Building a new computer with Windows XP - read this
 

If you are going to build a new computer with XP, for optimal performance you are going to need a FLOPPY DRIVE.

Why? Today's motherboards have 2 or 3 modes for the SATA controllers - IDE, AHCI, and (sometimes) RAID. XP does not have native AHCI or RAID drivers. If you are not using RAID, AHCI is the preferred mode. This enables native command queuing and hotswapping. In order to install XP with the controllers in AHCI or RAID mode, you MUST use a floppy in order to install the drivers at the beginning of Setup, or XP will not see the hard drive. The driver will be available on the motherboard support CD/DVD and will have to be extracted to a floppy disk. To install it, at the beginning of Setup, you will see a prompt at the bottom of the screen to press F6 to install 3rd party storage drivers.

Now, what's the story with Vista and Windows 7? They may or may not have native drivers, but if not, they can be installed with a USB flash key. A USB flash key will NOT work with XP.

Now - not all new motherboards still have a floppy controller, the Intel P55 chipset being one in particular. In this case, your ONLY option for XP using AHCI or RAID is a USB floppy drive. A USB floppy MAY be used even if the motherboard has a controller. The bottom line - the drive containing the driver MUST be recognized as the "A" drive.

I will leave this thread open for COMMENTS ONLY, please do NOT ask questions regarding YOUR build in it, use your own thread for those. Thank you!

thankyou very much glc! my cousin just built a new system and tried to put XP pro on it, and it kept telling us no hard drive detected.followed the steps, and it worked perfectly! thanks!