problems installing xp

[timbit]

i need to install xp on a sata drive. i do not have an internal floppy, i do not even have a power hookup for a floppy in my case... the case is an antec aria, and it has a propriety power supply. is there some other way to get the sata drivers installed? xp won't even let me press f6 unless a floppy is installed ( i press it but nothing happens). i do have an external usb floppy hooked up, but i don't think the xp install likes it or recognizes it... any ideas?

[Force Flow]

Try continuing without pressing F6. The XP CD sometimes has the generic drivers that are needed.

[timbit]

yeah, that was the first thing i did (not realizing drivers may be needed). xp got to the part where you pick what you want to do (repair, install, exit) and when i picked install, it said that no hard drive was detected. i know the hd is working, because it is correctly identified in the bios. thanks though.

[RJ]

What mainboard do you have ?

Do you have native SATA ports ? If you don't have native SATA ports, you have 2 choices: Either install a floppy (yes, M$ is way behind on this), or use another PC to integrate the drivers into the Windows CD. It's little bit work to do, but then you won't need a floppy.

RJ

[timbit]

native sata ports? i don't think i even know what that means. my mobo is the msi k8tm-ilsr (only micro atx mobo for sckt 754 in the area...). the mobo came with a floppy for raid, so i'm guessing that's what i would stick in, if i could. what do you mean integrate drivers into the windows cd? do you mean copy xp cd, and put the drivers with it on a new cd? my family comp (the one i am on now) has a burner... how would i go about doing that? any special programs?

[RJ]

Your board has the VIA VT8237 Southbridge, and according to VIA it supports the SATA ports natively.
So if you don't use RAID, disable RAID in BIOS, and Windows XP should see the SATA ports without problems.

RJ