| You're probably over-reacting with all the harddrive buying... Usually you can boot just fine off of harddrives, even if they are too large for BIOS to recognize.
That said, Windows XP pre SP1 cannot format or install on drives over 160 GB. What you can do, however, is create a 160 GB or smaller partion on a different computer, then move the drive over to the Dell, install Windows on the partition, and then resize the partition to the full size of the drive, using PartitionMagic or similar tool. If the CD includes SP1 or SP2 it's not a problem though.
So, what do you mean by "XP won't boot". Did you install it on the hard drive? Or do you mean that the setup won't boot off the CD? How do you have the CD/DVD drive connected BTW?
If I were you I would connect as so:
- New SATA drive on SATA port
- 80 GB drive as Master on first PATA (IDE) channel
- CD/DVD drive as Master on second PATA (IDE) channel
- Return the other drives
Boot priority: CD, then SATA. |