Good evening everyone,

Ive run into an interesting problem on my PC, which I believe is related to a new SATA card ive had to install.

I have an N750I SLI motherboard, and unfortunately I accidently snapped off a SATA connector, which resulted in the necesity to install a PCI SATA card so I could be able to run 3 HDD's, and 2 opticals.

Now, when I boot into window's Vista, everything is fine. All drives are visible and accessible, as are both opticals.

The problem is when I try to install windows XP64. Im wanting to dual boot and install the XP on one of my HDD's. When I boot from the disk, I get the black screen that intially says its examining my hardware configuration, and then the initial blue loading screen which simply says (i think) windows setup or the like in the top left hand side of the screen. After that the system simply sits, with no HDD light activity or anything at all. I also attempted to install regular windows xp 32 bit, but had the exact same problem.

I tried removing the PCI sata card, and plugging in the HDD that I want to install XP64 on, however it still simply hangs and doesnt even get to a point where it prompts me whether or not i want to install.

I also tried updating my BIOS, but that had no effect on the issue.

Im at a loss here, anybody have any ideas??

the gunslinger

anyone??

NeedKarma

I'll try the obvious - do you have a 64-bit-capable processor?

32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions - Windows Vista Help

the gunslinger

Yes, an intel core 2 quad 9550. Im presently running vista ultimate 64 on there.

NeedKarma

Well I'm at a loss. Would the XP64 install routine have a boot manager to install if it sees another OS?

the gunslinger

I think so, ive dual booted both xp32 and vista 64 on previous system's before with no problem whatsoever. I just cant for the life of me figure out whats different here, except maybe the SATA card ive had to install.

KeepItSimpleStupid

If I remember right there is an option when you install windows tha t allow you to add the approprite drivers. I recently did a couple of installs and I noticed the brief blurb.

You can also try to Slipstram the drivers on the installation CD. Not sure if the latter will work though.

See if you can see the SATA drive in the Disk Management utility when you boot into DOS.

Make sure the BIOS is set to look there too.

A local PC shop may be able to solder a new header.

These are just some ideas. None guaranteed to work.

the gunslinger

ok, ive tried a few things, still the same issue.

I physically removed the drive on which i want to install xp64. I put it in an enclosure, connected it to my other pc, booted off the xp64 disc, xp64 installed fine with no issues at all.

I remove the drive, put it back in the PC on which I want to run it. It wont even see there's an alternate OS booting option. I tried all the bios settings, disconnected all the HDD's in the PC except for this one, and still no luck, yet when I boot into vista, and access the HDD with XP64 on it, XP64 is there and visible. Changing the boot device options in the BIOS has made no difference.

I also attempted going into MSconfig and altering the boot device options there, however the only thing that shows up there is windows vista.

Help!!

the gunslinger

ok, further update.

I tried flashing the BIOS as well. Flash worked but had no effeect on the problem.

All 3 of my HDD's are all SATA's, and ive ensured they are not running as a RAID.
8 gigs of ram
Intel Q9550 quad CPU running at 2.8gghz
EVGA Nforce I750 MB

Ive tried absolutely everything I can think of and for the life of me cannot get XP 64 to install.

Does anyone have ANY idea at all?. At this point im willing to try absolutely anything.

NeedKarma

How about installing the other OS on a virtual drive: VirtualBox