pc stuck in boot loop after installation of new HDD

[DNA1967]

I'm trying to install a 20GB IBM deskstar drive into my pc, but when i boot it up, all I get is - press a key to reboot- When I press any key on the keyboard, it reboots to the same message. tried sticking a 98 startup disk in the floppy, as it's set to boot from this automatically, but same problem. This is the only HDD on the pc. Any ideas anyone?

 

[Mulga]

Can you get into the BIOS setup? If so check the settings for IDE devices, all should be set to Auto. If not try clearing the BIOS, you should have a jumper on the mobo for this. Another possibility is faulty hdd, try disconnecting it and see if it will then boot from the floppy All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.

 

[ceh4702]

Make sure the ide cable has the hard drive on the end of it. not on the middle. Set the jumper to Cable Select (CS) or master it it is the only device on the cable. It should also be the Master on the Primary IDE port. Then boot into the BIOS by pressing DEL. Then change the boot order to Floppy,C,cdrom. Then go to the BIOS section for the Hard Drive. If it is on auto temporarily set it to manual. It should let you see the Tracks, Sectors, Cylinders. If it does set it back to auto. Try using a boot disk. If it boots use FDISK to see the Harddrive/partition information. You have to set up the Partition, etc, and format it.

There is always the slight chance you have the Cable backwards and are plugging the drive into the port plug. This will not happen if you never unplugged the ide cable. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[jimioz]

He's on the right track. Start with the basics and work up from there.

Can Bios see the drive? If so, can Fdisk see it? If so is the partition(s) set? etc.

Seems like maybe you took the drive out of the box and put it into the mobo and expected it to boot up and play cards with you. Unfortunatly its not that easy. Even your os may not be able to deal with a drive thats not partitioned correctly.

Also consider using Drive copy by Power Quest to move the data from your old drive to the new one if you have not made anyother hardware changes. If you did, try using PC Upgrade Commander by Vcom. Both products are very cheap and very powerful. good luck.

 

[delder]

Is this a new drive or used one, because it sounds like a drive that is already formatted and partitoned with an OS that won't boot, due to an unconfigured drive in the bios.