It has proven stubborn to install Windows XP on a SATA hard drive. When trying to WIN XP to a SATA hard drive, you get a blue screen of death, because when WINDOWS XP was first designed, there were no SATA hard drives yet, so the SATA drivers are not included in Windows XP, making it difficult to install Windows XP on a SATA hard drive. So, before u can be able to install Windows XP on a SATA hard drive u need to make the system see it as an IDE hard drive.
To do this u have to disable AHCI from the BIOS. Getting to the AHCI varies in different BIOS versions, so you need to play around with the BIOS before u can be able to disable it.
For instance, a HP XW4300 Workstation, to disable AHCI; Power the system and hit F10 to enter the BIOS,
Select the language, then navigate to storage and then storage options, change AHCI to “Separate IDE Controller”
Try installing WIN XP, if u see a BSOD or no hard drives detected, go back to the BIOS and set it to “Combined IDE Controller”, and this time it must work.
Note: U must have a working CMOS battery to retain BIOS settings.
To do this u have to disable AHCI from the BIOS. Getting to the AHCI varies in different BIOS versions, so you need to play around with the BIOS before u can be able to disable it.
For instance, a HP XW4300 Workstation, to disable AHCI; Power the system and hit F10 to enter the BIOS,
Select the language, then navigate to storage and then storage options, change AHCI to “Separate IDE Controller”
Try installing WIN XP, if u see a BSOD or no hard drives detected, go back to the BIOS and set it to “Combined IDE Controller”, and this time it must work.
Note: U must have a working CMOS battery to retain BIOS settings.
