Problems installing XP on a SATA drive

fsiaca · 14th November 2007

I'm not sure if this thread should be posted under hardware or Windows XP. If this is incorrectly posted please move. Thanks.

I am trying to install Windows XP on a Gateway M465 laptop that has a SATA drive. I downloaded the SATA drivers from the Gateway web site and extracted them to a Sony 2X USB floppy drive, model MPF88E. When XP setup starts I press F6 to load the SATA drivers and XP loads them with no problems. Once the setup continues, (after the licensing agreement) it again asks me to insert the floppy with the SATA driver and press Enter to continue. When I press Enter nothing happens - it seems like setup has stopped reading the external floppy. This is very frustrating. I do not have the Gateway recovery CD. This is the laptop's configuration:
Hard Drives - Find Upgrades

60-GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive (CRU) [Part #QND1HDDZYZ0042]

Notebook Keyboard (CRU) [Part #QND1KBZZZUTAS0]

LCD Display Panel
15.4-inch WSXGA LCD Display Panel (FRU) [Part #QND1LDRZZZ02G9]

Memory
2024 MB 533 MHZ DDR2 Memory Module (CRU) [Part #QND1SMERZZ0011]

Motherboard
945PM w/64MB ATI Video Motherboard (FRU) [Part #QND10MBZZZ16W6]

Network
Intel 802.11 Mini PCI Express Wireless Card (CRU) [Part #QND1MIYZZZ05G2]

Processor
Intel Core2 Duo Mobile Processor T5600 (FRU) [Part #QNESL9SG]

Why would setup initially load the drivers and then stop reading the external floppy? Any assistance will be appreciated. Thanks.

**PeteC** · 14th November 2007

When you press F6 you are not loading the drivers, just advising Windows setup that they need to be loaded - at the 'insert floppy disk .....' point.

At this point the USB drivers have not been loaded so the external floppy will not be seen.

I don't know if there is a workaround to this save acquiring a Recovery CD from Gateway, but someone else may.

It may be possible to slipstream the SATA drivers into XP, but you will have to rely on others to confirm.

I think we'll give this a whirl in the Hardware forum.

**Christer** · 14th November 2007

Have you tried without loading the SATA drivers? I have sucessfully skipped that step on a number of desktop computers when prompted to hit F6 to load SATA/RAID drivers.

As I understand it, XP RTM and XP SP1 did not include SATA drivers but XP SP2 includes some SATA drivers but not all.

Christer

fsiaca · 14th November 2007

Thanks for the info. I have tried to install XP (SP2) without loading the SATA drivers but Windows does not recognize the drive. PeteC, I am curious about the slipstream, but I have no idea how that works.

**PeteC** · 14th November 2007

Here's our article on Slipstreaming SP2 into an SP1 or earlier XP install CD ....

http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Windo...p2-bootcd.html

and, FWIW a thread on slipstreaming SATA drivers - very complex

.....

Unattended install, SATA drivers, and NO Floppy, I finally got it to work!

**PeteC** · 14th November 2007

More ....

Installing Windows on a SATA drive without the bloody F6 floppy

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...thout+a+floppy

fsiaca · 14th November 2007

Thanks for all of the responses. I'm going to check the options and see what I can come up with. The interesting thing about this problem is that XP actually gets to the point of formatting the drive, then once done I get a message saying "Insert the disk labeled Intel Matrix Storage Manager driverinto drive A: Press ENTER to continue. But once I press ENTER nothing happens - it's frozen. But it does format!

fsiaca · 15th November 2007

I finally resolved it. I used the slipstreaming process found at this web site: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Insta...F6-47807.shtml It worked flawlessly! You just have to follow the instructions carefully (I initially wasted some CDs by not reading everything.) But XP Pro is now being installed on the laptop. Thanks for all the help!

**PeteC** · 15th November 2007

Glad to hear of your success - that URL bookmarked for future use