ok when i do a fresh install of xp i need to load drivers for my sata hdd using a floppy(i hate floppy disks). is this cos when i built my pc sata was fairly new? would i have to do this on a new pc? and if i went back to ide hdd (which i think im gonna do) would i still need to load drives for a sata optical drive? and what type of connection do the sata optical drives have for power?

ok when i do a fresh install of xp i need to load drivers for my sata hdd using a floppy(i hate floppy disks). is this cos when i built my pc sata was fairly new?

It's because the SATA drivers for your motherboard aren't included on the XP install CD. It's not the PC that's at fault, it's microsoft not putting the drivers on the CD, so as for a new PC it depends if the drivers are included for that.

if i went back to ide hdd (which i think im gonna do) would i still need to load drives for a sata optical drive?

If you're not using any SATA drives you won't need to install the drivers, but I'd seriously recommend staying with them - the performance is better, and the industry is moving towards SATA and away from IDE (just check the prices on comparable hard drives to see proof of this - IDE is at least a third more expensive at the moment and will only get more so as less and less manufacturers continue making them and they get rarer).

and what type of connection do the sata optical drives have for power?

I'd assume these have standard SATA power adapters (they look like the data connectors - an L-shape, only the power connector is longer). Some drives may have the standard molex connectors though, depends which ones you get.

Hope that helps,

It's also worth noting that it's not even possible to 'slipstream' the drivers onto a customised Windows CD - it needs to find them from a floppy disk.

That's amazing forward thinking from Microsoft who failed to notice that companies like Apple were stopping floppy support years before XP came on the scene.

It may be possible to buy a memory stick with an emulated 1.44Mb Floppy partition, but I've not seen one of these for years.

are sata bulit into vista?

If you're not using any SATA drives you won't need to install the drivers,


,

what if im only using a sata optical drive?

are sata bulit into vista?

I don't know, I haven't installed it. I'd like to think so though.

what if im only using a sata optical drive?

Then you'll probably need to install the drivers for the sata optical drive, if it's not picked up by the windows install process (check the list of drives and partitions it offers you to install windows on). Optical drives afaik are pretty specialist kit so I'd be pretty surprised if the drivers are already on the windows CD. Solaris, maybe, but not windows.

EDIT: Oh dear, I've just realised by optical drives you mean DVDs and CDs and not (as I thought) fibre-optic hard drives... oh dear oh dear. That'll teach me to spend so much time on the networks floor...

It's also worth noting that it's not even possible to 'slipstream' the drivers onto a customised Windows CD - it needs to find them from a floppy disk.

That's amazing forward thinking from Microsoft who failed to notice that companies like Apple were stopping floppy support years before XP came on the scene.

It may be possible to buy a memory stick with an emulated 1.44Mb Floppy partition, but I've not seen one of these for years.

Thats not correct, my windows XP did not pick up my SATA drive, so I 'slipstreamed' them onto it, and made a new XP disk that picks up, nForce, Intel, Via, and SiS motherboards SATA controllers, so far its worked on every machine its ever been used on...


and yes, most SATA controller drivers are in vista.....

are sata bulit into vista?

yes, i installed it for a friend (he insisted) on a new computer i built for him, it had a sata dvdrw & sata hdd. it went fine.

i believe its possible to slipstream the sata drivers into a winxp cd using nlite (http://www.nliteos.com/)

.... made a new XP disk that picks up, nForce, Intel, Via, and SiS motherboards SATA controllers, so far its worked on every machine its ever been used on...
Fantastic! I'm bloody sick of trying to find the floppy drive in my box of bits everytime I want to install/repair XP. Last time it was a struggle to get hold of a floddy that still worked!

I have a legit (OEM) XP disc, if I were to use one of these discs with the extras, would I still be able to activate using the serial on my legit license?

Thats not correct, my windows XP did not pick up my SATA drive, so I 'slipstreamed' them onto it, and made a new XP disk that picks up

Really? That's good then! When I started slipstreaming a few years ago I read that it wasn't worth slipstreaming SATA drivers onto a Windows CD because it only looked at drive A for them once you pressed F6.

