Hardware problems when installing XP ..

Discussion in 'Windows XP Hardware' started by Centuri, Jun 8, 2013.

  1. Centuri

    Centuri

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    Hardware problems when installing XP ..

    Window 8 has been another huge dud for Microsoft so it appears they are leaning on hardware manufacturers to indicate that their new products will not support XP – which isn’t true in a lot of cases. Example: I just built a new system using AMD’s latest FM2 CPU (very fast with great graphics included). When I started the system I was surprised to find that XP would not install on the hard drive, but would start an installation from the DVD drive but would display a blue screen trying to access the hard drive; even though the disk was recognized as being there by the motherboard’s BIOS. I have literally built over 400 systems over the last 30 years and this was my first time when a functioning system would not complete an OS installation.

    The board was produced by ASRock and is a new ITX sized motherboard. To make a very long story short, this is what I found out from an industry source: In the BIOS, the SATA settings are being set at the factory so that a hard drive will not be readily accessed by XP. However, by changing the SATA setting to “IDE” in the BIOS the board will function correctly. Also, he stated that if you look hard enough in the board manufacturer’s specification list you will see that Vista, Win7 and Win 8 are listed as being supported – no XP shown. And this information will normally not be seen on a reseller’s website for a lot of new boards.

    When Vista came out, I tried a couple versions and quickly found it was far worse than XP. Win7 and XP are fairly close but changing key settings under Win7 is nearly impossible in some areas. All Win7 gives you in reality is a better desktop – and that’s about all. I’ve built gaming systems for people that used Win7 originally; but all users have asked to have XP installed instead. Windows 8: Another Microsoft disaster; with 8.1 seemingly a desktop tweaking of 8.0 only.

    I realize that at some point Microsoft will squeeze manufactures hard enough that I will have to leave XP behind. But where to go? I do a lot of video conversions (both to DVD and to Blu-Ray) and have a LOT of expensive software that runs under my modified versions of XP (thankfully all software runs great with zero problems). Unless there is some form of concentrated effort by users to keep XP alive I guess the future holds some form of Linux for me. I have friends that also do video work using Linux and their results (speed especially) is far better than Windows. Apple video software is in the dark ages yet so that avenue is out. What to do???????????
     
    Centuri, Jun 8, 2013
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  2. Centuri

    Elizabeth23

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    You can get the sata drivers from manufacturers website

    then save them to a floppy disk (I know!!!)

    this is the only way to have xp use sata drives,

    or you could slipstream them into your installation cd and save the press F6 key during installation setup to install the sata drivers, xp will only accept floppy disk at this step.
     
    Elizabeth23, Jun 8, 2013
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  3. Centuri

    Centuri

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    The BIOS is set to NOT recognize typical SATA hard drives. You can have all the SATA drivers in the world and the BIOS will ignore them. You HAVE to change the BIOS settings to have hard drives accessible.
     
    Centuri, Jun 8, 2013
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  4. Centuri

    Centuri

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    Also, you do not have to download SATA drivers when you set up XP on a new motherboard such as I am referencing above (unless it's a really old board). The motherboard BIOS takes care of handling the SATA traffic.
     
    Centuri, Jun 8, 2013
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  5. Centuri

    Elizabeth23

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    Elizabeth23, Jun 8, 2013
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  6. Centuri

    Centuri

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    Interesting link; but it really is not relevant to my comments. I have installed XP (Pro w/Sevice Pack 3) on hundreds of computers and have NEVER (like as in never, never) installed SATA drivers separately. SATA drivers are included with the bundle of software items that is contained on the board manufacturers start up disk. And as mentioned above, on the board referenced, the SATA setting in the BIOS HAS to be changed to "IDE" as any SATA driver has nothing to do with the BIOS setting even though the SATA driver has been installed as part of the board setup procedure.
     
    Centuri, Jun 8, 2013
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  7. Centuri

    Elizabeth23

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    okay, I am not up on sata and such, so I hope your issue gets resolved. :)
     
    Elizabeth23, Jun 9, 2013
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  8. Centuri

    Centuri

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    My issue is resolved (thanks to a friend in the mboard company). The purpose of my post was to give others a "heads up" when they set up recently released motherboards. Setting the BIOS so that SATA hard drives are recognized is simple BUT if you are not aware of the requirement to do so you will have a mboard that will not allow a XP installation. Neither the manual that comes with the board, nor the companies internet support info will tell you of this requirement.
     
    Centuri, Jun 9, 2013
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  9. Centuri

    Elizabeth23

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    great post, it will help someone I am sure. :)
     
    Elizabeth23, Jun 9, 2013
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