The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Installing XP Pro Over Vista: No Hard Drive Found! HELP, PLEASE

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Sony1L, Oct 6, 2008.

  1. Sony1L

    Sony1L Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have a new VAIO laptop with Vista Home. I want it gone. I downloaded all of the XP drivers from Sony, purchased a copy of XP Pro, and then worked up the motivation yesterday to reformat the notebook's OS, without the convenience of MS DOS.

    I followed the procedure in this thread: www.techspot.com/vb/topic79717.html

    When I got to the point where I would need to format a partition, Setup told me something to the effect of, Setup cannot locate a hard drive on this computer. What am I doing wrong? Please help!

    Sincerely,

    Closed-minded Vista Hater
     
    Sony1L, Oct 6, 2008
    #1
  2. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,133
    Messages:
    6,399
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    206
    Your notebook probably has a SATA HDD. So to install XP, you need to install a 3rd party AHCI driver.

    You can either F6-install the driver during the XP install using a USB FDD, or slipstream the AHCI driver using nLite, and make a new XP CD with the AHCI driver slipstreamed.

    Or, you can check in the BIOS if there is an option, to switch the HDD to IDE Mode.
     
    Andy, Oct 6, 2008
    #2