Cannot install Vista on IDE drive

[Guest]

I am currently running XP and would like to install Vista Beta 2 as a second
OS. XP is running on an SATA RAID 1 setup. I am trying to install Vista on
my additional 28GB IDE drive.

Here is my problem. When doing a bootable install and selecting the 28GB
drive, I get the message, "Windows is unable to find a system volume that
meets its criteria for installation." I have tried formatting through the
bootable install, followed by creating a new partition, and still get the
same message.

I tried another method - installing from XP. This time, I am able to select
the desired drive and continue. However, now I get another error:

************************************
Install Windows
------------------
At least one device driver that might be required to start your system is
not available.
Devices with missing drivers:

NVIDIA nForce(tm) RAID Class Controller
ST3160812AS
NVIDIA MCP51 Serial ATA Controller

Do you want to ignore this warning and continue with the installation?
(YES/NO)

********************************

When I select 'yes', the installation proceeds normally and successfully
copies files to the drive followed by a reboot. However, during the Vista
Setup reboot I get the blue screen of death. Upon rebooting in Safe Mode, I
see the lockup is after the system tries to load the drive.sys driver.

When I select 'no', the installation gives another message saying to boot
from the installation media, run setup, and load necessary boot-critical
drivers. I have also tried loading these drivers from my motherboard CD, but
without any success (ASUS A8N-VM). The CD contains drivers for both 32 and
64-bit versions of XP, among other OS drivers.

Any ideas to get through a successful installation?

Thanks,
-Brad

 

[Steve Urbach]

I am currently running XP and would like to install Vista Beta 2 as a second
OS. XP is running on an SATA RAID 1 setup. I am trying to install Vista on
my additional 28GB IDE drive.

Work for me.
XP is installed on a Silicon Image RAID IDE ( I broke the RAID set and
disconnected to be able to revert to XP pro painlessly)
Vista is installed on a normal UDMA IDE
I set the boot priority in BIOS. (Note: My BIOS seems to ignore Boot
priority *IF* a bootable CD is in the drive, EVEN though it is not
booting from that CD)

Here is my problem. When doing a bootable install and selecting the 28GB
drive, I get the message, "Windows is unable to find a system volume that
meets its criteria for installation." I have tried formatting through the
bootable install, followed by creating a new partition, and still get the
same message.

Did you (F6) load your SATA driver as part of the (pre-)install?

 

[Guest]

I found the solution on my own and came up with one similar to yours. It was
all about the boot priority in my BIOS. My RAID setup was my 1st hard drive
and my IDE was my 2nd. Changing them around fixed the install issue. To
revert back to XP, I had to change it back again. It's not as clean as using
a boot manager, but the only fix I have found for now.

Thanks,
-Brad