cannot... install... Windows

[*™*]

How embarassment.

I have just purchased a 250Gb Samsung HDD to back up my SATA HDD to, so that I can then do a clean install of XP onto it. The 250Gb unit will then temporarily join me overseas as a portable drive.

I've only installed Windows a few times before, and have never had trouble but this time, things have gone awry. The install process 'stops' after the first 'cycle', i.e. after the first lot of files are copied over and Windows restarts the pc. When it reboots (from CD), it just goes through the same install routine and recognises that there is already a (partial) OS on the disk- I can reinstall over the top of it, but that doesn't achieve anything. If I set the BIOS to boot from the HDD first, it hangs at "verifying DMI pool data" before booting from anything.

I can think of two things.

1) I haven't installed the SATA drivers, as I don't have a Floppy Disc Drive with me at the moment. Can get my hands on one, but I am not installing to a SATA drive and it is currently unplugged. Could the fact that my AN7 has an onboard SATA controller bork the XP install even if it is not in use? Could I disable SATA through BIOS to let me install the OS?

2) The HDD that I am installing to is listed as a Secondary Slave and the Original Disc Drive as Primary Master. I wouldn't have thought that this would be an issue but have just read somebody's post that said you can't boot from a Secondary drive. It is set to be the first bootable HDD and the other is removed anyway. It was just easier for me to insert the drive into my system in that configuration because of the cabling.

Any ideas? I'm leaning towards #1. I have at least 3 Floppy Disc Drive's, but they are all in a box, in a storage unit, one hours drive from me. If I can get around it without a floppy, that'd be preferable. I'm even thinking about trying to make an nLite CD, as I've been meaning to have a crack at that for ages and it seems to support the F6 Raid thang now.

Cheers for the help,

[rcgreen]

Although there are workarounds, it is still not normal
to install windows anywhere other than primary master.
That is the cause of the trouble.