XP 64-bit installer not recognising SSD!

[w00tman]

Hey all.

I just installed an Intel X-25M 160GB SSD on my laptop.

I'm trying to intall XP 64-bit from a bootable USB drive made using WinToFlash.

The installer is telling me that it can't detect any mass storage devices on my computer;
and once I go up to the license agreement page, hitting F8 ("I agree") does nothing!

My BIOS is an InsydeH20 (version F.09);
and it seems to recognise the drive just fine, since I was able to do a 'Primary Hard Disk Self Test' on the drive.

I couldn't find any options for switching between AHCI & IDE modes.

What do I do now?

 

[Coup27]

Install windows 7

 

[w00tman]

You're a genius, buddy.

ANYWAY...could any one suggest something useful?

 

[yinan]

The problem is XP does not have native support for many SATA controllers. The driver would have to be slipstreamed in using nLite. As previously mentioned the best thing to do is to install Win7.

 

[w00tman]

The problem is XP does not have native support for many SATA controllers. The driver would have to be slipstreamed in using nLite. As previously mentioned the best thing to do is to install Win7.

Which SATA controller do I need for this drive in particular? Can't seem to find much info for this. I'll get nLite, and see if I can get my head around this slipstreaming thing.

 

[yinan]

You do not need one for the drive, you need one for the SATA controller on your mobo.

 

[Coup27]

Are there no Sata drivers listed on your laptops support page?

Failing that, what's the make and model number?

 

[taltamir]

You do not need one for the drive, you need one for the SATA controller on your mobo.

yes, your issue is not the SSD your issue is the SATA controller on your motherboard. It needs a driver that is not built into win XP 64bit.
You can use a newer version of windows (aka win7 and really should do that)...
Or you can find the driver you need and then slip stream it via nLite.

 

[w00tman]

You do not need one for the drive, you need one for the SATA controller on your mobo.

Oh okay. I'm not really a computer person, so I have extremely little knowledge of this stuff.

Okay...so I figured my laptop has the Intel HM55 chipset. I'm looking for the SATA drivers now.

Is it possible to load the drivers onto an USB, then point the installer to it...instead of doing this whole slipstreaming thing?

 

[taltamir]

Is it possible to load the drivers onto an USB, then point the installer to it...instead of doing this whole slipstreaming thing?

yes.... with windows 7.
With windows XP your choices are slipstream or loading them using a floppy disk (using an integrated FDD controller, will not work with an external USB floppy)

Also you will not have TRIM, your alignment will be incorrect unless you manually align elsewhere (say, using windows 7 installer or some linux tools) and you will need to manually configure your OS for an SSD (ex: exclude SSD from defrag)

 

[postmortemIA]

make your own XP 64 bit Cd with nlite
BTW XP 64-bit is crap, it is pretty much experimental 64-bit OS.

 

[Coup27]

yes.... with windows 7.
With windows XP your choices are slipstream or loading them using a floppy disk (using an integrated FDD controller, will not work with an external USB floppy)

Also you will not have TRIM, your alignment will be incorrect unless you manually align elsewhere (say, using windows 7 installer or some linux tools) and you will need to manually configure your OS for an SSD (ex: exclude SSD from defrag)

This. You said above that you don't fully understand but do you understand this post?

To do the job properly, you are going to have to find either the correct RST or IMSM driver and slipstream it into an nlite ISO to install from. Before installing you are going to have to create aligned partitions suitable for an SSD or your performance will be cack. After you've got XP running, you'll also have to use the Intel toolbox to manually TRIM the drive every so often.

 

[w00tman]

Also you will not have TRIM, your alignment will be incorrect unless you manually align elsewhere (say, using windows 7 installer or some linux tools) and you will need to manually configure your OS for an SSD (ex: exclude SSD from defrag)

I believe Intel has an app of some sort that takes care of this trim thingamajig (precisely why I returned the Mushkin Callisto I originally purchased and bought the Intel SSD).

Thanks for reminding me of the alignment thing; I'll boot up Parted Magic and see if I can get it sorted through that.

I'll have a look at what other alterations I would need to do to the OS/installer before taking the plunge again. For now, I'm just gonna try and see if I can get a slipstreamed ISO out of nLite. Although, I'm unsure if my slipstreamed ISO would work out with WinToFlash. :\

 

[Coup27]

It does, called the Intel SSD Toolbox. If you install that program you can manually TRIM the drive in XP.

Why don't you remove one potential headache and burn a disc with your ISO? exdeath will shoot me when he reads this but I have 2 CD-RW's specifically for situations of simplicity.

 

[w00tman]

make your own XP 64 bit Cd with nlite
BTW XP 64-bit is crap, it is pretty much experimental 64-bit OS.

I respectfully disagree.

I've used both Vista Home Premium, and Win 7 Ultimate;
and I can guarantee you that, on the exact same hardware, XP 64-bit is a whole lot faster than either of those.

Plus I've yet to run into any compatibility issues with any of the CAD apps I use in XP 64
(I could never really get CATIA v6 to stop crashing in the middle of doing large assemblies under Win 7...added to the fact that said crashes would ALWAYS end up corrupting each and every part files in the assembly!).

As a matter of fact, I had no idea that there existed any 64-bit versions of pre-Vista Windows until I started searching for an alternative to Win 7. A friend lent me her copy of XP 64 (I guess it was a slipstreamed version, as I had no trouble installing from that. Plus, it had SP2 in it), and I've been in love with it since.

