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Trouble with XP on a SSD

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by kentontator 4 views

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I am trying to install windows XP 64 bit onto a OCZ Solid State Drive. When I boot up from the cd it says that the Setup did not find any hard disk drive.

Now I have tried to install under both ACHI and ATA modes from the bios. ACHI just blue screens and ATA doesn't find the HDD.

I believe I need to add in my own driver for the SSD when windows is booting up(pressing f6) however I do not know what driver I need.

the PC is a Dell Precision T7400, I see lots of drivers on their site but am unsure which to use.

any help would be appreciated

29 replies

by pcs365_1

Hi kentontator,

I understand you are encountering problems installing Windows XP on a SSD.

A usual way to install XP on any ssd is to first set the bios to compatibility (or ide) mode, install xp, install sata drivers, then set the bios to ahci (or sata) mode.

Otherwise, xp can exhibit the problems you describe.

Do post the results (if working or not)

Regards,
PCS365_1

by kentontator

Thanks for the reply, but as indicated in my original post I have tried both ACHI and ATA modes neither find the SSD

by cg it

it's possible the SATA controller doesn't recognize a drive connected to it if it doesn't show up in the BIOS.

I'd check the mainboard mfg and see if there's a BIOS update for SATA II drive support.

by kentontator

Ill check that out! it is sata II never crossed my mind...

by mafergus

You will need to go here to check for drivers depending on model you have.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/ssd_tools/

also with XP on dells I a;ways have to add the intel matrix storage management or raid driver at F6 to get XP to see the SATA drive.

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WXPX&catid=-1&dateid=-1&impid=-1&osl=EN&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=PREC_T7400&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=&scanSupported=True&scanConsent=False

by kentontator

it does show up in the bios I can see the HDD there, just not when I try to load windows. :(

by cg it

and Vista 64 installs. His resolution was to unplug all the other drives. another said something about alignment and there's some info on the OCZ board about it...

I would think XP would follow along these lines as well.

http://forums.techarena.in/vista-setup-install/1095453.htm

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/381211-m4400-ssd-windows-xp-64-bit-installation-procedure.html#post5150758

they all basically say install is no different than a regular HDD. Might be a bad drive.

by kentontator

I can get windows 7 installed perfectly, I read a bunch of threads from them earlier and basically found nothing to help...still gonna try what the guy below stated.

by oh smeg

But you need the SATA Driver copied to the Root of a Floppy which you probably do not have so making a Slipstreamed Install XP Disc is probably the way to go here.

Use nLite available free here to make this but don't forget the read the Guides on the Web Site so you know how to use it.

http://www.nliteos.com/download.html

Then include the SAS, SAS Raid and SATA drivers in the Slipstreamed Image. The reason for this is that XP doesn't have Native SATA Support as SATA Drives became available well after XP was made. ;)

Col

by kentontator

I actually have a USB floppy so no need to slip stream, going to try that today :)

by kentontator

so the driver I am trying from dells website, when I load from the floppy it says "iaStor.sys could not be loaded error code is 22"

hmmm :(

by mafergus

and they were labelled "pre-os install" Maybe try the other one and see if it plays nice. The other thing you could do is look at the Win7 install and see what drivers it is using. That may give you a direction with the XP driver.

by kentontator

I am trying that now, I tried two other ones I found from different places neither worked.

also I updated the bios which had no effect. If this doesn't work I will see what Win7 is using. thanks!

by kentontator

I just tried it again and got the same error could it be a bad causing it to not read?

by cg it

help us all out on troubleshooting problems with SSDs

by cg it

but it might be worth looking at again.

The document mentions chipset drivers and while I'm not sure this applies because the document is for Vista, it is pointing out that the generic chipset drivers don't enable the SATA controllers.

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/staff/ryderocz/ssd/ssd_config.pdf

the article also mentions AHCI being enabled creates problems.

Dunno what else to suggest except contact OCZ help desk.

by oh smeg

Don't like dust and other crud in them. Try cleaning the Floppy Drive before going any further.

In the past that has cured quite a few floppy drives for me. Though it's still cheaper to bung in a new, but one when you don't have one present cleaning works 50% of the time.

Col

by cg it

I format mine before use because if it won't format, can't read or write. In the trash it goes.

by kentontator

got past the floppy error, however still does not recognize the HDD

by ron k.

I looked pretty thoroughly too. Maybe I missed something.

by kentontator

still no luck, do you think that the drive has problems with 64 bit?

I can now load drivers during the windows install but once loaded no hard drive shows up

by ron k.

I didn't see anything at the website about 64 bit. Did you?

by kentontator

and I have no idea how.....I unplugged all of the sata cables, and anything that was not being used. Then I just built it up from there plugging in only what I needed and then, BOOM hard drive recognized....very odd. Didn't need to force a driver to it or anything.

thanks for every ones help on my four day process of installing XP on an SSD!

by ron k.

I'm glad you fixed it, all on your own, too.

by cg it

an did you have a floppy drive?

were there any drives that you left off before you were able to install?

by kentontator

I unplugged everything, I had some sata cables that were leading to nothing, and kept on the cables leading to a dvd rom and the ssd.

by mafergus

I do remember that sometimes removing the cables can force BIOS to reallocate resources. Kind of like shorting the reset pins to force the reset. But this goes back to the days of DOS and windows 3.X

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