Greetings!

I need help to reinstall WinXP Pro, SP2 on my laptop.

Equipment is as follows:
Compaq Presario A938CA
320 GB Drive
3 GB System Memory
DVDRW Drive

What I need is this: Help making a USB-Drive boot disk with SATA drivers, so I can actually access my install media. Once I have that, I'm experienced enough to do the rest for myself.

So, that's what I need.

Thanks in Advance!

Hi TLoATDaE!

Usually, you can get around the need for SATA drivers on a SATA hard drive, simply by going into your computers BIOS settings and setting your SATA port into IDE, or Legacy mode. The difference is negligible and it will allow Windows to access it in a way that does not require special drivers. After that, put in your Windows boot disc and begin the installation process.

If you are needing drivers because you have a SATA hard drive and do not want to change its "mode," you will need to download the SATA drivers from the manufacturer's website and place them on a floppy disc. You will need a floppy drive in your computer. At this point, boot the Windows CD, and shortly after it begins loading you will be prompted to press F6 to load additional drivers. Press F6. In a few moments you will be given the option to load additional drivers. You can only load these drivers from a floppy disc.

As for integrating the SATA drivers directly into the CD, this seems a bit like overkill. I have never done this. But, here's a good article to get you started: http://www.digitgeek.com/how-to-slipstream...ers-into-xp-cd/.

Actually, my laptop doesn't have the IDE option. It came with Vista installed, and I had a blank HD installed, and, with a USB floppy drive borrowed from a friend, installed XPpro.
Unfortunately, I no longer have access to that piece of hardware, and don't wish to buy one, just for one such installation.

What I need is a Bootable USB drive (aka "Thumb Drive"), with the SATA drivers that load, so I can access both the Hard Drive, so I can format it, and the Install Disk, from which I install Windows.
When the system boots, it will ask if I want to boot from the CD or not. If I chose that option, it does not even SEE the HD, therefore I cannot reinstall Windows XP on it.

If I had access to a floppy, I wouldn't need a USB-based boot disk. Since I don't have either, I am rather stuck until I can get SOMETHING to allow me access to both my HD and the install media, preferably at the same time

So, any advice as to how to make a bootable USB drive, and add SATA Drivers that Load, with the needed tools to access and run the install files for Windows?

Thanks!

It would be easier to slipstream the SATA drivers into the XP CD using the link appleoddity provided.

As for a bootable flash drive, see here, several possibilities: add sata driver to bootable usb flash drive

http://forums.whatthetech.com/Trojan_horse...al_t104341.html

Just popping that reference URL in so that the tech team guys know that we're dealing with Virut here.

The main thing you need to be aware of is that you need to be doing the creation of your boot media from a non infected computer. If you slipstream the drivers onto the XP CD from your Virut infected computer... your new installation isn't going to last long. It's a pain of a virus.

In order of preference, your options are....

1. Load the drivers from a USB floppy drive. Obviously you don't have one, but one of your technology-inclined friends might, or the local computer store might be willing to lend/rent one to you.
2. Load the drivers from a FAT16 USB drive. No guarantees this one will work, but it's the most likely of the USB drive methods to work. If the drive is FAT16, and the BIOS is set to support Legacy USB drives... it might work.
3. Slipstream the drivers into the XP CD with nLite, as previously mentioned.
4. Install Vista.

Thanks Raktor. Reading through the malware thread and the link you posted to miekiemoes' blog is very unnerving. Virut is very nasty.

From what I've read, one of it's primary methods of spreading is via crack or warez sites. I suspect P2P and torrent are also heavily involved in it's spreading.

Quickie Status Update:

I have a USB Flash Drive that will boot up BartPE interface. Fortunately, I have another system to make that flash-drive on, so I know it's clean.

Now if I can just get it to initialize my SATA Drive... Any suggestions as to accomplishing that little feat? If I can do THAT, I can finally get XP back into my laptop.

*LéSigh*

Using nLite to slipstream your Windows XP disc with the SATA drivers is about as straight forward as it can get. I'm sure the computer you are working on has every capability of doing that.

I'm not even sure if what you are trying to do can be done, and there isn't much information about it. At the very least it is drastic overkill when it is simple to slipstream the drivers into the windows XP cd using the automated tool NLite.

So, I'd pretty much say you are on your own if you pursue this USB flash drive/SATA driver installation thing. I doubt any of us here have done it. When you figure it out, you can come back here and educate us on how it is done.

Actually, all I did was make a bootable UFD (USB Flash Drive) using the instructions found here:
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-...11-6160062.html
And applied them to a White and Bright Green, 2GB Kingston DataTraveller. This worked well, but lacked the SATA drivers I needed in order to access the HD so I could install WinXP.

What I did next was follow the directions here:
http://www.digitgeek.com/how-to-slipstream...ers-into-xp-cd/
This made a SATA-Driver enabled, Bootable CD with all the install files. Unfortunately, it didn't actually Start the install, but it made it possible to do so.
What I did next was to copy the contents over from said CD to the bootable UFD, and Voila! A semi-functional, Bootable UFD with SATA Drivers!

*Bows*

Shame I didn't find this link First:
http://wiki.wegotserved.com/index.php?titl...ws_Install_Disk
That would have made it Much easier, and saved a lot of headaches...

But, where's the fun in That?

Any way, I have a new problem, and shall start a new thread for it, after I have a peek through the archives to see if there's anything comparable.

Thanks for all the Help! It's been very useful! Hopefully, the links above can be helpful to others.

TTFN
~TLoATDaE

Someone with a bit more net-savvy than I, could cobble those different references together for a more coherent whole that would be well and truly useful

Congratulations on sticking with it and figuring it out. I'm glad you didn't take offense at our lack of ability to help you and instead came back and shared a solution you found to work.

It will be very helpful to other users in the future, I'm sure.

Thanks for your valuable input.

Isn't that what we're all here for?

To Help others? Even if it's through our Own mistakes?

I thank you folks as a Whole for your help, even with the silly stuff! Gotta start with Raktor, though. You pounced on my first post Very Quickly, and that helped buoy my sinking confidence in solving that particular problem. At least I felt like I had some Hope! In time, I am confident there will be a Cure for that Ugly Bug. For now, all we can do is wait it out on This end of the Tech Support Cue.

If I feel ambitious, I may cobble together a slightly more coherent step-by-step making of a Bootable UFD for servicing XP-based machines, using the links sited above. Of course, I have to get ambitious first.

~TTFN