Solve Sata hard disk issues with Windows XP

Q I recently bought an OEM copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 2 to install on a computer I have built myself. I am a little worried on reading that some Sata hard disk connections are not recognised by the Windows XP installer. If this is the case I don’t know how I can install Windows XP.

Mollie Walsh

A The first thing to do is to try installing Windows XP and see if the hard disk is recognised. We haven’t required separate drivers on every computer with a Sata hard disk we’ve install Windows on, so the problem may not occur.

Should Windows require these extra drivers you will need a floppy disk, and a drive to read it with attached to the computer. There’s no need to keep the drive attached once Windows has been installed so you may want to borrow one.

The motherboard CD disc should come with a utility to properly format the floppy disk and add the drivers to it. This assumes that you have access to a computer with Windows already installed but all is not lost if you do not.

Our Abit FP-IN9 motherboard driver CD is bootable. Start the computer with the driver CD inserted and look for a ‘Make Driver Disk’ option in the menu. On our PC a second menu asks whether or not to create the driver disk for 32- or 64-bit Windows. Enter the appropriate number and press Enter.

When the files have been copied, press n to refuse the offer to create another disc, replace the motherboard driver disc with the Windows XP installation disc and restart the computer.

Press the space bar when prompted to press a key to start from the CD. Press F6 when prompted to install a third-party SCSI or Raid driver.

For the purposes of this installation, Sata is included here. There isn’t any immediate confirmation of pressing F6 but there is an extra screen. Press S as prompted, insert the floppy disk in the drive and press Enter. Windows will now load the drivers it needs to continue the installation.

Baffled by jargon? See our free online jargon buster