IRQL-NOT-LESS-OR-EQUAL i have 2 hard disks primary master and secondary master both had windows xp pro insttalled and working fine till sudden electricity failure.now i am only able to log into my second win xp installation on drive "H" and cannot boot from "c' the earlier one.i can see on the initial start up screen both option but when i click to boot from "c"the windows slide bar stops just at the starting and nothing happens afterward.i need my "c" drive's windows back.i have tried to repair but it did not work and tried safe mode but it will only copy 5 files and stop.it shows something like this; mult(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)winsys32 toskrnl.exe .............................................................hall.dll .............................................................KDCOM.DLL ............................................................BOOTVID.dll ...........................................................configsystem someone please help.

If your hard disks are SATA hard drives then the XP Pro installation cannot detect these SATA hard drives because the installation CD does not include SATA drivers.
To install Windows on SATA hard drives, please click on this link and follow my instructions :-
http://www.fixya.com/support/r4335035-installing_windows_xp_sata_hard_drive

Guest

If you are getting the "irql_not_less_or_equal" BSOD after the install of the drivers then if is possible that you did not get a clean install of the drivers and/or there is something wrong with the device. To let me better see what is going on I need the stop code. The link below will help you get that info from the BSOD.

http://www.fixya.com/support/r4443711-blue_screen_death_bsod_important_info

Note Window XP 64bit was a transition operating system to help manufactures to write 64bit drivers and software for the 64bit operating systems. However there is alot of products out there that eventhough they have Windows 7/Vista 64bit support they do not have XP 64bit support.

Issken
http://www.fixya.com/users/issken

I am typing this on a Dell 4600 RIght now. You need to look up how to set the jumpers on the internal hard disk ( 8GB) to SLAVE MODE, and set the 80GB to Master.
Remove the 8GB from the metal bracket, and put the 80GB in its place. Put the 8GB beside it. Plug the 80GB into the end of the IDE cable, and the 8GB into the middle. When you boot, you can hit F2 to go into the bios, and change the boot order from HD0 to HD1 and you can boot from your 8GB.

Now, If you want to boot from the 80GB, ( which I would ) you need an operating system.

Get your Disk labeled Reinstallation CD, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Including Service Pack 1, and boot from it. Then format the 80GB, and install the OS There.. You will need your WIndows XP Home Key. ( you can either get it off the case or use Magic Jelly Bean Key finder to get it off your 8GB. Get the key and write it down. ITS IMPORTANT ).

Then you can change your boot order in BIOS, back to HD0, and boot from your fresh copy of XP Home.

If your interested in having a close to seamless experence as possible, you might want to invest in a copy of Partition Magic Pro. It can copy both the restore partition, ( the first 600MB of your 8gb disk ) and the primary partition of the 8gb, and resize the 8gbs primary partion on the 80gb to 80gb. ( YEA! ).

If you have *any* *any* lack of understanding please clarify

there are few thing you ahve to keep in mind

there are two type of hard disk
1. IDE
2. SATA

As per your hdd capacity it should of IDE type.

Now there are two IDE slots on motherboard. One is Primary and other is Secondary

You can fix two hdd with one IDE Slot that mean you can fix up upto faour IDE hdd at a time

Now again there are Primary master and Primary Slave

and

Secondary Master and Secondary Slave

Now You have to examine what was the location of previous hdd
1 Primary Master
2 Primary Slave
3 Secondary Master
4 Secondary Slave.

Now you have to make a HDD master or Slave.

just in between data cable connector and power cable connector there is a jumper. that specify the master or slave. do reply me if it works well thanks

Ok.... The Primary IDE Should be configured so that your Primary Hard Drive is Set To Master (the jumper pins must be set to the same, each drive has a guide on top or back, or it's written above or below the jumper pins on the back of the drive.

Primary = Hard Disk 0 (Your Main Hard Drive)...This one is to be set as Master and plugged to the END of the IDE Cable....Another Hard Disk / Drive can be connected as Slave (sometimes Cable Select Will Work depending on the motherboard). Remember The Jumper pins on the Drives!

