Re: Installing XP-Pro

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"Bill Martin" <martin_spamtrap@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:8afk94dqgl92tu4upc5dpksfk42bc32r59@xxxxxxxxxx
On Wed, 6 Aug 2008 19:40:52 -0400, "Nepatsfan" <nepatsfan@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

"Bill Martin" <martin_spamtrap@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:qvak94lfpb53iv553qn8rigcc9u76b120p@xxxxxxxxxx
I've got a Compaq C751NR laptop on which I'm trying to install XP-Pro
as a dual boot along with the Vista that it came with.

Following instructions from the web, I used Vista to create a new,
empty D: "simple partition", rebooted, checked everything, and then
rebooted again with the XP-Pro disk in the DVD drive.

The disk spins, various programs are read from it ok, and then when it
actually comes to the install point it tells me:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows XP Professional Setup

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.

Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected
to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration
is correct. This may involve running a manufacurer-supplied
diagnostic or setup program.

Setup cannont continue. To quit setup, press F3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not a problem that I expected. With trembling hands I removed the XP
disk and rebooted the machine. It's still happy to boot Vista.
Obviously the hard drive does indeed work.

Searching the web, I've found allusions to this issue, and that one
needs to somehow change BIOS settings to make it work. No clue what
settings however.

Anybody seen this problem and risen above it?

Thanks.

Bill


I'm not familiar with your laptop but I'd bet it has a SATA hard drive.

Early in the XP installation process you'll see a screen where you're told to
hit the F6 key to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver. What you're not
told is you also have to hit F6 to install drivers for the SATA controller on
your computer's motherboard. Usually these drivers can be obtained from the
computer or motherboard manufacturer's web site. The drivers need to be placed
on a floppy disk and the disk needs to be inserted in a floppy drive after you
hit the F6 key.

Supposedly, you can integrate the SATA drivers into your XP installation CD.
I'm
not familiar with how this is done but you might take a look at these
articles.

Install Windows XP on SATA without a Floppy
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Install-Windows-XP-On-SATA-Without-a-Floppy-F6-47807.shtml

http://www.digitgeek.com/how-to-slipstream-sata-drivers-into-xp-cd/

Since the odds are slim that your laptop has a floppy drive you might want to
consider running XP in a virtual environment using a program such as
Microsoft's
Virtual PC 2007.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx

Download Virtual PC 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=04d26402-3199-48a3-afa2-2dc0b40a73b6&displaylang=en

A similar program is VirtualBox.

http://www.virtualbox.org/

Finally, I've never come across any method of dealing with this issue that
involved making changes to the BIOS settings.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

-------------------------------------

Thanks for the info. Turns out that the BIOS settings are designed
for some native SATA mode that only Vista understands, but it also
allows me to disable that mode for "legacy" operating systems or some
such term which makes Vista run more slowly. Anyhow, I disable it and
XP-Pro seems to happily load.

However...

After it's loaded, the machine reboots but apparently it can't
properly handle the video drivers as I just get a few random text
blocks scattered about the screen. I have located the proper XP
driver for the machine (reputedly), but it's an executable EXE file
from HP. I don't really see any way to execute an EXE file when I
don't have control of the machine.

Is there some way to force XP to boot up in a simple text mode so I
can execute the file? The XP installation disk runs ok in text mode,
so XP should be able to also somehow. I've tried punching F5 and F8
with no help. I do get a quick message "Booting DOS mode" but then it
comes up with the video scrambled.

No floppy of course.

Am I overlooking the obvious somehow?

Bill


I'm not sure I follow what's happening. When are you losing the display? Is it
after the file copy portion of the XP installation? If that's the case, the only
thing I can think of to try is to check the video settings in the BIOS and see
if changing them gets the installation to proceed to the GUI portion of setup.
You'll want to note the current settings in the BIOS in case you need to reset
them later.

Nepatsfan


.

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