Installing Windows XP on a new PC.

[Bonzi]

The parts for my new PC will be delivered Monday (my first experience putting one together). I was reading this article and it seems I should be expecting problems with installing because "Windows XP does not have SATA drivers included." The PC I'm using now is a Gateway and came with Windows ME and a recovery disc. I bought the Windows XP upgrade disc several years ago. Do I need to follow the instructions in the article I linked to for creating a slipstreamed install cd? Will I have problems since this PC came with a recovery disc for ME which I'm guessing isn't the same as a regular OS disc?


There's a link in the article for setting the SATA to IDE mode in the BIOS. It says this:

Here's what you need to know: * AHCI mode allows the computer to use the more advanced SATA functions, and will give you better performance. * Windows XP does not natively support SATA mode. You must either create a slip-streamed install disc or use IDE mode here in order to install. * Windows Vista or current versions of Linux will function perfectly in AHCI mode. * Note: If you install in IDE mode and then want to switch to ACHI mode, you should follow these instructions.

It seems I won't get as good performance if I choose IDE mode. Should I choose IDE mode and leave it as is, choose IDE mode and then switch to ACHI mode after the install or attempt creating a slipstreamed install cd even though I have an upgrade disc?

[Extremerc12]

In my experience, you aren't going to be able to install that OS on your new computer. You need Windows ME installed to use your upgrade XP disk. Since your ME is on a gateway recovery disk (if I am understanding you correctly), it is more than likely not going to work. You should just buy an oem version of XP and everything will install perfectly fine.

[not important]

Boot from the XP Upgrade disc and follow the prompts. It will, at some time, ask you to insert a previous version of Windows. Insert the ME disc and continue to follow the prompts. If the XP disc is SP1 you will want to install SP2.
Your drivers will be on the MOBO driver disc.

[glc]

You will want to slipstream SP2 onto your XP upgrade disk. AHCI will work as long as you have the AHCI/RAID drivers for the mobo on a floppy.

Inserting the ME disk may NOT satisfy the upgrade compliance if it's a recovery disk. Be prepared to "borrow" a generic CD if that's the case.