Anyway, dafoot, the automatic program to do it is Nlite:

http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html

I'll have a play with nlite at some point, cheers.

Fantastic! I'm bloody sick of trying to find the floppy drive in my box of bits everytime I want to install/repair XP. Last time it was a struggle to get hold of a floddy that still worked!

I have a legit (OEM) XP disc, if I were to use one of these discs with the extras, would I still be able to activate using the serial on my legit license?

Its perfectly legal to download a windows XP image, and burn it to a Disk, providing you own / use your own 'real' license...

I could do you a copy of the one I have, it was the final retail XP Pro SP2 (Nov 2006) - which I added my Drivers into, and ONLY the SATA Drivers, I diddnt shrink the image at all, or remove anything...

Thanks for the offer, but I suspect I prob bought the home edition to save a few quid...I'll have to check. If it is the Pro version I have, yes please ;)

Made a decision a while back that all software from that point on would be legal (largely because as a developer I would want paying for work I did ;) ).

Mines legal, I just diddnt buy it, (Was given a Mass user license... not saying who's, or where from, but lets just say its an 'unlimited' one :P)

Just built a new PC with only SATA drives, and an XP install disk with Service Pack 2 built in detected them fine and installed perfectly.

Its perfectly legal to download a windows XP image, and burn it to a Disk, providing you own / use your own 'real' license...

I could do you a copy of the one I have, it was the final retail XP Pro SP2 (Nov 2006) - which I added my Drivers into, and ONLY the SATA Drivers, I diddnt shrink the image at all, or remove anything...

Actually, it is only legal to make a backup copy of your own disk. Copying it for someone else, or recieving a copy from elsewhere, still constitutes theft.

The important part is contained within the license key...but microsoft will not recognise the software as a separate entity legally.

So before you go downloading this via torrents, i'd put a call into MS - they'll advise accordingly.

Actually, it is only legal to make a backup copy of your own disk.


I think even backup copies are a grey area legally.

Actually, it is only legal to make a backup copy of your own disk.

this is not true, Your not buying the software, or the disk, your only buying a license, you can use an installation from any medium or source providing you have a correct and valid key, its in the Microsoft license agreement that you purchased the license, and not the software, this is one of the nice little loop holes that allow people to get away with copying windows, providing they dont hand out licenses with it...

microsoft themselves offer iso downloads for windows... it takes some digging on their site, but they do.

microsoft themselves offer iso downloads for windows... it takes some digging on their site, but they do.

You're gonna have to show me that one!

You're gonna have to show me that one!

I believe its classed under their trial versions, where-by you download a 'trial' version, and they email you a key... however these are fully working and fully function windows, and if you actually buy a license from MS, you can just install the license and not have to reinstall windows... then, keep your license in a safe place, and you can use any medium you wish provided its the correct version..

if i remember right.. i did it with my XP 64Bit...

this is not true, Your not buying the software, or the disk, your only buying a license, you can use an installation from any medium or source providing you have a correct and valid key, its in the Microsoft license agreement that you purchased the license, and not the software, this is one of the nice little loop holes that allow people to get away with copying windows, providing they dont hand out licenses with it...

microsoft themselves offer iso downloads for windows... it takes some digging on their site, but they do.


yes, and if you care to look into microsoft's licensing agrements properly you'll spot that OEM installations cannot be reloaded legally by copying or else obtaining a disk from someone. Whether or not the code works. So utilising a 'trial version' of xp then using the code you have on the side of your box is, strictly speaking, against their terms and subsequently, er, illegal.

who said anything about OEM??? I have only ever been talking about retail, not OEM, specially since alot of OEM's are locked to said manufacturer, so it wouldnt work any way.

who said anything about OEM??? I have only ever been talking about retail, not OEM, specially since alot of OEM's are locked to said manufacturer, so it wouldnt work any way.

And a load of pcs that people are using have been loaded with OEM software.

How common is it for pcs to have full 'retail' editions of the O.S on in the first place? Normally, whether the system is made by a major, or an independent, it is supplied with OEM software.

I think it applies to the majority of users here, and making statements regarding reloading said software needs to accomodate that fact. So, unfortunately, the point remains valid. Which, legally, cannot be said for yours.