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How To Install Sata Drivers From Usb Stick

Installing Windows XP With F6 AHCI/RAID Drivers From USB Merely

Sometimes installing Windows can be a truly challenging problem. For instance, if y'all need to install Windows XP (because information technology's an old hardware uncapable of running something improve), and yous demand to install operating organisation to the SATA HDD in AHCI mode or to the RAID controller (with advisable F6 floppy drivers), but you have neither CD/DVD nor floppy drive bachelor, simply USB ports!

Using the ability of FlashBoot, y'all tin solve even this challenge. This article explains footstep by stride, how to install Windows XP with builtin F6 floppy drivers for AHCI/RAID disk using USB thumbdrive only.

1. What is AHCI/RAID drivers? Who needs them?

Difficult Disks (HDD) and Solid State Disks (SSD) are continued to the estimator via controller (a bit on the motherboard). Modern disks have Serial ATA (SATA) interface, old generation of disks had ATA interface.

SATA controller tin can piece of work in two modes: ATA-compatible mode (i.e. look like ATA contoller to operating system), or AHCI fashion (new mode which enables all features of modern hardware.

Explanation of ATA and SATA disks, controllers, drivers and AHCI mode

From the operating organization'south perspective, disk contoller operates either in ATA style (old ATA contollers + new SATA controllers in ATA-compatible mode) or in AHCI manner (new SATA controllers in AHCI mode).


If you have SATA disk attached to disk controller in AHCI style, you demand special commuter from motherboard vendor in order to make information technology piece of work in Windows XP.

If you are using ATA disk or your SATA contoller is in ATA-compatible mode, then you don't demand whatever special driver — Windows XP already includes 1.

RAID driver is requred when you lot combine multiple disks into redundant assortment (and then if one of them fails, another ane persists; or to gain boosted speed). Likewise AHCI, operating system can't handle such situation by default, "out of the box", and requires special help from you lot for that case — in the form of driver.

2. What's F6 floppy drivers for Windows XP installation?
    How do they differ from normal Windows drivers?

Usually Windows drivers can exist installed when installation of the Windows itself is consummate. This way works great for 3D video card drivers, sound drivers, network drivers etc. But information technology doen't piece of work for disk drivers. Why?

The reason this manner doesn't piece of work for disk drivers is considering Windows must have access to the disk all the time during installation. Temparary disability to use 3D graphics, sound and network during Windows installation is acceptable, merely inability to use hd (fifty-fifty temporary disability) makes Windows installation effectively impossible.

So, dissimilar other types of drivers, deejay drivers must be installed not later on Windows installation, just along with it. Simply how?


Windows provides special mechanism for that purpose: loading drivers during Windows Setup, when Windows Setup had not nonetheless loaded Windows Kernel, and operating in Text Way. What's why these drivers are officially called "Text-Style Drivers", only people usually search for them in Google every bit "F6 Floppy Drivers", and then I adopt to call them that way.

Dorsum to the subject. How practice at that place drivers differ? What's special about Text Way Drivers? They are loaded into retentivity before Windows Kernel, and so there are no USB drivers loaded notwithstanding at that stage, no CD-ROM drivers, no passenger vehicle drivers, nothing at all. The only type of disks which are readable at that time are BIOS disks. And BIOS by default provides access to HDD and FDD (floppy disks). Nothing more. Equally a special exception, CD/DVD and USB drives may be accessible too, merely simply if figurer is booting from them right now. Otherwise, only HDD and FDD are accessible.

For that reason, Windows must load Text Mode Drivers from floppy. Everything else is inaccessible under BIOS.

3. What should I do if I don't have floppy deejay bulldoze, but I must use F6 floppy drivers?

First of all, yous can endeavor to disable AHCI mode in your BIOS setup and turn your SATA disk controller into ATA compatible mode. Unfortunately, for some notebooks there's no such pick in their BIOS setup. As well, AHCI manner is mod, thus meliorate than ATA in terms of speed (NCQ) and features (for example, hotplugging).

The residue of this commodity assumes that yous accept to install Windows XP on SATA disk plugged via SATA controller configured in AHCI style, or via RAID contoller.


Because floppy does not exist, HDD is uninitialized, and everything else is just unavailable in Text-Mode Setup nether BIOS, the only way to go is to add AHCI/RAID drivers to Windows Installation CD itself.

Windows already contains hundreeds of drivers for broad range of supported hardware, but not for everything, unfortunately. For example, Windows has builting support for ATA disk controllers (see figure above in this article).

Then, all you demand is merely to add (intergrate) your item commuter to the long list of "default" drivers.

4. How to integrate F6 AHCI/RAID drivers into Windows XP installation disk / ISO file?

There's a special software for that purpose called nLite. nLite could exist downloaded from official website https://www.nliteos.com/download.html, also hither is a local copy (v.1.4.9.1).

Step-by-step guide follows:

1) Re-create contents of your Windows XP Installation CD into the new binder and call it "WinXP".

2) Download F6 floppy drivers from website of your motherboard vendor, notebook vendor or chipset (south bridge) vendor.

3) Extract F6 floppy files from archive file to separate folder. If your vendor provides self-extracting archive in the form of EXE file only, which requires bodily floppy disk drive to be present, and yous have none, then yous tin can work effectually with Virtual Floppy Driver (VFD, Windows XP 32-bit but) or virtual car like VirtualBox or VMWare.

