Thinkpads Forum

hello, i have a Lenovo T60 laptop which i wish to format with my own windows xp cd instead of using the backup disks.
but when i boot from the cd at startup, and loaded all the files..etc, it says No hard drive found.
I don't know why it can't find the harddrive cause i'm using it right now to post this thread..

Is there some sort of protection ? how may i disable it?

Thanks

You need to get all the drivers you don't want and apply them to your system. ... JD Hurst

i wil get the drivers i need after i format it but it just say cant detect my harddrive...

In the bios switch Serial ata from ahci to compatibility mode.

the only driver i can found for harddrive is the Active protection system. is that the one u are saying? cause when i try to format with Vista, it works.. but i don't want to go to vista just yet cause its not compatible with stuff i'm working on right now.

im newb with computer stuff.. plz help

Was the preload Vista?

If so, then go to the device matrix at Lenovo for your model
(www.lenovo.com -> Support -> your model) and download all the drivers for XP (CPU, Power, NIC, Wireless, Video, Audio, etc.). I don't know about the BIOS switch, but try it.

If not (that is, your preload is XP), then just use it. That is the best way as everything will work, and then just uninstall the few things you don't need).
... JD Hurst

lintzuchieh,

steveg is correct. Windows XP can not see SATA hard drives by default, meaning the install will fail to detect your harddrive. You need to enable compatability mode for the hard drive controller. This is done in the system bios. Once you have Windows XP installed, you can install the Intel Storage Matrix, which allows XP to see SATA hard drives. Once this is done go back into bios and switch back from compatability mode.

dsalyers wrote:lintzuchieh,

steveg is correct. Windows XP can not see SATA hard drives by default, meaning the install will fail to detect your harddrive. You need to enable compatability mode for the hard drive controller...

Bingo! I went through this as well. It is a bit of a task getting XP to recognize the driver sometimes but it works after you tinker with it for awhile. Just change your settings to compatibility in the BIOS and configure it after the XP install.

thx pros