Raymond.CC Blog

No matter how you look at it, Microsoft sucks !

SATA is out for many years now, and floppy drive are no longer on new machine several years now, and not everybody have external floppy drive (If it works for the install, I never tested)

hi ray tell us more about combining it with the windows xp cd installation, (the driver) it is a option for some people that dont have a floppy drive or external floppy drive,

Raymond I’ll respectfully disagree with you about the first method, I already installed XP on more then 1 PC and changing the sata mode didn’t help the only real solution is an F6 driver

Thank You for everything

I didn’t know that an external USB floppy drive worked?
Are you sure?

One other reason to avoid the first option is that you loose performance using the IDE mode, if you have a Sata II (300mb) mobo and Hard Drive, the best option is using AHCI or RAID for full performance, I hope microsoft add this drivers on the WinXP with SP3 CD.

Please I’ve a problem with my Laptop it stopped recognising other external drives or flash drives but only does so to two of my old seagate external and suncruz flash drive. And am using Vista on a Toshiba Satellite L45-S7423. What is the solution please?

if you haven’t floppy drive or have problem for installing that
i have a solution … you can install sata driver after installing windows on ide…
just after install go to
device manager \ IDE ATA/ATAPI controller
find your sata controller and right click on that and click Update Driver and select “don’t search i will choose the driver to install” after that click on have disk
you need that driver of sata inside of floppy driver…
you can download that from Internet
and select that inf some like “iaahci.inf” or “iastor.inf”
and install that…
now restart your pc and go to bios and change your device mode from IDE to Sata AHCI
enjoy Sata function :D
note: this way not officially supported but any manufactures but work great :D
if you have problem or doesn’t work
you maybe select another device on Device manager \IDE atapi… \ sub list :)
hope this way work for you
i test this on my pc and after 1 year i haven’t any problem with that… i don’t have a floppy drive :)
i have asus p5b-deluxe with JMicron controller on windows xp 64bit

Dear CGpersia, ‘m little bit confused as to how shall we install when hdd is not found in the system during winxp setup?

Leo. . .
Are u the owner of http://www.ask-leo.com
I’m a big ask-leo fan!

Thanks for the support solving this issue. One question remains. How to switch back to SATA native support after followed the hint with the Bios settings? Can I do this without a reinstallation of windows xp?
Thanks.

bharat

you don’t have to write back to the original XP installation disk… when you use nlite, it will create a new disk image for you, with the driver integrated, so you can burn a new installation CD.

Some BIOS have an option to emulate an USB Flash drive into a Floppy disk, but the windows installation may not support that.

The best option is nLite.

Side Note.

If your xp installation isn’t recognizing the SATA drive with vista already installed.
Go to the BIOS setting –> Sata –> change to ATA

this was for a dell inspiron 1525.

I don’t have the sata drivers. Never could find them.
But this posting led me to where i needed to be.

Thanks :)

please can u tell me how to load my laptop using window xp. my laptop has no floppy drive. thanks.waiting for ur reply lot

I am currently installling XP on a Dell Insprion 1525.

Her eis some info for you

In BIOS Setup (hit F12 at startup), change SATA mode from AHCI to ATA and the WINDOWS XP Pro Installation CD wil detect the SATA drive no problem (I have the Dell XP flavour of XP startup CD).

You may also have to change the Boot order of the laptop in BIOS so that the CD/DVD drive is top of the Boot order (accessible under boot sequence) to get the laptop to show the “Press any Key to Boot from CD” option. By default the HDD is top of the order so the laptop will tend to boot straight to Vista otherwise.

Brand new Dell Inspirion Vista Home installed when bought and wanted to run XP Pro instead. Drive was not detectable but chnaged the drive settings (a little different from post) and it worked! You are the man. thanks!

Thank you! It came very in handy!

If you rapidly reinstall WINXP on the same machine, you could create pre-installed image using Ghost. Alternatively, you can create customizable WINXP CD with your SATA or RAID driver in it by using nLite for XP d-_-b

I have a Toshiba Satellite X205-S9800 laptop. It has a Phoenix Trusted Core BIOS and I do not see a way to change the SATA drive settings so that I can load XP on this Vista machine. I have removed the drive and attached it to another machine so that I could wipe and reformat the HD.

Can someone help me get the BIOS to recognize the HD, please? I am desperately seeking a solution!!!!!

