No secondary IDE controller

WOW !!

Now this brings up a question in my mind. May be just another WILD one but here goes anyway.

In the BIOS. Are ( were ) all hardrive loacations set to Auto ?

Sometimes if they are not ( at least for the first run ) they will not recognize some hard drives.

Next project.

Got to try to figure out what was wrong. Do not think that will be easy

But I am glad that things are back to the way they should be. And I hope they stay that way. You can only afford to lose so much skin before it starts to really hurt.

You are welcome.

BillyBob

 

"In the BIOS. Are ( were ) all hardrive loacations set to Auto ? "
Yes, they are and were set to Auto.
My best guess is my first one, that the cable was not properly set in the secondary IDE slot on the motherboard. The controller for either primary or secondary won't show up in Device Manager if it's not connected to a working device. This much I learned through this experience. (But why will it show up in Safe Mode regardless of whether it's connected or not?) Since the device is known to be working (it's connected to the CD now), the problem must have been at the other end, i.e. the motherboard. Clearly it's not the cable itself, although, come to think of it, I may have uncrimped it or something when I was fiddling around this time. Doesn't seem very likely, but who knows?
Any way, problem solved if not completely understood. That seems to be the way most of the time with me and computers. Partial understanding is an achievement in itself.
Thanks again, and, as you say, on to the next project.