PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

CMOS Setup

After you’ve physically installed a new PATA hard drive, the next step is to get the PC to recognize it by configuring CMOS Setup. New BIOSs automatically detect and query-attached ATA devices during boot. If your system has such a BIOS, it will display installed ATA devices by type, name, and model during the normal boot sequence as it detects them. If this occurs, it’s generally safe to assume that the PC has automatically configured BIOS settings for optimum performance. If you have an older BIOS, you have to configure it manually to recognize the new drive. The exact steps required to do so vary according to the BIOS type and revision level, but the following general guidelines should suffice:

1. Display the BIOS Setup screen that lists installed devices. Any modern BIOS should list four devices—Primary Master/Slave and Secondary Master/Slave. If Setup has space for only two devices, you badly need a BIOS update. In fact, you need a new motherboard. With recent BIOSs, all ATA drives—including the one you just installed—should be listed by device name, size, and (perhaps) geometry, and ATAPI CD-ROM drives should be listed by name and type. If the drive you just installed is listed, the PC has configured that drive properly and you can use the operating system to partition and format the drive.

2. If the drive you just installed is not listed, try changing Drive Type for the channel where the new drive is installed from None or User to Auto, if that option is offered. The ...