How to Install Windows XP With a Sata Hard Drive

From 2002 through 2007, Microsoft Windows XP was the standard operating system for most of the world's computers. Even today, with Windows Vista around, XP is still widely used. Many people simply do not want to change, because XP can do everything Vista can do, without all the bells and whistles, and XP can usually do it faster, especially on older hardware. However, some of the newer hard drive technology, namely SATA (as opposed to PATA), isn't recognized by XP's setup program. If your PC has a SATA hard drive and you try to install Windows XP, setup will inform you that you have no hard drive installed on your computer--which isn't true, of course. If you have been getting an error like this when trying to install XP on a newer computer, don't worry; you probably just have a SATA hard drive. There are two ways to fix this problem.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• PC (x86) computer with a SATA hard drive
• Windows XP CD (home or professional edition)

1. 
    

   Reset your PC. When it begins its boot sequence, access the BIOS by pressing delete, F2 or F1. If you don't know which one triggers the BIOS, hit all three. In a few seconds, a crude, unpolished, text-based menu should appear--this is your BIOS.

2. 
    

   In your system configuration, there should be an option that refers to SATA. Go into that.

3. 
    

   Under SATA, there should be only one choice: a SATA mode or a non-SATA mode. Choose the non-SATA mode. On my Thinkpad X61, the non-SATA mode is called "compatibility mode" and the SATA mode is called "AHCI mode."
   Save the settings and exit the BIOS. The next time you boot from your Windows XP CD, setup should be able to recognize your hard drive and finish the installation.

4. 
    

   If you complete Steps 1 through 3 and it still doesn't work, download a SATA driver. To find the driver using Google, type in your PC model, "SATA driver" and "Windows XP." Or go to your manufacturer's website, specify your PC model, and find the driver from the list that should pop up. The driver might be called "SATA driver," or it could appear as a different name. For my Thinkpad, the name of the driver was "Intel Matrix Storage Driver for Windows XP, Vista"; the description for this driver says that it provides SATA/AHCI compatibility. After you find the driver, download it, extract it (if it's compressed) and save it on a floppy disk.

5. Put your XP CD in the drive and boot up. When XP's setup program begins, you will see a message at the bottom of the screen that says "Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver." Press F6. Later in the installation, you will be prompted to press "S" to "specify an additional device." Press S here. Next, setup will tell you to insert the disk labeled "manufacturer supplied support disk"--this is your floppy disk with the driver you downloaded. When you insert the floppy, setup will bring up a list of drivers. Click on the right one for your hard drive (probably a similar name to that of the driver you downloaded from the manufacturer's site). XP setup should then be able to recognize your hard drive and finish the installation normally.

Resources

• Description of the Process
• Downgrading from Vista to XP and Overcoming the SATA Issue

[rawfish]

on 10/17/2009 Thank you for solving my problem in an easy manner. Previous research told me how to do it, but the methods were very complicated. Each step led to further complications, i.e. download this, can't be done without some other piece of software, download that, run into an error, use a floppy and floppy drive (how many computers come with a floppy drive these days?), etc.