Clean Install of XP---need SATA drivers?

Just got an S10 netbook.

I may put in a larger HDD, and do a clean install of XP on it. (I have the XP Pro installation disk.)

I recall reading something about a problem doing a clean XP installation on a computer with a SATA hard drive, that the xp installation CD does not recognize SATA hard drives.

Is that true? If so, how does one work around it?

Something else just occurred to me. The S10 has no built-in optical drive. I have a USB CD-DVD-ROM drive. (Not one from Lenovo, specifcally for this computer, but a 3rd party drive.) Can the system boot from a USB optical drive, for the purpose of OS installation?

 

Go into the BIOS and change the SATA Controller working mode from AHCI to Compatible mode. Install XP and after you have installed the Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver go to the BIOS and set the SATA Controller working mode back to AHCI.

As for the USB optical drive, yes it will work. Just make sure that the boot order is correct either via the BIOS or through F12.

 

Thanks for the info, Jabbajabba!

Where does one get that Intel storage manager? From Intel web site? Or Lenovo?

Also, after doing the clean install of XP, then installing that Intel storage manager, one has to install the drivers from the Lenovo web site. (Or, have people found that the drivers for sound, LAN, etc., are found well enough by XP setup, Windows update, etc., without a need for those on the Lenovo site?)

Is there a particular order best for installing the drivers? Or--no difference?

Of course for Lenovo specific apps one would have to download from Lenovo site. I'm not sure if all those are really necessary though, or whether some might unnecessarily slow down the system, using up memory, without any real value. What are reader's opinions on the various Lenovo background services and applets with the S10? Necessary, useful, or? If you were doing a clean install, would you install all, some, or none of the Lenovo background stuff? If some, which? Why?

 

I recommend you to download all the drivers from Lenovo's site. That includes the Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver.

Also please note that there are not that many Lenovo apps for your Laptop to worry about, as it is an Ideapad Netbook. Usually the more resource heavy apps from Lenovo are the ThinkVantage apps for the ThinkPads.

Other than that I recommend you to read up on the many clean install threads on NBR.

 

Thanks again for the info, jabba.

I'll look up those threads.

I do see that the S10 does have some extra Lenovo software, that I am not sure is useful, that seems to duplicate Windows functions, and I am not sure I would install in a clean install. I would be interested in hearing other's opinions.

For instance, it has its own app for setting power options. I don't see that really having different functionality than the one in the Windows Control Panel.

Which of the Lenovo apps/drivers are really necessary to install, after a clean install? Of those that are not necessary, which have people found useful, and why?

Thanks for the input.

 

Thanks for the recommendation.

I looked up some on this forum, and none that I found were about the S10, and mostly about Vista rather than XP.

Anyhow, my main questions now aren't really about HOW to do it. I think I pretty much know how. (You helped a lot with the SATA thing.)

My main questions are--after the format and install of XP SP3, Windows Update to all the newest XP updates, and the SATA drivers, which of the drivers and apps from the Lenovo site are really necessary to install? (Even as far as drivers, I would imagine that Windows Update would find suitable ones for most hardware.)

And--besides the drivers and apps that are necessary to install, which have people found useful or advantageous to install--and why?

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Also, not so important, but I will be getting the s10e with splashtop. I don't know if I will ever use it, but in case I wanted to install that after a clean install, is that possible? Should it be installed before XP, or after?

(I may also do a dual-boot with Win 7, just to experiment with it, but I think my main OS will be XP.)

 

When you say "splashtop", are you referring to the Lenovo QuickStart feature?
If yes, the installation package is available for download in the drivers page. Install QuickStart after installing XP.

 

Yes, Splashtop is the actual name of the OS, that Lenovo calls Quickstart.

I don't know if I would ever use it. For one thing, I usually put my laptops in standby, and do not power them down every time.

Just wanted to know if it would be available, if I do a clean install, and wanted to see if I had any use for that feature. Thanks for the reply.

Has anyone here found Quickstart useful? In what way?

(It would be nice if it had some recovery tools in it, to fix XP, for instance if something went wrong with XP, and one couldn't boot, if one could boot into Quickstart and have some tools there, with which one could perhaps fix the XP installation. (I know there is the recovery partition, but from what I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong), all that can do is to restore the computer to its original state, wiping out all one's data, programs, etc. Not good.) It would be nice if there would be some repair tools in QuickStart. Are there?

 

For XP, I would definitely F6 the latest Intel Matrix Stroage driver. In fact, IIRC if you use an install disc with a version of XP older than SP2, I'm pretty sure it would BSOD on install.

The unfortunate ramification is you need a floppy drive and disk to do this. Hopefully you have access to one.

If the BIOS can see the USB DVD/CD drive and will let you boot to it, you should be able to use it to install XP. That's what I did when I put XP Pro on my ASUS EEE and subsequently W7.

 

In looking at the page with the driver downloads, etc.,, for my model, I don;t see any Intel Matrix Storage Manager download.


http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/s...yind=0&operatingsystemind=53385&validate=true


There is the Intel Chipset driver. Would that install the XP SATA driver?

 

Also, the S10e, unlike most netbooks, lacks a hardware switch to turn wi-fi radio on and off. One has to use a Fn key-F5 combination to bring up a wireless manager, to turn BT and Wi-Fi on and off.

I don't think that hotkey is part of Windows, but part of the Lenovo setup. Is the only way to regain that after a clean install, to install the Lenovo energy management software, which otherwise looks useless to me? (If anyone found something worthwhile about it, please let me know,)

 

Yes, in your case all you need to install is the Intel Chipset Device software which will amongst other things enable SATA support.

 

This is not correct. There is a button to turn on/off Wi-Fi above the F10 key. This switch can be used as soon as the computer has been powered on.

Generally, I would recommend you to explore your S10e some more and then ask afterward. If you are ready to do a clean install yourself, you should also be ready to explore your system in a way, where most of your questions (i.e. USB boot and Quick Start functionality) would already have been answered by yourself.

Worst case, just do a factory restore (assuming you did not delete the hidden partition).