I just bought a new mobo a8v-e pcie; and a new wd 250gb sata. trying to use it as a data storage. no sata drivers on the mobo cd. and no cd with the hdd. the bois can see the 250gb as pri sata master, but windows sees nothing.

Is this the board:

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/sock...d/overview.htm

If so there are SATA drivers here:

http://support.asus.com/download/dow...Language=en-us

Motherboard | Socket 939 | A8V-E Deluxe | All

VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Driver Package Version 4.10A.

You will need to do a Repair Install of XP & load the drivers at the F6 prompt in the XP setup.

Good guide here:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

the mobo i have is the a8v-E.

Motherboard | Socket 939 | A8V-E

The only listing at Asus for an A8V-E is the "Deluxe" posted above.

Does it visually match? Also check the chipset for a match: VIA VT8237