4) Run NLite and choose "Next":

nLite Screenshot - Welcome to nLite Screen
nLite Screenshot - Welcome to nLite Screen

v) Choose Windows input/temporary folder ("WinXP" in this example) and click "Next":

nLite Screenshot - Locating the Windows installation Screen
nLite Screenshot - Locating the Windows installation Screen

vi) You'll come up to "Presets". Ignore this screen by choosing "Next" one more time:

nLite Screenshot - Presets Screen
nLite Screenshot - Presets Screen

vii) In "Task Selection" screen, select "Drivers" and "Bootable ISO" by pressing corresponding buttons. So click "Adjacent":

nLite Screenshot - Task Selection Screen
nLite Screenshot - Task Selection Screen

8) Choose "Insert" → "Single driver":

nLite Screenshot - Drivers Screen
nLite Screenshot - Drivers Screen
nLite Popup Menu - Single driver or Multiple driver folder
nLite Popup Menu - Single driver or Multiple driver folder

ix) Navigate to previously extracted floppy files (step iii) and choose one of the files ("iaahci.inf" in this example):

nLite Screenshot - Open INF/SYS Dialog
nLite Screenshot - Open INF/SYS Dialog

10) Yous may run across this screen if your INF/SYS files are for multiple devices. Choose your device from the list.

If your INF/SYS files are for single device, you lot won't come across this screen.

nLite Screenshot - Choose Textmode Driver Dialog
nLite Screenshot - Choose Textmode Driver Dialog

11) Click "Adjacent" to ostend the driver listing:

nLite Screenshot - Confirm Drivers Screen
nLite Screenshot - Confirm Drivers Screen

12) Say "Yeah" in "Do you want to start the procedure?" dialog. Wait for process completion. When it finishes, click "Adjacent":

nLite Dialog - Do you want to start the process?
nLite Dialog - Do you want to start the process?
nLite Screenshot - Processing Screen (In Progress)
nLite Screenshot - Processing Screen (In Progress)
nLite Screenshot - Processing Screen (Done)
nLite Screenshot - Processing Screen (Done)

xiii) Set "Fashion" to "Create Epitome", then click "Make ISO" and choose where to salvage the output ISO file. Then expect for completion and click "Next":

nLite Screenshot - Bootable ISO Screen (Setting Up)
nLite Screenshot - Bootable ISO Screen (Setting Up)
nLite Screenshot - Save ISO Dialog
nLite Screenshot - Save ISO Dialog
nLite Screenshot - Bootable ISO Screen (In Progress)
nLite Screenshot - Bootable ISO Screen (In Progress)

14) This is a last page. Click "Finish" to exit wizard.

nLite Screenshot - Last Page
nLite Screenshot - Last Page

5. How to install Windows XP from customized ISO file with F6 AHCI/RAID drivers if I don't take DVD drive?

Utilise FlashBoot to catechumen customized ISO file into bootable USB thumbdrive. The procedure is explained in detail in this article.

six. Troubleshooting

If you take bug integrating SATA/AHCI drivers into Windows XP, read this section.

Q: Which operating systems are supported/recommended?
A: None of pre-Windows 2000 (Windows 3.eleven, Windows 95/98 and Windows ME). Windows 2000 may work with some Intel drivers. It's recommended to apply Windows XP (32/64bit) or Windows Server 2003 (32/64bit), depending on availability of Text Style Drivers from the vendor of your SATA/RAID controller.

Q: Do I need to tweak annihilation in BIOS setup?
A: Yes, you lot need to enable AHCI mode for your SATA controller, or optionally enable RAID features. Sometimes BIOSes have shortage of depression memory address space for all installed cards and onboard controllers, then if it doesn't piece of work maybe yous need to disable something else in your BIOS setup to gain free space in low memory for ROM BIOS lawmaking of your RAID controller.

Q: It'due south still not detected.
A: Some motherboards have multiple SATA controllers. For instance Intel X58-based ASUS P6T has SATA controller in southbridge Intel ICH10R and besides JMicron JMB363 as a separate onboard chip. Please make sure you've attached your harddisk(s) to the same controller you are installing drivers for. Consult your mainboard manual if you lot are unsure almost that.

Q: nLite or Windows Setup is giving me some weird errors.
A: Please utilize clean, unmodified images of Microsoft Windows XP as input to nLite.

Q: Any other ideas why information technology might non work?
A1: BIOS bugs. Try to reflash your BIOS to the latest version.
A2: Maybe you lot are intermixing 32-chip/64-bit drivers and operating system of different bitness.
A3: Make sure your copy Windows XP has at to the lowest degree Service Pack 2 integrated.
A4: The Ability Management (ACPI) should be enabled in BIOS setup.

Q: I take troubles guessing correct respond on the step 10.
A: You can choose them all by holding Ctrl and clicking all of them one after another (don't concord Ctrl while scrolling). Windows Setup will find and install the right driver automatically.



Source: https://www.prime-expert.com/articles/b02/installing-windows-xp-with-f6-ahci-raid-drivers-from-usb-only/

Posted by: millerkneliking.blogspot.com

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