Secondary= One drive must be set as Master, The other as Slave.

That Should do it.

Go into your bios setup screen, go to the boot configuration and set it up so that your boot order goes as follows:
1. Floppy Disc Drive
or........
1. Optical Drive (cd or dvd)
2. Hard Disc 0 (this will be named whatever your Hard drive model number is)
3. Hard Disc 1 (this is the second hard drive, if you want it to be bootable, it's your choice, if not, then set it up to boot off your secondary optical drive,

Make Sure that under IDE devices menu, everything is detected correctly.
Now Save Settings and Exit.

That should do it

Hi,

setup the first drive as slave ( sometimes No Jumper ) then the furthest away drive as Master.
If this fails, and you have 2 IDE Slots on the motherboard. ( Primary/Secondary ) Put 1 drive on primary as Slave. And DVD Rom As Master ( same Cable ) Then put second drive On Secondary IDE Slot. ( Set As Master Or Slave )
If none of these solutions Work For you, check to see if Both Channels are activated in the Bios.

Thankyou For Using Fixya.

Mike @ compurepair.

the problem sounds like you either lost the IDE channels on the MOBO or the chipset was updated with corrupt files.

run everest home and see if there are current updates for the northbridge chipset. if you have 2 ide channels on the board switch the primary and secondary ribbons and see if the hard drives are there. if your cdrom's are ide and after switching ribbon cables they disappear and the hard drives reappear your mobo lost an ide channel, you would need to replace the board.

Pedro -

I'll assume each of these is an IDE device, meaning each has a wide connector versus a narrow SATA connector commonly found on newer hard drives.

Your motherboard should have two IDE channels, labeled IDE 1 and IDE 2, Primary IDE and Secondary IDE, or something similar. Each IDE channel can support two devices.

For best performance between the drives, you will want to have the Hard Drive connected as Master(Drive 0) on the Primary IDE channel; The CDROM should be connected as Slave(Drive 1) on the Primary IDE channel. Connect the DVDROM as Master(Drive 0) on the Secondary IDE channel, and the ZIP Drive as Slave on the Secondary IDE channel.

When connecting the drives, make sure you set the jumpers correctly; Both the Hard Drive and the DVDROM should have their jumpers set to Master, the CDROM and Zip drives should have their jumpers set to Slave. An alternative is to set the jumpers for every drive to Cable Select(CS), allowing the physical connection of each drive to determine whether its a Master or Slave device.

*Note*
If your Hard Drive is a SATA device, connect it to the '0' or '1' SATA connector on the motherboard. Have the DVDROM set up by itsself as Master on the primary IDE channel, the CDROM as Master on the Secondary IDE channel, and the ZIP as Slave on the Secondary IDE channel.

Hope this helps!
-thinstatic

LEAVE YOU hard drive on primary master port on your main board set as master or single drive ( IF YOU HAVE A STATA HARD DRIVE THEN DONT WORRY ABOUT THAT PART)

SET YOUR FIRST DRIVE AS MASTER
SET THE SECOND AS SECONDARY
use the jumber in the back of the drive to set them the propper setting is labeled on the drive it self

Connect them to the secondary port on your motherboard
so you should have

HARD DRIVE - MASTER OR SINGLE *jumper settiing* connected to the primary port on your main board

DRIVE 1 = MASTER *jumper settiing*
DRIVE 2 = SLAVE *jumpersetting*
connected to the secondary port on your mother board

IF YOU HAVE A SATA HARD DRIVE FORGET THE PARTS ABOUT HARD DRIVES ABOVE
i assumed you had a IDE hard drive

JUST USE THE SETTINGS FOR THE DRIVES and it should work :)

Using SATA, there is no Primary/Secondary Master/Slave connection. Each HDD is connected to One port straight. As for partitioning, you can either use Fdisk or you can boot straight from the Windows CD and create Partitions and load Windows.