Thx!

dear
I got the same problem
I don’t have floppy dick
what should i do ?
I don’t have USB flash driver too
help me thanks

just want to share my case with everyone. I have dell 8400. Tried to install xp as i was not able to start window. I first received the error,
\”ftdisk.sys is corrupted\”. well, cleaned the CD fixed this.
Once it loaded all files i received the error,
\”did not find any hard disk drives…\” whish lead me to this site. I changed,
1. [F2] BIO setting to boot from CD-ROM to be first
2. changed SATA specification from AHCI(manf. default) to ATA — will change back after successful installation
This did it. I\’m now installing new XP…. Thanks a lot for your help!

First method is to change the SATA Mode to IDE in BIOS. IT WORKED ON MY LAPTOP. THANKS.

It worked with nLite! Only problem for me was to extract Floppy-files without a floppy-drive! I had come to make a virtual drive a:\ , extracted the files / drivers, and then inserted them into nLite and then burned the XP-installation onto a CD-ROM!

Unbelievable, I went through and updated drivers for everything on my computer, I downloaded new disks, completely wiped harddrive set everything to 0s then installed totally new label and linux OS then tried XP and vista, but neither would boot. So finally called Dell and of course stayed on the phone with them until they decided it was just that my hard drive was completely broken and sent me a new hard drive. Too bad they didn’t know this would have saved them the money of shipping out new parts.

Hope Windows XP SP3 will have all the SATA drivers.

thanks for your advices it was of great help
many many thanks

keep up the good job :-)

plase
norton internet securty 2008 request code=?
help

Raymond a big thanks,i was completely stuck,i just took the combination option in the bios for raid mode and hey it found the partitions!Cheers raymond

Awesome ….
Thanks a lot

I have a HP Pavilion dv2740se with AMD turion 64 x2 Mobile Technology, so the motherboard is made by AMD yeah? Are these the right drivers to download?
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_14098,00.html
However, these appear to be updates, no mention of Sata Raid drivers. Can you even get Sata Raid drivers for turion 64?
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

am also facing the same problem with cary, trying to install xp on hp pavilion dv 6700,i downloaded the SATA raid driver on link above i tried installing it but its telling me error code 32768 that file iaStor.sys could not be loaded, pls canm somebody help me out

you are great.thanks a lot

Could you guys please help me with this one?
Firstly thank you all for the previous reply comments, I managed to install XP 64 on my Dell Dimension 9100 by disabling the SATA with the intension of reactivating it later.
Its now later! and I have a problem! I down loaded the latest chip set driver from Dell and installed it, I then down loaded the latest Serial ATA: Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver and tried to install it so I could switch back to SATA but when I try to install it I get this error message! Incompatible hardware. This software is not supported on this chipset. I have double checked both drivers are the right ones for my PC, OS and chipset and downloaded them again and same problem!
I do get an error message from the Dell site just before download of the Intel Matrix Storage Manager but it still downloads.
Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Thanks

Thank you so much disabling the SATA worked for me! :)

HEEEELPPPPP

Please I need drivers for Toshiba X205-S9800

Please send me info to e-mail..

Thank you ALL

Thanks a lot,

I did like you said in the first method and I want to thankyou for saving my life!!!!

hi, i have a 1525 also -> but i have a question – if i change from AHCI to ATA the performance will stay the same ? or will i be able to change back to AHCI after windows is installed ?

Thanks for ths great tip. I have a DELL Inspiron 1525 and I was trying to get rid of Vista on the laptop and install XP.

I followed the information above posted by Lightninghawk which involved going into the BIOS and changing the SATA settings:

- Press F2 on startup to enter BIOS
- arrow down to Onboard Devices and open
- arrow down to SATA operation
- change from AHCI to ATA
- press Enter to Save and then Esc to Exit, Saving changes
- I then rebooted with the Windows XP in the drive and it went through the install procedures no problem

This was for a DELL inspiron 1525 and I did not require any SATA drivers.

Slan,
Tom

Thanks alot Raymond , you got me back on track. Its nice to see that someone has the answers. After 2 weeks and new hard drives for no reason I found your post especially the one about moving it to a cd instead of the floppy. Thanks Again!!!!!!!!!!

I have an ASUS A8V Deluxe MB and have been having this problem with my SATA HD.

My MB came with a CD that comes with the necessary files to create the proper RAID boot disk, however my HD is still not recognized – even after the proper RAID drivers are loaded and your instructions are followed.

Any other ideas?

dude this the shit

the blog to me till now is not so clear

entao eu tenho um lap HP Pavilion dv2535la e nao tem o drive para o xp n site do fabricante 6s tem nossao de onde podemos achar essa parada

I used the nlite and still no success,
what driver do i need?

Compaq HP v3000 / v3618
Help.. thanks

should i change back to sata after installed windows xp?

what to do if i want to use sata?

I just got a brand new hp 520 laptop but with vista in chinese on it.. Trying to put xp on it but just cant.

