Vista64/32/XP help..

[Jonfendm]

Hey all..I was hoping you guys could give me some help....


I have an HP a6720n Desktop PC. AMD Phenom 9550 X4....640 GB SATA 3G hard drive.....


The system came with Windows Vista Home Premium 64 Bit edition. I have some software that I use that doesn't function properly on 64 bit, so I added a small partition to my hard drive(100GB) to install Vista Home Premium 32-Bit. Problem was, at the beginning of the install process, it would error, telling me that a driver was missing. I searched the web on this issue, and found many others who had the same problem. The problem seemed to be focused on the HD Controller. I found several workthroughs, but all were met with mixed results. So, rather than going through blind trial by error, I researched more. I found some people were also having the same problem with upgrading to Windows 7. Microsoft offered a workaround of going into the BIOS and changing the SATA Controller mode from RAID to AHCI for those with the problem with Windows 7. That was simple enough, and takes 5 seconds, so I gave it a shot. After doing that, Vista Home 32-bit isnatlled flawlessly. So I thought my problems were over. I even told some, hey Microsoft finally got something right. Then, I rebooted to 64-bit Vista to finish my daily tasks. I was greeted by a BSOD that lasted about a milisecond so I couldn't read anything, and then a reboot. BSOD, Reboot again. Thinking that it probably had something to do with my BIOS change, I went back in, change the SATA Controller Mode from AHCI back to RAID...Lo and behold, 64 bit booted flawlessly. So much for simple, it seems as though my only option is to change the controller mode every time I change OS's. I realize it only takes a few seconds...but it is an annoyance. This is where part 2 comes in...I wanted to take off 32 bit Vista and change it to XP, the software that I needed would run fine on XP. And I needed XP to participate in a community reunion of an old RTS PC game that I used to play. A bunch of us were getting to together to play on Gameranger. So, I reformatted the 32 bit Vista partition, put in the XP CD...install began, but after copying system files...BSOD. Wondering if it was the same issue, I entered BIOS, changed the controller from RAID to AHCI...No help...still BSOD...However, when I did it, I noticed that the controller mode had a THIRD option...IDE.... So, I figured, what the hell. Set the mode to IDE..and what do you know...XP installed just fine. So, in a nutshell....

My SATA Controller has 3 mode options....

RAID-Will run 64 bit Vista Home...but not XP or 32 bit Vista...
AHCI-Will run 32 bit Vista but not XP or 64 Bit Vista.
IDE-Will run XP but neither Vistas.

Is there a solution for this, or am I stuck with the BIOS change every time I change OS?