MalcolmO

Right! I made the assumption that it was a 'smart' installer; but of course, it's not.

Problem solved. Here's what I did.... In Safe Mode, I attempted to install the VIA 4-in-1 drivers. This failed! It went looking for some via file that it and I were unable to find. (I've just now found it in windows\system\CatRoot\{40-char hex string}. Gosh, why didn't I think to look there? ) So once it failed and I rebooted, it did reboot normally HOWEVER my high-cylinders partition (D:) was completely hosed. I then used 48bitLBA.exe, which installed 4102225 - not the one I have! And LLXX had said to use the same version number. Attempting to restart had me shutting down eternally. Used the switch. Switched back on and it hung when the systray would be filled. So I put back the original version (which is 4.10.2222). Came alive again with D: scrambled. Put 4102222 in place and rebooted. VOILA!!! I am a happy camper! And I thank all who assisted here, with a particular tip of the hat to LLXX.

Gentlemen, I thank you all for your replies and I'll respond to all of you in ONE message: noguru: I can't remove the parent device because Windows doesn't know what it is (and neither do I). In fact, in Safe Mode, I have 2 copies of everything under Hard Disk Controllers and I can't delete any of them for the same reason. DeadDude: I did try removing everything. See paragraph above. Eck: I have yet to try the direct DL of 48bitlba.exe. I don't seem to have any Inet connection when I'm in Safe Mode.

Well, as it happened. I did choose the VIA Tech and the one that said (Microsoft). THIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE WRONG THING TO DO! And I don't get to try anything else. The result is absolutely hilarious. When you turn the machine on, it goes through its full startup sequence and then states: It is now safe to turn off your computer. Absolutely hilarious! So yeah, I am typing this on the Mac. The other hilarious thing is that in MSHDC.INF the (Microsoft) VIA driver has IDE_BAD in its line! The machine will start in Safe Mode (if I manage to type the F8 at the right time) so I'll try the right-click install in Safe Mode. Oddly, in Safe Mode the Primary and Secondary controller drivers now say ESDI_506.PDR but I can't delete the VIA Bus Mastering entry. It says I need to delete its parent device first.

Actually, he's referring to YOUR message above. But because there's no real threading here, it's less than clear. (Web forums are SO much worse than newsgroups.) But you didn't say HOW, which is what I specifically asked you. So here's what I'm gonna do... In Device Manager, choose Driver tab, click Update Driver. Hit Next. Choose "Display a list of all the drivers..." and hit Next. The first choice shows "PBM IDE controller (6-19-2003)" all by itself. I'm pretty sure that's the bad VIA driver so I hit "Show all hardware". THIS IS WHERE THE QUANDARY LIVES. Do I select "Standard Hard Disk Drivers" on the left and one of the *4* drivers on the right? (I _know_ the 5th is wrong, but I don't know which (if any) of the first 4 is right.) OR do I choose "Via Tech" on the left and one of the two on the right (presumably the one that has Microsoft in parentheses after it). Because see, NONE of the manufacturers are "Microsoft". None say ESDI_506.PDR. Right now, I'm leaning toward choosing the Via Tech/Microsoft combo. I'll probably have tried that before anyone reads this because I've been wrangling this big disk problem since the end of August! If it fails, well, my next post may have to be done from the Mac! It's probably ME you're reading on the ViaArena forum. Also, I've used MalcolmO online for almost 20 years now. I'm really wondering why it's just been in the last year or so that people are copying it with the number zero instead of the letter O. I'm trying not to develop an inferiority complex.

Or it would be if my system were actually using ESDI_506.PDR, but it's not. It's using the bad VIA driver. I need to make it stop doing that before I can apply a different solution. Thanks, LLXX.

According to its manual, the host OS is NT/XP/Server 2003 and that's all. Outside the manual, it foolishly just says win32. But it's a cruel joke.

Yes it does! That's what I got it for and it works fine. That is correct. It's why I want to switch. Sad to say, that which is stated above is insufficiently informative for me to attempt the (manual) uninstall. A couple hours ago, I switched away from this message to look for the auto-installer. Here I am, couple hours later, didn't find it! I did DL one of LLXX's *8* files. It was 4102222F.ZIP. Is that the one to use? I don't know! How does one know? Also, I've DL'd the BHDD 2.0 collection of files. Is that the one to use? I don't know! It does appear to be comprehensive.

OH! noguru, I did the same as you! I used the Miniport 3.20b and had bad optical drive results. Can you please explain how to change the IDE controllers to the Windows default? Also, I presume you used the v4.43 of the Hyperion drivers that is on page: http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageI...&CatID=1070 If you were updating for 48-bit LBA today, would you still go this route? Or would you use one of the other solutions detailed in these messages? Thanks for your reply.