I tried changing The sata mode, but theres no way to do that in the BIOS!

Tried searching SATA drivers online.. still no way..

I just want to remove that vista and be able to run xp in and use my full RAM..

Please help!

hi everyone..

im not sure if i have a sata or ata devices..but when i check device manager it says..

ATA channel 0
ATA channel 1
ATA channel 2
INtel ICH8M Sata AHCI Controller – 2829
Intel ICH8M Ultra ATA Storage Controllers – 2850

now, if i have ATA device, what will i do to install xp. please guys im not good in this stuff. i would really appreciate any help from you..

hope to have your answers soon…thanks

I would really appreciate some help.A friend has a Dell Dimension 4400 that never had a HD and did not come with any driver disks (He bought it used). We got a refurbished 60GB HD and installed it and BIOS sees the HD. Unfortunately we get this problem when we try to install XP Home. Here is the information from Dell on the motherboard:
6P708 ASSEMBLY…, CARD (CIRCUIT)…, PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD)…, DIM4400, NO AUDIO…, REV1
but we have had no luck finding a driver. It has a floppy drive and we also have a USB floppy and I can’t find any options in BIOS to do the first method. We would really appreciate anyones help.
Thanks

Thanks much for this! We just got 5 new machines in for the department with Vista pre-installed (Gateway) and I was about pulling my hair out because the XP setup disc couldn’t find the drive. This saved me the trouble of messing with Warranty and just finding the same problem!

Thank you thanks a lot

I just wanted to say thanks. Your bios settings were slightly different then my own; but that\’s just the way it goes.

Thanks again,

Dave

hello, i have a vaio vgn-ar71j with preinstalled vista, now i do not see the settings in the bios like you say and i can not install xp pro, how can i do this?? need urgent help. thanks to all

i do not have sata option in my bios settings. i spent looking inside vista for some security option, but my god at the moment i want xp pro, not vista. heeeelp

Sweet guys!!!
Disabling the SATA options in the BIOS, solved the issue!

I\’m having same prob with my DELL Inspiron 1525.Thanks for the solution.

To everyone out there turrning off SATA just to install the OS, STOP!!!!

It’s like buying a car with turbo and then bypassing it. Why would you do that.

I know it’s terrible that MS doesn’t have the drivers on the CD, but there are thousands of drivers and MS only supports a few of the more common ones out of the box, don’t blame them, blame teh hardware manufacturer for not agreing on a standard and creating a unified driver set.

We can blame MS for the Floppy driver requirement, but there are ways around that. There are boot loaders that load the drivers in a virtual Floppy for this exact use, or you can slip stream the drivers on to the CD. It’s not really that hard.

Another option is to get OEM media from the manufacturer of the system. They may have already sliped the drivers in for you.

If you don’t know how slip stream, or to lazy to look on the internet to learn how, you shouldn’t be installing the OS in the first place. And if you think turning off SATA or RAID to IDE mode is the answer.. well I hope you like the speed your getting out of your system, it would be a little over twice as fast if you did it right.

Mostly time I found blog but I naver gain lots of information but this blog have lots of important information abt this and I got lots of imformation on it . Thanks

Demotis – What garbage are you talking! Don\’t come on here bemoaning a work-a-round to install XP and not offer any help.

If you know so much ,impart some knowledge and not your half baked opinions!

thank’s a lot…
your description like cofee…
make me power up again :D

ok…now the probs is in sata….so its simple.disable the sata native support in the bios settings and install the xp…thats all

hey man its working!! dude thanx!! thanx 2 all master mind of computer!! keep spreading knowledge. best wishes 4m me:)

thanks Ray, you\’re the best,you saved my job!

This is silly, go into BIOS – Config – Scroll to SATA – Change to Compatibility – Save and try again.
Super Simple

thanks yaar i just change bios setting from ahci to ata
and it works now i can setup window xp
without any change in original harddisk file(already coppied) setting

thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Wowza! Racked my brain for almost an hour trying to figure out why XP PRO couldn’t see my Hard Disk on my Persario C700 until I found this…

I went into the BIOS and disabled SATA and it worked fine!

Thanks guys

Thank you! Though I changed from IDE to RAID, and it worked. :) Thank you!

Adrian

I thought vista doesnt support xp,something to do with the drivers-not certain

Brilliant…suspected at the outset that XP was lacking some drivers…this guide helped a great deal..cheers

Steve

Bonjour,

I’ve copied your SATA mode screenshot. I hope you don’t mind. Merci dude… =)

Hey Folks, just a little help in case you are trying to install XP Pro 64-bit on a Toshiba A305. The only difference is to change the sata controller mode from AHCI mode to Compatibility mode.

