Installing XP on single SATA harddrive

[txrandom]

I'm about to order a bunch of new PC parts and I'm at my dorm. Which means I don't have a floppy lying around to install the SATA drivers with? Do I even need to install these drivers or does XP do it automatically?

 

[imported_browsing]

I didn't, but then again the XP disc I used came with service pack 2 preinstalled, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not.

 

[MichaelD]

It's almost guaranteed that you'll need to load the SATA drivers (press F6 when Windows Setup prompts you to) in order to install Windows.

You have some options, though.

1. If you're ordering a new motherboard, it most probably supports USB drives in the bios. In other words, the bios may have a setting to "Emulate Floppy" with your USB drive. The USB drive becomes your "A drive", IOW. Not all motherboards support this, though newer ones do.

2. Slipstreaming the SATA drivers (and everything else while you're at it!) onto your WinXP disc . It only took me about an hour to figure it out...not too difficult. Google on BartPE.

3. Possibly someone in your dorm will let you borrow their floppy and cable for a few minutes?

I still build my PCs with floppies. They are 99% useless, 99% of the time, but man, when you need them you REALLY NEED them. 😉

 

[will889]

Most new, and even most legacy native SATA mainboards except some older VIA boards allow you to install the OS to a single SATA drive without any need at all drivers or the floppy as long as you have the bios set properly for SATA/IDE emulation mode -- which most mainboards have this setup in the bios by default anyway. Just as an example I built 4 systems last week with only a single SATA drive, 2 with the Nforce chipset, one SIS, and one ATI and didn't need any driver disks. You will need the drivers if you use raid though.

 

[txrandom]

I'm going to go ahead and buy one with my order. Only an extra $5. It's worth the extra hassle since I want to get this baby running by the weekend.

 

[DLM]

I still build my PCs with floppies. They are 99% useless, 99% of the time, but man, when you need them you REALLY NEED them.

I totally agree. with a cost of under $10, it's handy when you need it.

 

[corkyg]

And you can also install drivers from flash memory devices as well as from your hard drive (put there by downloading.)

 

[Auric]

If you have not integrated the latest service packs and subsquent updates onto a disc then that should be done anyway to minimize overall time and futzing. If the storage controller is not so new or obscure then it may be included in those updates anyway and so installing from other media may be avoided. Still, not having a floppy is kinda pig-headed... cutting off ze nose to spite thy face. So yeah, it makes sense to have one for the numerous utilities which still require it. For everything else, a flash drive is more convenient.