How do I fix "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer" error during Win XP Pro install?

Question

I just bought a nettop. It came with WinXP Home. I first installed Win 7 on it. I wasn't that happy with the performance so I decided to go back to XP. I am using an external dvd drive and a Win XP Pro disc.

I boot from the dvd drive and during the install get this error:

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.

Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.

Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3.

This is the nettop in question: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103228

Solution 1

You need to go into the BIOS and see if there is something similar to "SATA Operation Mode" and set it from AHCI to IDE. This usually works if you cannot find the right AHCI driver.

Solution 2

XP usually doesn't have the right SATA drivers on disk. You may need to find the SATA drivers and specify when you boot off the XP Disk that you need to use third party drivers.

Solution 3

You need to enter the BIOS and change the hard drive settings from AHCI to ATA. Save the changes, restart, boot to XP disk and VOILA!

Comments

[CT.]

Setup says hit F6 at some point to load third party drivers. Problem is when it is time to load said drivers it says: Setup could not find a floppy drive on your machine to load OEM drivers from a floppy disk. It has no floppy, will a usb external work? Anyway I could edit the installation disc image so that it includes needed drivers and burn a new cd?

[William Hilsum]

You really need to have them slip streamed into the CD, a separate CD in some situation, or a USB Floppy drive, unfortunately the text part of setup does not support USB.

[CT.]

Thats what I mean... Edit the disk image file. Then burn that edited disk image file to new cd.

[MDMarra]

XP does not have AHCI support built in like Vista and 7 do. It's common and doesn't require opening the machine and checking cables.

[MDMarra]

If you're doing a quick format, try doing a full.

[Remus Rigo]

i used to be an admin at a small company, but i can tell u that there i had a lot of problems with the PC's even if they were new or old, i just want to say that sometimes it works even if u unplug the cables and then put them back in, that easy :) (it takes 1 minute to try)