I tried a lot of queries from Google – tried nLITE as many of you might have after getting this error. Saw that this might be a BIOS problem after reading this thread. Though I don’t have the same options as stated above, I simply went into my BIOS – where ever it said “BIOS – balh blah blah blah” + enabled – I simply disabled it. One only place where I could do it. Didn’t even know what it meant to do it, but it did work. Now XP can install. Simply disable/or enable – whatever your computer is set to in SATA – just do the opposite. It works!!!! I’m very drunk to. If I can do it right now – then you can too! DUH!!!!! I love vodka…..

I have a question and this is driving me crazy! Please help. On your directions up top, it says to copy my sata/raid driver onto a floppy drive, Unfortunately, for me, My driver from Acer\\\\\\\’s website is 19MB. A floppy on holds 1.44. I tried spreading it out between 10 floppys, that didnt work. Im sooo stuck. I have the Acer Extensa 5620, downloaded the Intel AHCI Driver v7.0.0.1020 from this website: http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/forms/AcerDrivers/Extensa%205620.pdf?CFID=2197550&CFTOKEN=79185469
Any help woudl save my life. Thanks.

please can u tell me how to load my laptop using window xp. my laptop has no floppy drive. thanks.waiting for ur reply lot

Hi Raymond,
My laptop has Vista. I created a partition to install Windows XP, where I can run my engineering softwares (ie: CATIA) which are not supported by Vista.

Should I follow your above steps eventhough I will be keeping Vista on my other drive?
I need to run both operating systems.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thank you
George

Thanks dude, raid setting worked like a charm!

Thank you very much. its like a miracle for me as I tried so many things but didnt worked. But this tips helped me in re-solving the issue.

I have a Presario v6000 and was actually adivsed by HP support to reinstall a new version of XP as i got this message when I was trying to use the \\\’R\\\’ recovery console to recover my XP system.
So I managed to get all my data off the drive using an external SATA enclosure then attempted to do a fresh install using the supplied XP Home edition cd they provide on purchase. I once again got the \\\’unable to find hard drive etc\\\’ !
However using someone suggestion on here to change SATA Native Support to \\\’Disabled\\\’ from the BIOS
(pf10 at powerup > System Configuration > SATA Native Support > enter and up cursor to change to Disabled > pf10 > enter for yes save )
and the install proceeded to the \\\’accept rightsd etc\\\’ page

XP came up ok – however i am now running with SATA disabled. I tried to reset the SATA setting in BIOS but everytime I try to start XP i get a BSOD.

Now looking around to see how to get around this other than creating the new XP disc.

I have same issue with my compaq laptop and win XP .Only disaling SATA is worked for me .

Thanks man! Just knowing that changing the SATA mode helps the startup helped me out a ton! Thanks again for a great article.

Thanks mate, worked a treat on a Lenovo X60! Changed the BIOS so that the SATA device was “compatible” instead of SATA.

NLITE asks the driver file to be in .inf form. Though I found the SATA controller drivers on my system to be in .sys form.
This is big problem as the new Win XP Install disk cannot thus be made.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Chris.
===

i have a problem instaling a win xp on a hp pavilion DV 6700, it says no hard drive found on ur pc. the weird thing is that it doesnt have any raid or sata option to desable in bios( the bios is Phoenix , but dont think its a problem..) pls help me . mesage me on email…on how to solve this problem.

Thanks very much. changing the BIOS settings did the trick…

I recently bought Toshiba 320 GB external USB Hard disk. but when it connect through USB to my laptop which has WIndows Xp Home Edition OS. It is not detecting. Please solve this problem.

Thank you!!! I have had this problem and always thought it was an issue with my motherboard or something else … you rock. This worked like a charm.

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 – for those with Dell computers, go to SATA Operation in the drive list in the BIOS and choose “Combination”, which is a SATA/PATA combination and disables RAID. Works like a charm, installing XP Pro right now! Sweet!

thanks a lot… the first solution works perfectly fine

Hi All

Dont know whos who really , but i had same prob with not finding SATA , i disabled it in the bios and xp is on

thankyou so much , if not for this site i would have no hair

thanks where can i donate

richard

satup did not find any harddisc

thanks your a life saver!

thanks, this really helped me!

:)

I have accomplished the inevitable by installing the xp sp3 on a dell inspirion. Its super duper fast. Please message me to get some info on how to downgrade vista(any versions) to xp pro or home. I have played around with my computer to understand a bit about the Dell Inspirion 1525. Please let me know if you need any assistance. I have done this on my own with a few help of other posters on the net.

Thank you Raymond. you rock!

