Installing XP on a new Vista PC - 2 HDDs, 2 OSs???

[AlexVRod]

Hi, I'm writing from Italy, since the Italian Tech newsgroup is not working
now... :-(
I just bought a Acer Aspire ASM5620Q, a very fast desktop with Vista that
comes with 2 SATA 500 GB Hard Drives.

So I thought to install XP Pro in the 2nd HD, and keep Vista in the 1st, and
use the BIOS option to select which drive has to boot the machine.
the problem is that XP installation CD does not contain the drivers for the
SATA controller! :-( so I searched in lots of forum, I found that using
nLite, is possible to make a copy of the XP CD that "incorporates" the SATA
drivers. I've done it, but it says that it cannot find the SATA drivers! :-[
does anyone had the same problem and has resolved it?

in case I manage to start the installation, is there any way I can install
on the XP image copy of my old (non-SATA) PC?
Thank you.

 

[Anteaus]

Try enabling 'legacy mode' in the BIOS SATA settings.

So I thought to install XP Pro in the 2nd HD, and keep Vista in the 1st, and
use the BIOS option to select which drive has to boot the machine.
the problem is that XP installation CD does not contain the drivers for the
SATA controller! :-( so I searched in lots of forum, I found that using
nLite, is possible to make a copy of the XP CD that "incorporates" the SATA
drivers. I've done it, but it says that it cannot find the SATA drivers! :-[
does anyone had the same problem and has resolved it?

..

 

[Timothy Daniels]

I just bought a Acer Aspire ASM5620Q, a very fast desktop
with Vista that comes with 2 SATA 500 GB Hard Drives.

So I thought to install XP Pro in the 2nd HD, and keep Vista
in the 1st, and use the BIOS option to select which drive has
to boot the machine. The problem is that XP installation CD
does not contain the drivers for the SATA controller! :-(
So I searched in lots of forum, I found that using nLite, it is
possible to make a copy of the XP CD that "incorporates"
the SATA drivers. I've done it, but it says that it cannot find
the SATA drivers! :-[
does anyone had the same problem and has resolved it?

This web page may help:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/How-To--Slipstream-your-XP-installation?page=0,1

Otherwise, search Google with the words: slipstream SATA drivers
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=slipstream+SATA+drivers&btnG=Google+Search

In case I manage to start the installation, is there any way I can
install on the XP image copy of my old (non-SATA) PC?
Thank you.

If your BIOS can enable both SATA and PATA controllers,
you could clone the old XP partition to the new SATA HD
and then do a "Repair Installation" using the Recovery Console
on the XP CD and then reactivate the XP OS. See:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=repair+installation&btnG=Search

Be sure to disconnect the "parent" HD before you start up the
clone OS for the 1st time to keep the clone from confusing itself
with its "parent" OS.

This will give you Vista on one HD and XP on the other.
You can dual-boot between the two by going into the BIOS
and adjusting which SATA HD is the boot drive, i.e. adjusting
what is known in some BIOSes as the "Hard Drive Boot Order"
(NOT the "Device Boot Order") by putting the desired HD at
the top of the list. Otherwise, you can Google for 3rd-party
boot managers that can boot Vista and some other OS after
Vista has already been installed. (The Vista boot manager can
boot earlier Windows OSes, but Vista has to be installed last.)

*TimDaniels*

 

[AlexVRod]

This web page may help:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/How-To--Slipstream-your-XP-installation?page=0,1

Otherwise, search Google with the words: slipstream SATA drivers
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=slipstream+SATA+drivers&btnG=Google+Search

Yes, it was what I already did before... I found that doing the same process
with a XP Pro SP1 CD doesn't work, doing it on a XP Pro SP2 works... :-|

If your BIOS can enable both SATA and PATA controllers,
you could clone the old XP partition to the new SATA HD
and then do a "Repair Installation" using the Recovery Console
on the XP CD and then reactivate the XP OS. See:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=repair+installation&btnG=Search

Be sure to disconnect the "parent" HD before you start up the
clone OS for the 1st time to keep the clone from confusing itself
with its "parent" OS.

This will give you Vista on one HD and XP on the other.
You can dual-boot between the two by going into the BIOS
and adjusting which SATA HD is the boot drive, i.e. adjusting
what is known in some BIOSes as the "Hard Drive Boot Order"
(NOT the "Device Boot Order") by putting the desired HD at
the top of the list. Otherwise, you can Google for 3rd-party
boot managers that can boot Vista and some other OS after
Vista has already been installed. (The Vista boot manager can
boot earlier Windows OSes, but Vista has to be installed last.)

*TimDaniels*

Yes, I tried but it freezes, blue screens and reboots after the last
installation reboot process. the windows xp logo appears for a second and
then freezes. also with "safe mode". so I decided to make a brand new
installation and then re-install all the programs and copy all the old
datas...

thank you anyway! ;-)