Vista to XP downgrade: SATA question

[vid83]

For other drivers (sound, LAN, etc.) can I download it to an external hard drive rather than a CD?

[vcdlover]

This is the first time I ever heard of that there's an issue with XP not seeing SATA hard drive. My Toshiba laptop came with SATA and XP three years ago. I upgraded it to Vista, but it was slow so I put XP Pro back on it without any issue. I recently built my desktop system with two SATA hard drives and XP Pro SP2 disc and updated to SP3 without any issue. I've built five units last few months using XP Pro and SATA hard drives and never had any error. This is weird. Am I just lucky?

vcdlover

[redwudz]

vid83, you can put them on most any media that your computer can read natively (Without added drivers. ) Usually a CD is a better choice, or a USB thumb drive. But a external USB hard drive should also work.

vcdlover, all my newer motherboards will boot from a SATA hard drive without having to pre-install SATA drivers. It seems they corrected this problem for the most part a couple of years ago when SATA became more prevalent. I did have a couple of older MBs that needed the drivers installed first (Usually via floppy) before they would look to the SATA drives for boot. I still disable all extra HDDs, especially PATA ones, when I do an OS install. I do this after once installing the OS on the wrong drive. Windows doesn't always do a good job of identifying the correct install/boot drive.

[vid83]

vid83, you can put them on most any media that your computer can read natively (Without added drivers. ) Usually a CD is a better choice, or a USB thumb drive. But a external USB hard drive should also work.

I forgot to clarify my post. I may install the drivers (LAN, sound, etc.) AFTER I install XP. So I guess hard disk should work.
I am assuming you thought I was going to install during the XP install process.

[redwudz]

Sorry, my mistake. I didn't read back that far through this rather long thread. For drivers, I usually DL them from the MB manufacturer and rarely use the MB disc. When I do that, I use a USB thumb drive most times. But a external USB HDD should work also. Most times the drivers are less than 100MB. It always helps to have more that one computer available so you can DL drivers as needed.

[RLT69]

I disagree with you about Windows 7. They removed features in order to streamline, so it is not bloated, and it is improved over Vista. The kernel version is also different.

1. Windows 7 DOES NOT have a new kernel. Windows 7 uses the same kernel as Vista.

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2008/05/ms-no-new-kernel-for-windows-7-same-requ...s-as-vista.ars

You didn't say "new" kernel but the implication was Windows 7 was using a different kernel when in fact it does not.

2. What features were removed? Other than eliminating the nagging security prompts what "features" did Windows 7 remove from Vista? Vista had all the new features removed before it was released. Windows 7 did not add them back in nor did it add additional features, beyond touch screen. Windows 7 is a minor enhancement of Vista, call it "Vista improved." Microsoft said as much. Microsoft was going for stability when they launched Windows 7.

3. Improvement over Vista? This remains to be seen. If you consider stability an improvement then yes Windows 7 will be an improvement. Beyond that your mileage will vary. Initial posts from Beta testers say it's not a major improvement over Vista.

If Vista works for you, no reason to upgrade to Windows 7. if Vista doesn't work for you, try Windows 7. If your happy with XP, stick.

Wait until Windows 8 comes out. Then you may have a truly new operating system. 8)

[Dv8ted2]

I disagree with you about Windows 7. They removed features in order to streamline, so it is not bloated, and it is improved over Vista. The kernel version is also different.

1. Windows 7 DOES NOT have a new kernel. Windows 7 uses the same kernel as Vista.

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2008/05/ms-no-new-kernel-for-windows-7-same-requ...s-as-vista.ars

You didn't say "new" kernel but the implication was Windows 7 was using a different kernel when in fact it does not.

2. What features were removed? Other than eliminating the nagging security prompts what "features" did Windows 7 remove from Vista? Vista had all the new features removed before it was released. Windows 7 did not add them back in nor did it add additional features, beyond touch screen. Windows 7 is a minor enhancement of Vista, call it "Vista improved." Microsoft said as much. Microsoft was going for stability when they launched Windows 7.

3. Improvement over Vista? This remains to be seen. If you consider stability an improvement then yes Windows 7 will be an improvement. Beyond that your mileage will vary. Initial posts from Beta testers say it's not a major improvement over Vista.

If Vista works for you, no reason to upgrade to Windows 7. if Vista doesn't work for you, try Windows 7. If your happy with XP, stick.