First choice was the right choice for me, awsome was that simple and fast to fix this issue on my HP Pavilion dv2000 notebook

can any one solve my problem , when i install windows xp after i take first reboot after copying windows files it generates error of insert boot media. i tried it with 2-3 hard disks.

My BIOS (HP/Compaq nx6320) does not let me turn off SATA, but disabling “SATA native mode” was adequate to install Windows XP.

Your info was invaluable in leading to this solution.

THANK YOU for this Guide!!!! Now, I’m able to skip that irritating part! Thanks… I’m installing Win XP Prof now on my PC.

thanks alot ! Great work.

thank you, you are my brother

YOU ARE MY HERO!

Method 1 worked like a charm…thx!

Where can i download the SATA Driver for my laptop? Model: BenQ JoyBook R45. I can’t find it anywhere.

Hello All,

I am not sure at all which controller to choose when in the f6 floppy stage?? there is a list of different controllers but i have no idea which is for me??

please email me a possibility

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Disabling the SATA setting in BIOS worked a treat. All this to get rid of Vista (rot in hell) and install XP and Ubuntu (which installed without all this Microsoft malarky).

Thanks again.

Thanks Raymond, this was a “Life saver”.

Was trying to install a copy of Win MCE 2005, and disk would fail to detect HDD, changing to IDE worked.

Thanks again !!

So glad I found your site! I ended up trying what one comment said, changing the HD in the bios, turning off the RAID thing which it turns out was replying on SP1. Now I’m installing XP Pro on a fresh hard drive. Woohoo!

Hey thanks it worked for me on my VAIO…………cheers

Thank you very much for this information. I encountered this issue on my IBM Thinkpad R60 after I had installed a copy of Vista Home and wanted to step back to XP Pro. This was an instant fix but for clarification on my system you need to choose to put the (SATA) Controller into Compatibility Mode as there is no (IDE) mode option in the BIOS. I would strongly suggest everyone try this setting solution first. You can certainly use nLite or vLite to create an ISO disc but that takes 30min just to get going and this was done in less than 5.

I had the same problem on a T60. After attempting to install iDeneb 1.4, ran into problems reinstalling xp pro. hdd wasn’t recognised – “Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer”. I had to set to compatibility mode under the hdd settings in the bios. worked fine after that.

“with” SP3, whoops

) I’m currently using another laptop, and I want to reformat my main laptop.

It is a Sony VGN-FJ57GP.

Anyway, when I insert the Windows XP disk into the drive, it says to ‘Press any key to boot from CD..’ but it doesn’t work. I’ve pressed every key available to press but nothing happens. What should I do?

UPDATE: Now it is loading if I don’t press any key, so it means my keyboard is working and it hangs at ‘Press any key to boot from CD’. Someone please help.

Just a question:

Will the HDD run slower now that it’s set from RAID to IDE?
Considering it’s a SATA drive?

Thanks so much Raymond after trying to install Windows xp on my Acer 6920g Numerous times and it not detecting the hard drive i searched the internet for help and found this article keep up the good work!

i have a compaq nc6400; took the first suggestion and disabled sata in bios – worked just fine – nothing like the path of least resistance… :)

i have Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21M. i tried to install windows XP but had no luck. i read all posts and i also tried to use nlite but had no luck. I cant either disable SATA from bios cause there is no such option(or at least i cant find it).

Plz help me if u may.

Thank u all in advance.

disableing sata support in the bios helped. Thanks a million I was dealing with this issue for hours.

i really dont get dis kind of prblem b4 here is my BIOS configuration .
Boot Sequence
1.onboard usb or usb Floppy drive.
2.onboard SATA Hard drive not presenet.
3.onboard or USB CD ROM drive
SATA Operation
RAID Autodetect/AHCI
and my pc is DELL Optplex 755 & it has 4 SATA DRIVES but only one(SATA 1) is working
pls,pls help me how to fix it

Hi Raymond,

I was struggling for two days to fix this issue.. finally changing the drive mode in bios worked.. THANKS A MILLION…. and KEEP UP UR GOOD WORK…

Cheers Mate…

solved my problem dude.. thanks a ton

Thank you man!! it worked for me!! Great help !!

Regards,
Srinivas

Hi,

I have the same problem, Iam trying to install XP from my laptop curretly installed Vista on it. My laptop is HP Pavillion 6700, upon Installing XP I always receive this error

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 manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program. Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3.

I have no floopy on my loptop. pls help me resolve this problem I need to change my OS to XP badly.

thank you

its like a miracle for me as I tried so many things but didnt worked. But this tips helped me in re-solving the issue.

Thanks A million – first page I opened and solution worked….

Great man!

I needed help with getting my laptop to show my HDD during installation. I found it right at the top, and it was nice to find what I needed to know so fast and easily.

