Modern hard disk drives run on an SATA (Serial ATA) interface. SATA, released 2003, gradually phased out the prior hard disk drive interface (IDE). SATA can run in three different modes: RAID, IDE or AHCI.
Older operating systems, such as Windows XP, do not recognize RAID. Promise released several products enabling legacy operating systems to run and control disks running RAID mode. If Windows XP fails to recognize your SATA hard drive or hard drives, even after connecting the RAID controller, troubleshoot the controller card and the drivers.
Instructions
1. Click "Start." Click "Run." Input "devmgmt.msc" into the window. Press "Enter" to open Device Manager.
2. Expand "SCSI/RAID Host Controller." Double-click "Promise RAID Controller." Click "Driver."
3. Click "Uninstall" and Windows XP will remove the device driver. Turn off the computer.
4. Disconnect the power cable from the rear of the case. Remove the cover from the computer.
5. Touch the chassis to protect the computer hardware from static electricity. Locate the Promise RAID controller installed to your expansion slot.
6. Disconnect the SATA hard drive or hard drives from the controller card. Unscrew the card from its dock.
7. Loosen the lever holding the card in place. Pull the controller card out from its slot.
8. Handle the card by its edges and line up the gold pins on the edge of the controller card with the motherboard's PCI or PCIe slot.
9. Insert the card straight into the slot. Push down the Promise RAID controller card evenly on both sides until the locking mechanism pops into place.
10. Wiggle the card right to left to confirm it is secure. Screw the card in place. Attach the SATA cable connected to the rear of the SATA hard drive to the SATA data port on the card.
11. Connect any other SATA hard drives to the card. Confirm that the power cables connected to the rear of the hard drives are secure.
12. Place the cover back on the case. Reconnect the power supply. Turn on the computer and boot into Windows XP.
13. Insert your Promise floppy disk or CD into the proper drive. Reinstall the software to your computer.
Tags: controller card, hard drives, SATA hard, hard drive, Promise RAID, SATA hard drive