How do you know the old hard drive is fried? Maybe the IDE on the
motherboard is fried and that is why you can't use the new hard drive???
Test the old drive on another machine.

Also you said you connected to IDE #1, most computers use IDE #0. But I
have seen computers with IDE 1 and IDE 2 instead of 0 and 1. You should
just use the lower numbered one.

What brand of hard drive?

How was your old hard drive set up? Maser / Slave setup or Cable Select.
You should set it the same way. You should put it on the same position on
the cable too as it determines master and slave in Cable Select mode. If
you are not sure if Cable select was used (Compaq uses it), check the CD-ROM
setting.

Be careful about jumper settings if using master and slave. Some drives use
master to master with a slave and not to mean a single drive with no master.
There is a different jumper for a single drive..

"wazaman59" wrote in message
...
I have a Compaq Presario that has fried hard drive.
I purchased a 40 Gig hard drive with a RPM of 5,600.
According to Compaq, the BIOS has a capability of reading up to an 80 Gig
hard drive at 5,400 RPM.
I have installed it and have made sure that it is connected
to the #1 IDE motherboard connection.
When I go to set up, the system won't recognize a fixed drive at all.
Any ideas?