ECS 648FX-A won't access Hard Drive to install WinXP

[baddjab]

I recently purchased an entire new system....an ECS 648fx-a Motherboard and an Intel 2.4 Ghz 800Mhz FSB,both with hyper thread capability. New HD, Video Card, 512K DDR 3200 ram...even brokedown and bought 19" LCD

My problem:
While installing winXP pro all goes well with copying files until XP does it's 1st restart. Instead of reading the data that was sent to the hard drive, it starts with reading CD rom disk again (entire process starts from scratch).

bios recognizes HD....jumper set to master.

I've tried:
1. different memory 512 DDR 2700.....same problem.
2. different HD....same problem
3. different video card....same problem

any ideas or links would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Jarhed7276]

If the bios is set to boot from cd first change it to read floppy first then hard drive or just take the boot cd out.

[RicheemxX]

yup quick easy fix you have your cd-rom set as your first boot device as Jarhed7276 has said select either the floppy drive or the hdd as your first boot device and you should be good to go

and welcome to techimo

[baddjab]

thanks for the quick reply.
i thought of that 1st, went in and checked, bios settings ok. 1st boot device=floppy.....2nd HDD-0.......3rd CD rom.
still the same problem, (even change IDE ribbon).

is there anything special i have to do with a WD 120 gig HD?

thanks again.

[baddjab]

Whew! after pulling out a few hairs....i got it.

With this motherboard i had to clear CMOS first. now things working just fine.

As they say, you never get to old to learn something new.

Thanks guys for your input!

[RicheemxX]

glad to hear you got it fixed

[jpivonka]

? Clear CMOS ? A term I have not heard, and I am have no confidence in my guesses about what the procedure for "clearing CMOS" might be.

Not related to the old trick of pulling a jumper off the mobo, is it? Well, maybe someone will tell me.

[Ryanoffski]

you clear the CMOS to reset the BIOS:

1. unplug power
2. remover battery from motherboard
3. move jumper setting over to clear CMOS setting for a few seconds (usually the jumper is right next to the battery)
4. move the jumper back to original
5. put the battery back in and turn it on

[jpivonka]

Thanks, Ryanoffski! I had really blanked out on that - turns out I have had to do it, but I was following instructions in the machine case and they did not give a name to the procedure, sol---- kind of like the first time I saw the term 'snowballing' in print... ;-)

[Ryanoffski]

return the favor and tell me what snowballing is (unless you mean a snowball fight )