 

[w00tman]

It does, called the Intel SSD Toolbox. If you install that program you can manually TRIM the drive in XP.

Why don't you remove one potential headache and burn a disc with your ISO? exdeath will shoot me when he reads this but I have 2 CD-RW's specifically for situations of simplicity.

The DVD-RW on my laptop has been acting funny quite recently.

Come to think of it, it probably hasn't been functional for ages (I really had little use for it, so I wouldn't know).

Worse comes to worst, I'll just have a look around and see if I can borrow a portable DVD drive or something. I can burn discs on my Mac just fine; the only problem is getting the laptop to read them.

 

[Coup27]

All this is going to become a big hassle and I really cannot understand why you have had issues with Windows 7. Windows 7 blows XP, esp comparing x64 versions out of the water.

 

[taltamir]

I respectfully disagree.

I've used both Vista Home Premium, and Win 7 Ultimate;
and I can guarantee you that, on the exact same hardware, XP 64-bit is a whole lot faster than either of those.

That is not what review sites benchmarked. They all show that Win7 > XP > Vista overall.
IIRC on specific tests Win7 always wins v Vista and XP while XP wins about 2/3rd of tests v vista while vista wins the other 1/3rd.

Plus I've yet to run into any compatibility issues with any of the CAD apps I use in XP 64
(I could never really get CATIA v6 to stop crashing in the middle of doing large assemblies under Win 7...added to the fact that said crashes would ALWAYS end up corrupting each and every part files in the assembly!).

This is very odd, does CATIA use a "driver" to emulate some of its functions?

I wouldn't say that XP64 was bad, it is actually windows server 2003 x64 renamed and slightly modified, it gave me years of good service.
My OS of choice was:
DOS with Norton Commander to Win98SE to Win2K SP4 to WinXP SP2 to WinXPx64 to WinVista x64 SP1 to Win7x64 RTM.
I have used a bunch of other MS OS but they sucked, when SP is cited that means that the OS in question was a turd before that SP and I used the prior one. For example WinXP was a turd until SP2 and I used win2K instead.

Anyways, back on track. XPx64 is not a bad OS, its just a very dated OS missing modern drivers (no built in gigE, TRIM, USB3 (maybe 2?), modern WiFi chips, and so on).
Its backend is dated too (missing a lot of the improvements that MS made, like the ability to reboot a GPU in case of it crashing without windows crashing.
It was MS' first attempt at a 64bit OS though and you are missing out on a lot of good stuff.

That all being said, if Win7 has an odd compatibility issue with CAD which is probably used by you for work then I guess its unacceptable. It probably would cost too much to upgrade your CAD programs to a compatible version

 

[hal2kilo]

make your own XP 64 bit Cd with nlite
BTW XP 64-bit is crap, it is pretty much experimental 64-bit OS.

I didn't even realize there was a 64 bit version of XP. Vista, yea, but you might as well skip that half baked OS and go straight to WIN 7 64 bit.

 

[Topweasel]

After you've got XP running, you'll also have to use the Intel toolbox to manually TRIM the drive every so often.

This is false. You don't need trim, you just need a good Garbage Collector and a decent amount of idle time available for GC to do its thing. TRIM is fantastic because it equals out all the drives since windows is doing most of the work, but it is not necessary on every computer or setup as long as the drive isn't doing non stop writes, and that would be a poor use for an SSD anyways.

Sorry Also sorry OP for the resistance in helping you. They are right and can be more tactful, there are very few instances where a more svelte WinXP setup is better then a Win 7 one. Whether it be support for new drivers, DX (you are stuck on 9), driver crashes not killing the OS unless it has to. Win 7 has better support for newer hardware and older-hardware. Even Microsoft treated it poorly. I could never get Zune software working on it. I have use Win XP 64, Vista 64, and 7 64. I loved XP 64, but seriously Win 7 is better and actually faster in every way. It might take up more hard drive space but it is better on system resources, even memory then XP. Plus it has native support (at least in SP1) for all the new hardware features.

But if you still want to work within Windows XP 64, then we should still be able to help you. First idea would be to see if you can get a cheap USB floppy drive. That would be about $10-$15. Otherwise you said you were installing Windows XP off of a USB stick. The same way you created that USB stick you should be able to slipstream drivers (and service packs) into it.

 

[tweakboy]

He just needs to put the SATA or mobo drivers in the floppy or usb stick then into the process you will get to choose .. gl

 

[taltamir]

He just needs to put the drivers in the foppy or usb stick then into the process you will get to choose .. gl

XP only supports floppy and only native FDD one not a USB external floppy.
IIRC vista was the first MS OS to allow USB stick for loading drivers prior to install.

 

[w00tman]

One last thing before I create a slipstreamed ISO:

are these the drivers I should be using (Intel HM55 Express):
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...s+Chipset&ProdId=3172&LineId=1088&FamilyId=40

I downloaded the .zip file of the latest version, then in nLite I went with the "multiple driver" option and added the entire "All" folder from the .zip file.

 

[Topweasel]

Yeah those should work for slip streaming.

 

[Coup27]

Those are the chipset drivers, not the storage drivers.

Surely he would want the F6 version of either Rapid Storage Technology or Intel Matrix Storage Manager?

Edit: Isn't this what he wants?

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...duct=Intel®+Rapid+Storage+Technology&lang=eng