Thanks.

The same error message is being displayed when l try to load XP on my acer laptop TravelMate 250. It was working perfectly, then suddenly it started displaying an error message ‘no operating system found’, when l power it on. How do l go about it on my laptop.

Excellent post mate…I installed windows 7 which includes sata drivers and everything is working perfect..thanks

Im having the same problem here as you see on the top blue screen. when i try to install windows xp i get that error. i tried to go into the bios i cannot make any changes where the Hard Disks are for some odd reason. I dont have a floppy drive so im kinda stuck here.. any ideas on how to fix this? I was thinking about making a boot disk to fix the hard drive error but im wanting to format the C drive and start fresh. Any ideas?

Thanks,
John

help working on gateway laptop m-256m i want to install new os when in get ready to format it it say NO HDD FOUND so i dont have a floppy for the raid drivers so what do i do how can i get the drivers so i can install windows again help help

mike

I have been looking for the solution since 6 months ago and now………………..
Thanks man great job

Dude, U Rock!!!

Thanks op, changed the SATA to compatability mode and it worked like a charm.

Thanks all
this help
i have inspiron 1525 , i have vista , now it’s xp my love .
need drivers
10x again

How can I use nlite on my machine when it won’t boot up?

srry for typos lol

Thanks after reading this sorted out install XP on my Laptop. I don’t have a floppy on the at laptop so just turn off the sata setting in my bios and now XP is installing.

i just bought a new compaq laptop and there is no bios option for ide mode or compatability mode any sugestions

Thank you all for your suggestions.
I was using pavilion dv5000 with a Win XP version preventing usage of any legacy OS. Disabling SATA (in BIOS) did indeed allow me to format my drives the way I wanted to!! :D
Cheers.
Jojo

dear raymond please arrange as soon as possible and usb raid driver…. floppy not good ……

please please please send me a olution of usb raid driver…

by raymond fans

syed musthafa

i am having hp presario c700 n not able to boot xp cd and last i am getting that no hardisk found..then what to do…??

thanks man !!! you saved my day!!

it works thanks for the post!

Thank you very much!!!! You saved me a lot of time and headache!

Go to the BIOS setting –> Sata –> change to ATA
Worked on My Dell 9100 Thanks…

thank uuuuuuuu……………………………..

anybdy plz solve my problem…i bought a DELL 1440 which came preloaded with WIN 7…i want to install XP on it also..both the operating system simultaneously….bt wen XP is about to load setup files blue screaan apperas which prevent it from installing it…plz help

Good solution. Thank you.

THANKS!!!! YOU SOLVED MY PROBLEM!!

Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! After fiddling with my friends computer for 6HRS, this post hit on my problem most succintly! I was trying, on an HP dv6000, to reinstall Windows XP from Windows 7. (My co-worker didn’t like 7!) I was doing it without any recovery discs.I formatted and partioned MANY times, but the darn computer wouldn’t recognized the hard drive. i visited Microsofts’ website all day, and none of their advice was as lucid and simple as yours. Thanks again!
PS I am regarded as ‘tech savvy’ by my friends so you saved the day and my tech cred!

gave me a bit of headache but i found it. went to system configurations and disabled the sata option on the list of enable disable.

i have disabled the SATA mode for my compaq laptop and now i am able to install winxp…..thanks a ton!!

Thank you so much Raymond, was a big help, couldnt install windows, read your notes and managed to put it to good use and Windows is now installing fine.

Thanks again

worked like a charm….thank you !!!!

thank you thank you soooooooooooooooo much…:-)

I WANT TO TELL YOU 2 things:
1. I tried the things written here but it didn’t work in the same way: I changed my HDD configuration on SATA from RAID.I did it because in my BIOS it was only SATA,RAID or disable(no IDE).when I disabled sata option it gave me same error and i still couldn’t reinstall windows, but after I changed it to SATA it allowed me to install new windows.
2. THANK YOU so much for this tips! It realy helped me as I looked for sata options on my motherboard and did it my way.

Thanks for the great help. just a pointer. on HP compaq laptops 6720 and 6820 there is no RAID/IDE mode.
there is only NATIVE or disabled.

I ran Disabled and everything looks good.
Thanks again.

Had the same problem, got infected with a few virus’s
Namely downloader.nsis.agent & trojan.win32.cosmu

It disabled all anti-virus products, they wouldn’t run
At start-up, it kept re-booting
Tried to run in safe mode, last known configuration etc etc. and none worked

Tried installing windows xp, then using the repair tool, but it couldn’t find the hard drive

Did what you said, changed the bios – disabled sata

Rebooted with the xp installation disk and hey presto, was able to repair the laptop, keep all my files (thank god)

When it finished repairing, the machine also ran a chkdsk, loads of problems automatically fixed

Running spybot now to remove the trojans, the future is bright

Looks like my laptop is alive again, thank you sooo much for the advice, I’ve spent days trying to fix this. Ran kaspersky’s boot cd 2010 and even it couldn’t get the machine going.

