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Resolved Question

XP only installs from IDE CD drive

by Oct 24, 2013 5:58AM PDT

Hi,

I am trying to install XP Pro. Using a SATA DVD Drive to Install XP, Windows Setup runs to the point of 'Setup is starting Windows', and the restarts the comp. I have used the F6 option to load the SATA drivers during the install, but still have the same results. In the BIOS I have SATA set to IDE instead of RAID (I have also flipped these). I have loaded BIOS fail safe and default, but get the same results. The only way I am able to install XP is to connect the IDE CD drive (and disconnect the SATA CD drive). I'm trying to understand what I am doing wrong so that in the future I do not have to connect up a IDE drive for a new install. Any info is greatly appreciated.. Thanks.. Rick

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Re: XP only installs from IDE CD drive
by Forum moderator Oct 24, 2013 6:23AM PDT

That's because there were no SATA CD drives back in 2001, so it's not supported. But an external (USB-)drive will be fine, if (and only if) the BIOS supports booting from it, In netbooks it usually does, because that;s the only way to install it on such a device that has no CD-drive built in.
You're doing nothing wrong except having the wrong expectations.

The things you can do:
- use an IDE drive
- install Windows Vista, 7 or 8

Kees

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XP only installs from IDE CD drive - New!
by rrick88 Oct 24, 2013 6:41AM PDT

Thanks for the info, Kees!

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Answer
Note that there are ways around this.
by Forum moderator Oct 24, 2013 10:15AM PDT

But I fear those that are beginning to learn this soon to be abandoned system will have to stick with IDE or IDE emulation.

That is, the old XP F6 Floppy Driver method totally irks and gets my IT guy grumpy for weeks.
Bob

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Answer
Just an FYI at this point
by Oct 24, 2013 10:17AM PDT

The main thing is that you've been successful but I'll have to add that I recently installed XP from an SATA CD/DVD drive successfully. I did need to use an external floppy to load the enhanced drivers. This was an older board, however, and yours is probably newer. Mine was an Intel DG41TX that I was overhauling for a school. I had to fiddle around with the BIOS a bit. The MB had two sets of SATA ports and it made a difference which ports I plugged the drives into. I did have some trouble selecting which drivers to load from the floppy as they didn't identify themselves very clearly. I could wonder what you were seeing at that point. In any event, it did work for me so I suspect the transition from PATA to SATA wasn't a "go no-go" but a "go sometimes" proposition. Good luck to you.

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Where I get confused...
by rrick88 Oct 24, 2013 11:19AM PDT

How does Windows use the SATA drive to boot and load the initial drivers & setup program, and then fail to access it. My assumption is that the GUI is missing the drivers??

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It's simpler than you think.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 24, 2013 2:26PM PDT

MSFT never updated the setup installer to handle newer gear for XP. So with the passing of time, this will only be a challenge for folk that didn't know about the F6 Floppy method.
Bob

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Just to refresh myself, I repeated the installation
by Steven Haninger Oct 24, 2013 8:53PM PDT

and it ran successfully. I used a copy of XP in which I'd slipstreamed SP-3. Again, this is an older board and the BIOS options don't specify SATA. Instead, the choices are "Native" and "Legacy". I select native as it shows 4 SATA ports plus a master/slave option for the IDE channel. I recall having a headbanger of a time with this. I needed to put the CD/DVD ROM on either SATA 0 or 2 and the HD on 1 or 3. I needed to create a floppy disk for the driver as none came with the system...or we'd lost it. What was needed was the Intel "RST" driver which, during the installation, shows as for a RAID controller. I had an option of several ICH modes and needed one of the ICH7 options. I had to look up the board specs to get that info. Intel has a newer name for this driver now, BTW...something about "rapid store" or some such. I actually created two floppies. One had the newest drivers and one had older drivers. The new drivers didn't work. I had to use the older drivers. I want to say the name was actually something like iastore.sys but Windows XP has a file by this name so there must be something specific to the version used and Intel chipset that is needed.

Anyway, it was a pain but I had to try it again just to make sure I was telling the truth. It did work.

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Addendum
by Steven Haninger Oct 24, 2013 9:02PM PDT

Whatever you do that works, I'd recommend making a hard drive image of the successful installation. After that, do the complete MS update routine to collect all of the critical and important updates. Don't do driver updates via MS update, however. Get these from hardware manufacturer's as needed. Once you're happy that the system is up to date and stable, make another hard drive image. Keep at least two copies of that second image for possible future use. It can save you the headache of going through this again should you need to start clean. Good luck.

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