Motherboard cannot see ATA Drive

I recently installed a replacement like-for-like ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard, after the previous one sparked and smoked. I also replaced the dead power unit. When I booted up Windows XP could not find a specific file, which I replaced by plugging my hard drive into a friends computer as a second hard drive. Now, Windows freezes as it tries to load every time.

So - looks like the hard drive is being recognised - ie it found the missing file. And it names it as I boot up (Maxtor DiamondMax DM Plus 9 S-ATA) in the bootup text. BIOS has the CD as the primamry master and auto-detect the Hard drive doesnt seem to do anything (this may be normal).

However, to fix the Windows problem I booted off my Windows XP CD. When I select 'repair; I get the message "Setup did not find any hard drives installed in your computer". I have downloaded drivers from the ASUS website and installed them off a floppy at the F6 prompt. I have also swapped the SATA lead. And my hard drive reads perfectly as a 2nd drive in my friend's computer! I have also tried booting without the CD drive plugged in.

I have run out of options ! How can I either get WIndows repair to work OR maybe by using my friends computer get Windows repaired on my hard-drive attached to his PC ?

I am desparate - as are my kids !!

All help/ideas much appreciated. CPU is AMD K7 Athlon.

Many Thanks . . . . Dave

Swapping mobo's will @#$% up windows installs. Have you tried a clean hdd in your computer? If that works you'll have to reformat and reinstall windows to make it work as the main drive. To get the data you need off of it, either use your current hdd in a friend's computer and burn it, or install a new hdd in your computer and use the current hdd as a 2nd disk, then transfer the data you need. Either way, I think you'll need to reformat your current hdd to make it the primary drive with the new mobo.