I have Max computers, Supermicro server with 4 Seagate 120 GB drives, an Adaptec Serial ATA RAID controller card. I formatted the drives with the built in utility, now when I try to load Windows Server 2003, it can't find the drives. What did I erase, and how do I reinstall it? Thanks!

the drivers

So that's the motherboard model number, and it only accepts 2 SATA devices. I will assume there is a RAID card on the machine as well. Being a supermicro, it's almost certainly a mid-range Adaptec card. You'd have to check the card to make sure it accepts it, but it should handle it with no issue.

However, before you go all 3TB disk on it, remember that the rebuild time on disks that size tend to be huge and should you get a second failure in the array during the rebuild you'll lose data. The important here is to format RAID 6, or 1+0 and keep a hot spare so that you can mitigate those risks. Also try to get the same disk from multiple vendors to get different manufacturing lots. Ensure they are all running the same firmware rev.

Your motherboard has six Serial ATA ports as well as PCI support for a RAID card. But the hard drive limitations are based on the operating system you are going to install. I recommend creating an OS partition of 100GB for any drive over 2TB.

Most likely, yes. It can take several hours to rebuild depending on the size of your drives.

You can install Adaptec Storage Manager (assuming you're using an adaptec controller) to see what it's doing (and send you alerts on a drive failure).

If you have another brand controller, they should have some similar software to view the status of the RAID.

1st check what is the file system of the 75GB hd
is it on NTFS or FAT system

after you find what is it then format the 500Gb with the same file system with that of the 75GB

Did you make sure that your hard drive has been made into a "dynamic volume" instead to the usual "simple volume"? It has to be "dynamic" before your can put it into a RAID configuration. You will have to use your RAID Controller to create a dynamic volume or to make the hard drive part of a dynamic volume.

You can install up to a max 2 GB RAM and can add a 2nd hard disk
See the following Specs for your computer.
HP Compaq Business d530 Ultra-Slim (Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 256MB RAM, 40GB HDD, XP Pro) Type Personal computer

• Product Form Factor Ultra-slim desktop
• Built-in Devices Speaker
• Width 12.4 in
• Depth 13.1 in
• Height 2.8 in
• Weight 15.4 lbs
• Color Silver

Processor

• Type Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz
• Installed Qty 1.0
• Max processors supported 1.0

Cache Memory

• Type L2 cache
• Installed Size 512.0 KB
• Cache Per Processor 512 KB

Mainboard

• Chipset type Intel 865G
• Data bus speed 533.0 MHz

RAM

• Installed Size 256.0 MB / 2.0 GB (max)
• Technology DDR SDRAM
• Memory Speed 333.0 MHz
• Memory Specification Compliance PC2700
• Form Factor DIMM 184-pin
• Upgrade Rule Max 2 x 1 GB module

Storage Controller

• Type 1.0 x IDE - Integrated - PCI
• Controller interface type ATA-100

Storage Controller (2nd)

• Type 1 x Serial ATA - Integrated
• (2nd) storage controller interface type Serial ATA-150

Storage

• Floppy drive type None
• Hard Drive 1.0 x 40.0 GB - Standard - ATA-100 - 7200.0 rpm
• Hard Drive (2nd) None x None

there must be some key on the startup to enter into the raid menu. And in that raid menu you can create raid .

i have sata hdd 160 gb of seagate and hdd detected in raid channelbut when start installing window it shows message press enter for fresh installation "no hdd found please check power card,bios configuration

ok, all you have to do is reset CMOS. the same thing happened to me once I tried to install windows on my supermicro board. What you have to do is load the bootable CD that came with the board and follow the instructions in your book.

What happens is that windows does not have the drivers for the supermicro RAID and SATA components. The board will recognize these on it's own until you go to install windows improperly. Windows does not have the drivers for those, realizes it, and says "Windows has stopped to prevent damage" but it does it anyway. Just clear CMOS, read the book with the board on how to install an OS, and try again.

Clearing CMOS: This can be done by taking out the 3.5v watch battery you see on the board for about 5 minutes. Another and riskier way is to clear CMOS by shorting the pads. On a diagram of your board, you should see CMOS Clear. Find those two pads on you board in that general area from the diagram. You'll know you've found it because the board has CMOS Clear printed near them. Just touch them with a screwdriver for 5-10 seconds. CMOS should be clear and ready to start new.

WARNING! Be careful when clearing CMOS with the pads, if you stick the screwdriver in the wrong place, you could damage your board. Be sure to unplug your power supply before working on your machine (I'm sure you know this.) and be sure to get the correct drivers for windows this time! Oh, and rechange any settings you changed in CMOS since it has been reset to the factory defaults.