Wait until Windows 8 comes out. Then you may have a truly new operating system. 8)

The version number is different. If you did any research, you would have found that out. Vista is version 6.0. Windows 7 is version 6.1. It is similar to Windows 2k being 5.0 and XP being 5.1.

Final release of Windows 7 to have kernel version 6.1

Windows 7 will be shipping with version number 6.1, despite the fact that the name implies it will be 7.0. Microsoft's reasoning is that this will help with application compatibility.

ars technica

There are various things that have been removed, such as windows mail, the classic start menu. You can select the classic theme, but the start menu is still different. Google the features removed and you will get your answer.

The following is a list of features that were present in Windows Vista but have been removed in Windows 7.

* Several Start menu and taskbar features[39] including:
o Classic Start menu user interface
o Floating Deskbands (was deprecated in Windows Vista, now deskband can be only pinned to taskbar)
o Windows Media Player Mini-player (replaced with the new Jump list feature)
o Pinning default Internet Browser and E-mail client software programs on Start menu by default (programs can be manually pinned)
* Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Mail and Windows Calendar (in favor of downloading or using online the free respective Windows Live counterparts, which lack some features)
* Software Explorer feature of Windows Defender[40]
* Removable Storage Manager (RSM)[41] (applications dependent on it, such as NTBackup or the NTBackup Restore Tool, cannot run)
* Windows Meeting Space
* InkBall, a game
* The numeric keypad from On-Screen Keyboard[42]
* Microsoft Agent 2.0 Technology
* Windows Sidebar (Gadgets remain, sitting freely on the Desktop)
* Windows Ultimate Extras

You still want to say that there is no difference? You need to look more closely.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Interesting about the 6.1 nonsense.

According to:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-7-Needs-to-Be-Windows-6-1-95973.shtml

The head of the Windows 7 project explained that Windows 7 needed to be Windows 6.1 because of all the software solutions, with an emphasis on setup programs, were tailored to a specific Windows version. In this context, an application or a driver that is hard coded for Windows Vista will fail miserably to install or run under Windows 7, if the operating system features version 7 for its code. Not the same is valid for Windows 6.1. Essentially, all software packages that support Windows Vista will automatically support Windows 7 (Windows 6.1).

In other words, it's to accommodate those software vendors who don't know how to follow the rules that Microsoft have had in place for more than a decade. It's inexcusable to check for a specific OS major version instead of checking for a minimum.

[vid83]

Is this the correct way to get the SATA driver?:

From the HP site, they give the motherboard model for my specific computer.
I see that the chipset is Intel G33.
I go to Intel's site and looked up downloads for Intel G33.
There is a list of drivers. I found Intel(R) Matrix Storage Manager on this page:http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_results.aspx?strTypes=all&ProductID=2842&OSFull...bmit=Go%21#DRV

This is the page for the MAtrix Storage Manager: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProductID=2842&DwnldID=17268&st...ition&lang=eng

Is this the correct download?

[JohnnyMalaria]

Once you have the driver, how are you going to get the XP installation process to use it? Usually you have to either put it on a floppy (which requires one of them thar floppy do-das), a USB stick (if the installer will be able to see it) or slipstream it into a copy of the XP installation disk. The latter requires editing a bunch of text files as well as putting the driver files themselves on the disk. And it has to be created as a bootable CD.

[vid83]

it) or slipstream it into a copy of the XP installation disk. The latter requires editing a bunch of text files as well as putting the driver files themselves on the disk. And it has to be created as a bootable CD.

All the instructions I've read about slipstreaming mentions nothing about editing text files.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Are you refering to slipstreaming device drivers or applications? Device drivers usually require some editing of other files. e.g., the links below refer to slipstreaming a particular SATA driver into the XP SP2 installation image. The information to be added/edited is very driver specific and may be tricky to find.

http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/view/web/36/

http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=559

(the links in the latter one are dead).

[vid83]

Are you refering to slipstreaming device drivers or applications? Device drivers usually require some editing of other files. e.g., the links below refer to slipstreaming a particular SATA driver into the XP SP2 installation image. The information to be added/edited is very driver specific and may be tricky to find.
(the links in the latter one are dead).

Here is the site I've read: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/resolving-setup-did-not-find-any-hard-disk-driv...-installation/

This is another site with a very similar instruction.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I think nLite does some of the grunt work as far as updating the catalog files etc goes.

You might as well try it - the worst that can happen is you end up with a CD that won't get past the "no suitable hard drive found". Even better would be if the BIOS switch works.

[Soopafresh]

nlite is great