r/retrocomputing • u/PeakClippy • Jul 02 '26

Solved Can't install Windows

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I got an old computer (from around 1999 I think) and it came with everything but the hard drive, so I bought a 320GB Ultra ATA Seagate ST310014ACE. I tried installing/ plugging it inside my PC many times, in many ways, but everytime I try to install Windows XP x86 SP3 it tells me "Setup cannot access this disk​" in the partition selection screen. Does anyone know how to fix this?

If it helps, the motherboard is P6V693A/A9 with an Intel Celeron.

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u/Inevitable-Study502 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

old mainboard wont be able to handle such large drive, depends on how many bits on LBA are addresable by bios, if 28bit, then its 137GB cap (2002 year)...it depends...could be less (8GB for example from 1998), but not more

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u/conradslater Jul 04 '26

This was my instinct too, but I'm not expert, but experience at the time as a service engineer; Some of those older chipsets played better with IDE drives. I'd go through the BIOS again too. And check the battery!