XP question

Andy

Right guys i got a Packard Bell pc but don't have an XP disc as it didn't come with one. I had to make a master DVD when i first turned it on to re-install XP. This DVD no longer works and it costs about £50 for one.

What i want to know is can i install a back up copy of XP onto my pc and use the product key on the side of my tower??

also if this can be done is there anywhere i can legally download XP?? i have back up copies but would rather use a legit one if possible.

Sjdickso

Andy you could get a backup copy of xp and use your code, but you will have to get the correct version (home / pro / media centre) there is also corp edtions that wont work with standard serials. Once this is done you may need to get all your drivers from P Bell.

Hope this helps.

Andy

ok cheers for that Simon.

gonna look for a copy of XP home then. drivers shouldn't be a problem, well apart from the sata one lol.

another question, cos i don't have the sata driver can i boot to vista and format the partition that XP is currently on and re-install XP this way or would i still require a sata driver?

Sjdickso

I think you will still need the sata driver and load it to floppy, or xp install will not see the controller and say that there is no HDD. You will need to load the SATA drivers on startup and with the F6 key on start up.

If you do go ahead with this though Andy make sure that you have backed everything up even on the Vista side.

Andy

well thats me fooked then cos i aint got the sata driver lol.

i'll have to install it to my IDE drive, is there any difference between having windows on an IDE drive and a SATA drive?

Sjdickso

Not really, apart from speed, but unless you have a mega fast machine i doubt you will notice it that much.

Andy

don't think you could call my pc fast, its a P4 3 gig with 1 gig of ram and a 256mb graphics card so nothing spectacular.

Sjdickso

Thats a fair spec, but no i doubt you would really notice that much from a IDE to SATA drive.

Andy

ok cheers Simon 🙂

Andy

ok Simon, got another question for you if you don't mind lol or anyone else who can answer.

I got 2 hard drives in my tower, 1 is a 160 gig SATA and the other a 320 gig IDE drive. Both drives are split into 2 partitions, the 1st partition on each drive has an OS on it. The SATA has XP on it and the IDE has Vista on it. What i'd like to do is format both drives and partition the 320 gig into say 40 gig for XP and the rest as a back up drive and use the 160 gig as the drive for storing pics, music and stuff.

Now as i don't have a SATA driver as such for the 160 gig drive if i install windows to the 40 gig partition i intend on creating on the 320 gig drive when i boot to windows would it recognise the SATA drive?? I can get hold of an .exe file which i'm told by DBcoup contains the SATA driver so i assume if its not recognised i could use this file to install the SATA driver.

This is a link to a previous thread about my SATA driver issue.

https://z22se.co.uk/viewtopic. ... 1&start=50

does that make sense notsure.gif

DBcoup

Hi Andy, 1st off is your IDE drive external and your sata drive internal(came with the machine)?

Andy

Hi there 🙂, they are both internal drives.

DBcoup

notsure.gif strange. If i was you i would scrap the sata idea. you should be able to go into the Bios and change the sata drive to an IDE drive, so they are both the same, then you dont have to bother with the drivers, as said before unless you have them in a RAID configuration and they are a spec like WD Raptors,doing loads of data transfer you really wont be able to tell the difference.
you can use any copy of windows because the important thing is your KEY.

Andy

the IDE was external but decided to take it out of its case and use it as an internal lol.

gotta get into my BIOS 1st, tried earlier and my pc just kept booting as normal when hitting F2.

DBcoup

to answer your question before... you wouldnt be able to install the sata drivers after xp is installed you can only do it during instalation.
you sure its F2?

Andy

ah right so unless i can get into the BIOS i'm fooked if i format the SATA drive.

yeah almost certain its F2, i'll do a quick restart to check lol.

DBcoup

No you can format it no problem but if you do a clean install without the sata drivers, and the bios still thinks its a sata then xp wont pick it up

Andy

yup its defo F2 and once again my pc kept booting up when pressing it.

hmm might just sell the SATA drive and buy another IDE one, will be easier lol.

DBcoup

Yeah could be Andy lol, just be aware though, sometimes with Packard Bell and Dell they can Bios lock their pc's to stop tinkering. Also if you remove the original HD and use the original key it MAY not activate because its an OEM copy which means it can only be installed on that machine. When you 1st registered xp it scanned the machine and made a note of the internal spec, now once you change this drastically i.e removing the main hd, it may think your trying to install it on a totally different machine.
But if that happens, dont worry i can send you the necessary stuff through the post :wink:

Andy

ok cool.

could i plug the HD into this, or something similar?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-Port-SATA-SERIA ... dZViewItem

cheers once again for the help mate.

i have been into the BIOS in the past but for some reason it won't let me now lol.