Bios settings using 2 hard drives

[joddle]

In my previous 2 threads I explained I am having problems with hard disks on my Dell optiplex 755 but am now ready to completely rebuid my PC however I am a little confused by the bios settings for the HDDs - I am intending to have 2 sata disks of 500gb but don't want a RAID sertup

 

The manual for the PC is copied below re the bios settings and the default is for auto detect. However when my 2nd HDD plays up and "disappears" I do get a reference to RAID on the chkdsk report although I can never see it later to copy it. It is trying to do a RAID without me knowing? - the 2nd HD did have an OS on it at one time and I think most of the files are still there so could this be affecting the way it is being seen by the PC?

 

Any help or advice appreciated and especially regarding how I should set the disk management in the bios before reinstalling XP?

 

Drives

Diskette Drive

(Internal default)

This option enables or disables the floppy drive. The options are Off, Internal, USB,

and Read Only.

NOTE: If USB is selected, ensure that USB Controller setup option under Onboard

Devices is set to On.

SATA 0 through

SATA n

Identifies and enables and disables the drives attached to the SATA connectors on the

system board and lists the capacities for the hard drives.

NOTE: These options appear as SATA 0 through SATA 3 for the mini tower, SATA 0 through

SATA 2 for the desktop, SATA 0 and SATA1 for the small form factor and ultra small form

factor computers.

External SATA Identifies and enables and disables the drives attached to the eSATA connector on the

system board and lists the capacities for the hard drives.

NOTE: This option is not available on the ultra small form factor computer.

SATA Operation

(RAID

Autodetect/AHCI

default for mini-tower and

desktop)

(AHCI default for small

form factor and ultra small

form factor)

Options for Mini Tower and Desktop:

• RAID Autodetect/AHCI (RAID if signed drives, otherwise AHCI)

• RAID Autodetect/ATA (RAID if signed drives, otherwise ATA)

• RAID On (SATA is configured for RAID on every boot)

NOTE: When in Autodetect mode, the computer configures the drive as RAID if a RAID

signature is detected on the drive. Otherwise the drive will be configured as AHCI or ATA.

Options for Small Form Factor and Ultra Small Form Factor:

• AHCI

• ATA

SMART Reporting

(Off default)

This setting determines whether integrated drive errors are reported or not during

computer start-up.