Installing Windows XP on SATA drive (Laptop)

[dondasch]

I recently purchased a laptop with a SATA hard drive. This is the first time I have dealt with this particular issue so here goes:

On startup I receive the following message:

PXE-EG1: Media Test Failure, check cable
PXE-MOF: Exiting PXE ROM

Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key. At this point, I am assuming that it is referring to a Windows XP disk, which I have. When I insert my XP disk and pressed a key, I receive the notification to press the F6 key, which I did but Setup continues to run until it reaches the end and gives me the following notification:

Setup could not determine the type of one or more mass storage devices installed in your system, or you have chosen to manually specify an adapter. Currently, Setup will load support for the following mass storage devices(s):

<none>

* To specify additional SCSI adapters, CD-ROM drives, or special disk controllers for use with Windows, including those for which you have a device support disk from a mass storage device manufacturer, press S.

* If you do not have any device support disks from a mass storage device manufacturer, or do not want to specify additional mass storage devices for use with Windows, press ENTER.

S=Specify Additional Device ENTER=Continue F3=Exit

When I press S I get the following:

Setup could not find a floppy drive on your machine to load OEM drivers from floppy disk.

* Press ESC to cancel loading OEM drivers

* Press F3 to quit setup.

Pressing ESC brings me back to the Windows Setup screen. At this point I'm rather confused. I have, "I think", what is the drivers disk for my laptop which has: Notebook Driver CD G71-NDW2065-X03 written on it.

Should I go ahead and just install Windows XP then install the notebook drivers or what else should I do?

Thanks

[Justin_W@XoticPC]

XP does not recognize Sata hard drives in DOS mode. What you need to do is load the sata drivers onto a floppy disk (You will need an external floppy drive for this)

Insert your windows XP boot cd into the cd drive and press the "F6" you will then hit "s" to search the floppy drive for the Sata drivers that were loaded on the floppy disk.

Once sata drivers have been loaded, you can press enter and continue on. XP will now see the Sata hard drive and you can proceed with your installation of windows.

If you would like to avoid the floppy drive and Sata setup process, you can disable AHCI in the BIOS. View here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Host_Controller_Interface)for more information on what ACHI is :D

For further help on this please contact technical support @ 1-(877) 645-9312

[xpcdude]

Justin`s second option is the best.Just disable AHCI in BIOS, the easiest way to do it.When you are done with installing, you can re-enable it back.
Press F2 when prompted on screen and then search in BIOS where AHCI says "enabled" , set it to "disabled" and after that the hdd will be recognized.

[Sroxuss]

Justin`s second option is the best.Just disable AHCI in BIOS, the easiest way to do it.When you are done with installing, you can re-enable it back.
Press F2 when prompted on screen and then search in BIOS where AHCI says "enabled" , set it to "disabled" and after that the hdd will be recognized.

Yep, this is what I've done with my newest desktop and my week old 9262, works great.

[cablsurfin]

Disabling AHCI and then re-enabling it after the Windows XP install will not work. AHCI has to be enabled prior to install in order for the proper drivers to be installed into XP. There are a few workarounds to get AHCI working post XP install but it is not as easy as just re-enabling it in BIOS. Googling around will get you more info.

[TraNceD.gURL]

Wouldn't you get a HAL mismatch error if you disabled it and then re-enabled it after installation? --ah never mind, I'm thinking about something else-- scratch the above remark since it's wrong... I need caffeine lol

[Azimer]

I just got my Sager 5793 today. I found a solution that worked for me...

Go here and follow the directions in the post:

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=106575.0

Use the following registry key instead of either of the ones provided. This one works with ICH8M. You can easily determine dev_XXXX you have by looking at the driver's .inf and your manual. The manual stated I had a PM965 + ICH8M chipset. I looked in the driver file and found:

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2829.DeviceDesc="Intel(R) ICH8M SATA AHCI Controller - 2829"

I used that DEV_2829 in the registry hack they provided and it worked for me. Good luck. I also feel obliged to state don't do any registry editing unless you are comfortable with the consequences.


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Cr iticalDeviceDatabase\pci#ven_8086&dev_2829&cc_0106]
"Service"="iaStor"
"ClassGUID"="{4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\iaStor]
"Type"=dword:00000001
"Start"=dword:00000000
"Group"="SCSI miniport"
"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
"ImagePath"="system32\\drivers\\iaStor.sys"
"tag"=dword:00000019
"DisplayName"="Intel AHCI Controller"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\iaStor\Parameters]
"queuePriorityEnable"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\iaStor\Enum]
"0"="PCI\\VEN_8086&DEV_2829&SUBSYS_B0051458&REV_02\\3&13c0b0c5&0&FA"
"Count"=dword:00000001
"NextInstance"=dword:00000001

[B Jezz]

An alternative solution is to use nLite (http://www.nliteos.com/). With this you can create a custom installation disc which already includes the SATA drivers.

[jrwomack]

Disabling AHCI and then re-enabling it after the Windows XP install will not work. AHCI has to be enabled prior to install in order for the proper drivers to be installed into XP. There are a few workarounds to get AHCI working post XP install but it is not as easy as just re-enabling it in BIOS. Googling around will get you more info.


This is a very late response I know. Be it known, I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. But I know this, after struggling as many others have done to get Windows XP to reconize and install on a SATA drive on two different machines, there is merit in the concept of disabling the BIOS ACHI. Now, it may apply only to the NP2092 for all I know. I do know that after removing the original 7200RPM 100GB drives from the NP9890, simply placing the SATA driver on a floppy DID work. But not for the NP2092. I scoured the WWW for help and found many facing my dilemma. nLite was often recommended an I was about to do just that UNTIL--I got advice about disabling the ACHI in the BIOS. I did and sure enough XP installation proceeded without further exaggeration. Well, except for activating and registering my personal copy of XP. I haven't recativated the ACHI in the BIOS because I thought it was unnecessary and so far the NP2092 doesn't seem to care but I'm wondering about that now.

[Reinman]

Honestly, just get the AHCI driver and use nlite. It is fast and easy.