Thanks again

tHANKS A LOTT

OMG, you’re a genius. Thanks alot and God bless!!!

Thanks so much. I wasn’t able to change ours to IDE but changed from RAID to SATA and it worked. Thanks again for posting. My wife & I were are our wits end.

I cannot edit Sata settings and I have no floppy drive (laptop).

OM Buddha!
You’re providing such of useful information. Thanks so so much…. You save me a lot of time.

Is interesting how windows XP wont recognize the Hard drive but windows Vista or Win 7 do!!, I tried to install both and i could see the drive and even the partitions.
I had exactly the same problem, but i didnt have the sata option in my bios so heres what i did (very easy and works).
You need a Windows Vista or Windows 7 DVD to do this, if you dont have either dont proceed to the tutorial.
First download the sata drivers for your motherboard from the manufactures webstite (ie dell, HP, Gateway, Toshiba etc etc).
Copy the extracted content (iaahci.sys and iaStor.sys) which are regullary the sata drivers into a USB Drive.
Connect your USB Drive and Boot your computer using either vista or Win 7 dvd and get to the installation part where you can see the hard drive and partitions, select load driver from the below option and browse for the content in the USB drive.
you will see the sata driver in the list, select it and continue, it takes like 3 minutes to install it and then will take you back to the installation window, is very important not to make any changes to the partitions here, just leave it as it is, now click on the big X to close the installation windows and cancel, you no need to install windows again, all you had to do is just install the sata drivers, remove the dvd and the USB drive and restart your computer
Now should be booting normally to WINDOWS XP.

Post a reply if works for you!! cheers geeks.

reaalllly big help man! what would i do if there where no articles like this in the web. ^_^

You r simply Great…boss its work smoothly thx dude

I have a gateway and there’s no floppy drive only a usb. is there a way out? thanks

had the same problem. actually its the problem with win xp service pack 2. try installing xp service pack 3. it solved my problem.
best of luck :)

u save my day ! thank you

My solution was to change from a separate to combined IDE for Sata. I don’t understand these terms but based on a few other comments, that was the solution that was most similar to what I read. It worked. Rejoice!

XP had already been installed. I just ran into an issue where after the computer told me it had to restart, it couldn’t restart because it could find no hard drive.

very good, this helped a lot. I was really stumped when XP setup said it couldn’t find a hard drive when I knew I’d just formatted it.

On the bios on the laptop I had the problem with I had to change the SATA mode to “Compatible”.

Thank you…
I did disable SATA and I was able after that to install a fresh xp but the SATA is still disable because when trying to able it again the windows don’t start. And when is disable the Network controller is not working.. any help please..
I have got Compaq 6710b
Thanks

u prolly blew out ur bootloaders with a virus
now u need to reinstalll ur mobo
call ur mobo manufacturer and get the drivers
peace bro
rock on

When I hit “S”, I get taken to a screen that says “Setup could not find a floppy drive on your machine to load OEM drivers from floppy disk.”

I haven’t had a computer with a floppy drive in ages – now what?

I have been fighting with my son’s computer for the last eight days battling the exact problem described above. I have spent days reading BLOGS, visiting Microsoft support pages, and talking to Dell. I have tried nearly every possibility without success.

I wish I found your explanation a week ago.

THANK YOU!!!!

Thank you. It is working. Thank you so much..

Great article, saved me so much time, THANK-YOU

thanx thanx thanx a lot…

It was night mare for me to fined out the solution but this article made my problem solved. Tanku chooo much. :-)

thanks for 1st solu.

I got the same problem with my laptop. I’ve no Floppy drive in Laptop. What should i do?

Thank you so much for posting the result. It took me 5 days to find you solution and it woks.

Thank you very much it worked.

TY so much :)

Thanks!

Just to say Thank you man you are great

some times we lost and the solution there but need to mentioned..

Thank you 100000000000

tanks men u saved my ass

Brillant thank you.

As a note to toshiba laptop owners: You have to hold escape then press F1 when you get to the check system settings. You have to switch the hard-drive to ‘Compatible’ to disable SATA.

Thanks. This worked for me…great work

Many Thanks this page just enabled me to install xp on my thinkpad x60, i have had an evening of Total frustration with it. Tried all sorts, linux worked, vista worked, hdd present in bios & tested fine.Took out drive reformatted etc NO JOY! Find your article & change hdd setting from AHCI to Compatibility in bios & all is fine now.
Many Thanks

Many Thanks, worked a treat!!

