Problems upgrading SATA hard disks using RAID 1

[Johniboi]

Hi there, I hope someone can help me here! I have a four year old desktop PC Using Windows XP Pro SP2 using an 80gb IDE disk (Drive C)for programs and operating system and two x 120gb SATA Raid 1 disks for data (Drive F). I have two DVD rewriters and a floppy drive (Drives D, E & A)

I needed larger capacity disks so i have just bought two x 500gb SATA disks, thinking i could just replace one and the VIA RAID facility program would detect that one disk had failed and thus allow me to rebuild the RAID (i.e. copy from one disk to the new one). I thought this would be ok as i have had problems in the past with a loose SATA cable which showed up as a broken RAID but was ok when replaced and on very odd occasions a RAID has broken down and the facility has rebuilt it for me.

Apparently i was wrong! I removed one of the original disks and fitted a new one but on boot up i got this message <Scan Devices, Please wait...
Press <Tab> Key into User Manual
Hardware Initiate failed, Please Check Device!!!
The Bios does not be installed. Press <g> to continue!>

I put the original disk back in but the result was the same. The computer no longer recognizes my data disks (Drive F) and they don't show in my computer or in the VIA RAID program.

I found a problem similar to this on this thread http://www.howtofixcomputers.com/for...all-15747.html

I have pressed the del button on boot up to get into the BIOS (blue screen) and tried to follow the instructions on there but they don't seem to help me. Also i have found another web page about installing SATA disks but it doesn't refer exactly to what i see on screen in BIOS setup so i don't know what to do. Also, i have never even heard of the "On board promise controller"!

I know i have two hard disks with all my data on and i think it is something to do with BIOS settings and getting the computer to recognize the disk(s) again but how do i go about that? Can anyone shed light please?

Many thanks

John

[Johniboi]

Hi there
Further to my original post i am happy to report that after checking and rechecking the SATA cables i have found that one has a problem with connecting properly and needs replacing. This faulty connection resulted in the disks becoming invisible. I have now got things back as they were originally but still have to install the two new larger capacity disks.

Any clues as to the best way of going about that gratefully received! I shall also look through these forums to see if there is any relevant advice

Cheers John.