Thinkpads Forum

I have a friend's X60T with a media slice that he'd like to downgrade to XP from Vista Business. He has a legal copy of XP Pro Tablet Edition 2005.

The main problem is that it won't see the hard disk at all when I get into the setup. I do realize this is because regular XP doesn't have SATA drivers built in. Is there anyway to install this without purchasing OEM recovery disks from Lenovo? I used to load these on a floppy but obviously this machine has no such thing so I'm stuck.

When the computer boots, enter the BIOS and in the configuration there is a Hard Disk option. Set it to "Compatibility" and it will detect the SATA drive when you run the Windows Setup

That worked! Thanks! Another dilemma solved. I presume I can go back to ahci setting once the actual OS is installed?

I believe you need to install specific drivers during the OS install in order to use AHCI.

I had the same exact issue installing the OS a while back, completely forgot to put it in compatibility mode.

Atreides wrote:I believe you need to install specific drivers during the OS install in order to use AHCI.

That's correct. You need to install SATA drivers from Lenovo prior to changing the setting back, otherwise the machine won't boot

Is it worth going back to ahci? I mean will he get a performance boost worth fiddling with this?

On a laptop, in Windows XP, it won't make that much of a difference. I've found it to be more trouble than its worth.

Not to mention you'd need to locate an external floppy drive to install the sata drivers.

Thanks! It will stay in the compatibility mode.

I don't think I've ever switched back to AHCI, simply because of the hassle involved. Until someone says there is a noticeable gain in performance, I'll continue to keep it that way