I truly want to express my million thanks to the solving maker. I got 2 days annoyed by undetected hdd! Now i’ve changed the bios setting to IDE. How miracle it did work..! Wish u a great day in ur life! Thanks in a million! :)

Thanks! I had been having to install windows 7 whether I wanted to or not, because of this. you are a life saver.

Thought this would save me, but I can’t figure out how to load the sata driver during setup. Can’t get the computer to recognize anything. I don’t have a actual floppy drive on my HP Compaq NX9420? Says to insert into drive A, but I don’t know what Drive A is since I don’t have a floppy drive. I have tried with a flash stick and a external USB HD? I can’t excess my BIOS to switch settings. I bought the laptop through Ebay and it is password protected. I can not figure out how to bypass the password on the BIOs? Thought I could just F6 through setup and supply the sata driver, but again I can’t get it to find it’s location? Was working fine for the past year and then: Disk Read Error Occurred, Press Clt, Alt, Dlte to restart===repeat. Tried to repair with XP disc==No HD found message. Bought new HD==can’t find HD still. So I’m sure your fix will work if I can figure out how to make it read sata drivers prior to setup of XP??

shit man!! your a genuis!!! what a relief coz i messed up my dad’s notebook!! you saved my life!! a million thanks!!!

NICE!!!!
Had to downgrade a Compaq/HP Presario from Vista to XP. Was as simple as disabling sata support in the bios!

Thought this would save me, but I can’t figure out how to load the sata driver during setup. Can’t get the computer to recognize anything. I don’t have a actual floppy drive on my HP Compaq NX9420? Says to insert into drive A, but I don’t know what Drive A is since I don’t have a floppy drive. I have tried with a flash stick and a external USB HD? I can’t excess my BIOS to switch settings. I bought the laptop through Ebay and it is password protected. I can not figure out how to bypass the password on the BIOs? Thought I could just F6 through setup and supply the sata driver, but again I can’t get it to find it’s location? Was working fine for the past year and then: Disk Read Error Occurred, Press Clt, Alt, Dlte to restart===repeat. Tried to repair with XP disc==No HD found message. Bought new HD==can’t find HD still. So I’m sure your fix will work if I can figure out how to make it read sata drivers prior to setup of XP??

DUDE THANKS ALOT THIS SAVED MY DAY, wasted so freaking many hours tyring so many diferent stuff till i came to your post. thanks alot!

what is the meaning of the system has detected a problem with one or more installation of IDE /SATA hard disks in dell vostro 1400 laptop ?

please help me out fast dude…

grate the first option helps.thank you

How can I change the sat a mode in My HP laptop
I installed a new hard drive and get the exact messages
Thanks

thanks for sharing buddy…your no. 1!!!!!!

woooowwww

it realy works thanks alot ,

you are genius

i was able to setup windows now and repair it
and all the files and system were back agian
like nothing happen.

tnx dude…i’ve been looking all over the net for this solution for the past two days but to no avail… thanks for posting this…

ps:tnx also to google chrome that I used. because when I used FF4, I couldn’t search for this blog…

more pwer

I dont have a floppy, but it says the same error to me,once i’ve installed XP perfectly,but it was somekind of different Copy of it,what has some drivers on it,so the installion can go one.
Can some1 help me with that problem or tell me where can i find that special XP ?
Thank you

Hi, I had the same problem when installing Windows 7 to Aspire L320 ACER PC 2007. It doesn’t find any hard disk to install windows. Instead it says to provide hard disk drivers from an external device. Can anybody please tell me a place to download it? Or a solution to this.

Wow been trying to re install XP for hours with trial and error methods in a world of pain as I’m not good with hardware stuff (I’m a video editor). My windows install drive got corrupted -google redirect virus is to blame I believe) and I just want to get some very important files off of a RAID 0. I am currently formatting my system HDD and hopefully I can get XP on there and then copy of my data from the RAID – here’s hoping! Thanks

Hi, I had the same problem when installing Windows Xp to Dell Optiplex 390 Series . It doesn’t find hard disk driver to install windows.Can anybody please tell me a place to download it? Or a solution to this.

hey so i keep trying to do it with the floppy disk and everything seems to be going okay i load up two of the files i need but in the end it still says no hard disk drives were detected can anyone help
oh its an nvidia if it helps to know

Thanks man! I solved this by disabling the SATA. I hate the earlier hdd + mobo cos always have this ide sata issue. Thanks for your tips anyway! Very useful! I can finally install windows now as it eventually detected the hard drives. Thank god!