Question : Bios can see HDD, XP Install can' t  see HDD.

I'm fixing a machine that won't boot, a Dell XPS DXG051. The error I'm getting is floppy diskette seek failure. When I enter the Bios (Rev A11), I can see both physical Hard Drives (Maxtor 7L250S0).  So, I decided a fresh install was the way to go. The install process goes great, press F8 to say "I Agree", get to the screen asking me to select a drive to install on. It tells me Unknown disk, no disk in this drive. It says this twice, once for each drive.

I've swapped the cables and changed the esata slot that the drives are plugged into. These changes are reflected in the Bios but again don't show up on Install. I ran the installed Disk diagnotics program and it told me that one of the drives failed the test. So, I disconnected it . Again reflected in the Bios. Ran the install again. Same story drive not showing up.

Anyone have any idea what might be going on? How can I get windows to see the drive and continue with the install?

Answer : Bios can see HDD, XP Install can' t  see HDD.

If its SATA drive...then you're lacking drivers for the XP install
XP has limited or none support for installing on SATA drives - you would need to grab these drivers and stick them on a floppy disk

Usually available from your motherboard / sata controller website
What you will then see if when you boot from the XP CD... theres a quick Press F6 to install drivers or something which does not last long
Hit that and eventually, it will read the drivers from the floppy disk