Hello, I'm having problems trying to instal XP on a system I've just built. I have an Asus P4P800 motherboard with a P4 3.2 CPU. Everything seemed to work fine when I booted the system, I chose the long option to format the 160Gb SATA hard drive - it took about 1 hour! - and the system entered the Windows setup automatically. All the files transferred OK but the system freezes (or hangs, I don't know the difference) on the black screen with the XP logo and blue dot progress bar. I've tried to restart the machine but it freezes at the same place. What's happened. Any suggestions would be gratefully recieved. Thanks Gordon

A Google search for "installing XP on sata drive" seems to indicate that there is often a problem with this. Drivers may be the answer but I suggest you do the search and read some of the results for yourself.

hello all.. i have kinda the same problem. i have just build a new system with gigabyte 8s648fxp-rzc mother board with p4 3.2 and 160gb seagate HD. everything was fine when installing xp pro.. but when the part fromat drive came up it only show up 130gb.. don't know why, but i keep going and when got to the first stage where it ask to restart computer.. when restarted there is files missing.. try it many of times.. still the same. on the mother board it shows i have 160gb but win say i have 130gb when i try installing with my old HD which is 40gb it works with no missing file.. windows installed can anyone help me with the problem.. many thanks nzboy

You might care to read this post: http://www.computing.net/windowsxp/wwwboard/forum/125801.html Response #6 may be pertinent.

I have installed a number of SATA drives with no problems, so I suspect something else in your case. It normally takes quite a while to format a large drive. Your problem may be due to a number of factors. Fist I would remove all hardware except the CD and graphics card and try again. You may have a hardware component that is not compatible with your mobo/system. Let us know how you do. I assume you have checked compatibility of your CPU with the mobo and have it installed properly.

Sounds like your not formatting the drives correctly, A. unless you have sp1 your comp will only reconize upto 137gb and if its above it you will have some errors. B. Your bios may not be correctly set to deal with large Hdd's. C. What you most likely experencing is Windows trying to load the drivers for your HDD but failing, try loading in safe mode to reload the drivers. If this failes try using a SP1 or Sp2 installation disk. THE GREAT MIKE

many thanks gusy that was help full.. nzboy