Installing Windows XP on a SATA disk

[jesse]

Installing Windows XP on a Serial ATA hard drive is not easy because the system does not recognize the SATA drivers start of the motherboard. Windows XP Pro SP2 runs a little better pilots SATA, but the entrance to the knowledge base may also apply in cases where the driver is not recognized.

[jesse]

Determining the pattern of the motherboard

Above all, it is necessary to obtain the latest stable drivers Serial ATA motherboard. To do this, it is essential to know the exact model of the motherboard. If you have textbooks, you can refer to identify the make and model of the motherboard, otherwise there are tools enable customers to identify the material.

[jesse]

SATA Driver Downloads

Visit the official site of the manufacturer, have the exact reference of the motherboard, then download the drivers for the controller Serial-ATA card and save them on a floppy disk (if you have a floppy drive) after the prior unzipped!

[jesse]

Install Windows

Two cases are possible:

You have a floppy drive

Having set the BIOS to boot priority on the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, insert the installation CD for Windows and follow the steps in the installation of Windows XP. When Windows application (shown at bottom of screen), press F6 to provide Windows drivers third parties to access the Serial ATA hard drive!

You do not have a floppy drive

In this case, you just have to integrate, following this trick, drivers SATA controller, you've downloaded and decompressed prior to the CD of Windows XP. In this way, XP will be able to recognize your SATA disk.

[jesse]

Alternatively

If you can not find the SATA drivers adequate, or if it does not work for you, a final solution is to disable the SATA mode from the BIOS, only this can degrade the performance of your hard drive :

• Access the BIOS setup.
• Navigating the BIOS, and seek the option to deactivate SATA.
• Save the BIOS options, and restart the installation of Windows XP.
• If you do not find this option, sometimes a BIOS upgrade will add it.

Important Note: If you want to install XP in dual boot with Vista, disabling the SATA controller can sometimes cause a malfunction of Windows Vista, it is advisable to check if Vista is still functional before starting the installation of XP.