Hi. I usually have no problems installing a HDD, I don't know whether I am missing something or the cowboy suppliers which I got it from cheap are selling it cheap for a reason.

First off, it is an OEM one - does that mean I need to do a low-level format or any formatting first?

I plan, for the moment, to use it as a slave drive. I've set the jumpers accordingly - first to slave only and then slave/master (cable select). My BIOS detects it correctly and I save the info on exiting the BIOS.

The problem starts when I enter Windows - I can't find any sign of D:. How am I supposed to format it (this was what a friend IRL advised me to do) when I can't even get my OS to locate the HDD?

I know my new HDD has a higher RPM and capacity than my current master (which is why I plan on changing it to Master once I've copied the appropriate files into it). Could this lack-of-detection problem be related to this?

1) make a partition
2) format the partition

Using a program such as Partition Magic will make it all a breeze.

I agrree that Partition Magic is the easiest way to do it if you've never done it before. Also has a whole lot advanced options as well for the experienced user.

If you want to use your new disk as your master easiest is to Ghost your current master (using Norton Ghost obviously ) then move the cables and the jumpers as necessary to make the new disk the master. Quick and dirty.

Of course purists will abhor this, better to do a clean install, etc, etc. but if your system is stable and well maintained, there's no reason to go the anal-retentive route.

Win 3.11/9x/ME : Use fdisk (dos commando)
any other Windows : Use partition manager inside adminstrator tools

After rebooting you will get a drive letter , which you can format with a right click of your mouse button.