Thinkpads Forum

Hello people,

Our office doesnt support Windows Vista yet , so we downgrade any new desktops/laptops to windows xp pro. the problem is downgrading to windows xp . when I boot from a windows xp bootable CD , it does the usual intiall setup steps(the blue screen) , the point it reaches where you have to select a hard disk to install , I get an error "HD not found" . I have faced this problem on downgrading IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad laptops to windows xp & i have a solution for that :

1) Go to BIOS setup
2) Select Config
3) Select Serial ATA (SATA)
4) Select "Compatibility" mode

But the problem with an IBM/Lenovo desktop is in BIOS , there is no "compiblity" mode for SATA . instead there is a "disable" mode.
I have tried to put SATA config to "disable" , but its no use .while selecting "disable mode" for SATA , the desktop never boots from CD.

I am hoping this problem is not posted anywhere else this forum, since i tried to do a search but couldnt yield any positive results.

Thanks in advance to the people who reply.

You need the particular A55 SATA driver for XP (which should be available from the Lenovo support web site) and an understanding of how to use a required device driver during the XP install process.

Using additional disk drivers during an XP install is a general topic, on which you can find quite a lot of information with a simple Google search.

Cheers,

Bill B.

bill bolton wrote:You need the particular A55 SATA driver for XP (which should be available from the Lenovo support web site) and an understanding of how to use a required device driver during the XP install process.

Using additional disk drivers during an XP install is a general topic, on which you can find quite a lot of information with a simple Google search.

Cheers,

Bill B.

Thanks a lot Bill .Thanks for the response . I will try that & get back to you. But i am not sure whether this will work since i have being downgrading lots of HP/IBM machine (mostly laptops) to Windows XP by changing the setting in BIOS (while facing this "no HDD found" problems in XP installation). Its worth a shot trying your suggestion.