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I have a fujitsu siemens laptop, and some kind of RAID configuration on the hard drive. Tried changing stuff in the BIOS, but I don't get a lot of options. Trying to install xp from external DVD drive. Is there a simple way to get hard drives recognised? I want to

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It sounds like you need to get the RAID or SATA driver for your motherboard. When you are installing XP, early on, it will tell you to press F6 to install the driver. You will need to have it on a floppy.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxpclean1_3.htm

Post back with the exact model of the laptop, and I will try to tell you what driver to get.

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Of course you’ll have to get the drivers first. Check your laptop’s support page under downloads and look through the drivers for the relevant one. – Synetech Jul 18 '11 at 0:37
AMILO Xi 1546 .................. – Jamie Jul 18 '11 at 12:08
@Jamie I wanted to get them from the manufacturer's web site, but this was actually hard to find as the subcorporation seems to have been disbanded. I tired to get them here: fujitsu-siemens.com. So I went here: drp.su/drivers/notebooks/… The driver you want to try is labeled "Intel(R) ICH7M/MDH SATA AHCI Controller". Remember, it needs to be on a floppy in the root directory, and you will use it when you hit F6. – KCotreau Jul 18 '11 at 13:08
If this works for you, I would appreciate it if you come back and mark the answer. Thank you. – KCotreau Jul 18 '11 at 13:09
Thanks for the help, but I don't have a floppy drive! – Jamie Jul 19 '11 at 8:22
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It would really be too bad to go back to such an old OS. The Vista/7 kernel is better in almost every respect, especially in support for new hardware (which makes XP too old for SATA). The idea of running XP in a VM is a good one. You can use the free Paragon Go Virtual to convert your installed OS to a VM.

Installing XP on a SATA drive

Install XP without a floppy

Setup Did Not Find Any Hard Disk Drives During XP Setup

Many newer BIOS allow an Alternate method for SATA . . Go into the BIOS and check the 'Sata Operation' setting, change it to 'Raid Autodetect/ATA' if it is not already. Now try to install XP (Verbiage will vary by manufacturer)

BIOS settings to try: You can change the controller settings in the BIOS.

Restart the computer and enter the BIOS. The location and type of setting will vary with the make and model of the motherboard. Here are some:

MAIN menu
SATA Mode
Select IDE Mode instead of AHCI Mode

ADVANCED or ADVANCED (BIOS) SETTINGS menu
SATA Drive Configuration
Select Compatibility (Mode) instead of AHCI (Mode)

(BIOS) ADVANCED menu
SATA
Disable Auto
Enable Combination

Set to PATA mode

INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS menu
IDE Function Setup
OnChip IDE => Disabled
SATA DMA transfer => Enabled

INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS menu
Onboard Device
SATA => Disabled
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Cheers. I followed instructions on nlite forums website using drivers posted above, but still getting "no hard drive detected" message. – Jamie Jul 19 '11 at 8:23
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Have you considered creating a virtual machine to run XP inside from your Windows 7 machine?

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