may be an option to just make it active without re-partitioning
Of course there is…I said in my post the easy way to do it…Didn’t want to complicate things…Right click on the partition…In the advanced options somewhere there is another option to make the partition active…