This worked for about a week, but now, my computer wont recognise the new port!
Port 0 is connected to the HD that came with the desktop (boots xp from) Port 1 is the DVD writer and 2 & 3 are free. If the Hard Drive is detected, one of the SATA ports on the motherboard is bad. Try a different SATA cable and see if the Hard Drive is detected. If the Hard Drive is still not detected follow the next step. "SATA port not present"? Your hard drive may fail any time once this happened. I've already posted about my computer crashing , and you guys helped me find the cause in my hard drive by switching the sata ports (from port 1 to 2). 6. has detected that your hard drive at port 0 is faulty and the drive may or may not be accessible. In BIOS the SATA ports are 0.1.2.3.4. SATA cables are long, 7-pin cables. If you're lucky, press F1 will boot your operating system.

The SATA ports on the motherboard are listed as 0,1,4,&5. The easiest way to test a cable is to replace it with another cable.

S.M.A.R.T. Re: SATA Ports 3, 4, 5 and 6 'Not Present' « Reply #2 on: 02-December-11, 12:36:45 » B2, but I doubt it's the cougar point issue because these ports have only seen a month or so of use back when I first built the PC and I ran an HDD health test not long before … I went into BIOs again after I looked the SATA port over on the motherboard. If the problem persists, then the cable was not the cause of the problem. One end plugs into a port on the motherboard, usually labeled SATA, and the other (such as the angled end) into the back of a storage device like a SATA hard drive.
Both ends are flat and thin, with one often made at a 90 degree angle for better cable management. 7. Else, follow the next step.

The PEXSAT32 2-Port PCI Express SATA 6 Gbps (SATA 3.0) Controller Card offers simple connectivity between a host computer and SATA 3.0 devices - a cost-effective solution for connecting high-speed storage, such as High RPM Hard Drives and Solid State Drives (SSD), which in turn allows for easier data backups and archiving. Serial ATA cables, in particular, can sometimes fall out of their connection. Be sure to check your SATA cables are tightly connected to the SATA port connection. If the Hard Drive is detected, the problem is with the SATA cable and has to be replaced.