# WinXP installation, SATA drivers and USB **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734 "2008-11-27T20:07:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/1 "2008-11-27T20:07:46Z")
I have a SATA2 hard drive and need to reformat my computer. During installation WinXP will not recognize the hard drive unless drivers are provided. In the past I had to go through the trouble of finding an old floppy drive & working disk, hooking it to my PC and loading the drivers from there. And that is a real pain in the ass. Is there any way I could save the drivers to a USB flash drive and load them from there? I don’t recall seeing that option anywhere the last time I installed windows. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/2 "2008-11-27T20:25:02Z")
Don’t know about the USB thing, but you could try [slipstreaming](http://www.digitgeek.com/how-to-slipstream-sata-drivers-into-xp-cd/) the SATA drivers with your XP disc. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/3 "2008-11-27T20:31:59Z")
Interesting. What are my chances of completely fucking up my windows disc with that thing? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/4 "2008-11-27T20:41:02Z")
> [@Jeff](#): > > Interesting. What are my chances of completely fucking up my windows disc with that thing? Should be minimal since you’re burning a brand new CD. I’m surprised that XP isn’t recognizing the SATA controller automatically during install - do you have an extremely new motherboard, or are you plugging the drive into an onboard RAID controller? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/5 "2008-11-27T21:00:29Z")
The motherboard is an Asus P5RD-1VM, and is at least 2 years old. I opened the case to double-check and yes, the drive is plugged into one of the SATA ports. So I’m assuming it has to be using the onboard controller. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/6 "2008-11-27T21:08:06Z")
> [@Jeff](#): > > I have a SATA2 hard drive and need to reformat my computer. During installation WinXP will not recognize the hard drive unless drivers are provided. In the past I had to go through the trouble of finding an old floppy drive & working disk, hooking it to my PC and loading the drivers from there. And that is a real pain in the ass. > > Is there any way I could save the drivers to a USB flash drive and load them from there? I don’t recall seeing that option anywhere the last time I installed windows. As long as the MB BIOS will recogonize the USB thumbdrive as a valid drive at boot up. Most motherboards made in the last 3 years should do this. Make sure the USB ports being active at boot (or similar wording) option is toggled “on” on the MB BIOS. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/7 "2008-11-27T21:19:04Z")
> [@Jeff](#): > > The motherboard is an Asus P5RD-1VM, and is at least 2 years old. I opened the case to double-check and yes, the drive is plugged into one of the SATA ports. So I’m assuming it has to be using the onboard controller. I looked up the Asus user’s manual for that board online. It’s got 4 SATA ports and none of them are somehow “only for RAID” (I’m not sure if anyone builds a mobo that way anyhow). They do however have a big note that says make sure to have WinXP SP1 before trying to use the SATA ports so I’m guessing that’s the problem, your WinXP CD doesn’t have SP1 as part of the package. Here’s a link (warning - PDF): [http://dlsvr04.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5RD1-VM/e2440\_p5rd1-vm.pdf](http://dlsvr04.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5RD1-VM/e2440_p5rd1-vm.pdf) You can download the latest WinXP service pack (SP3) from MS and then create a new XP installation CD by slipstreaming the SP onto it. That will allow you to install right onto a SATA drive off the one CD (no floppy needed) and it will save you a ton of time afterwards since you won’t have to go to MS and let Windows Updates install all that stuff (patches, hotfixes, etc). You will still need to install the motherboard-specific drivers (for example, your onboard RAID controller if you want to use RAID, onboard sound & NIC, etc). Luckily that is fast to do off the CD that shipped with the mobo and you can probably add that to your new Win XP installation disc anyhow and just do the whole shebang in one shot. Have fun! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/8 "2008-11-27T21:58:08Z")
Perhaps an easier method would be to set the SATA compatability option in the BIOS. Then set it back afterwards. My last employer did this with Fujitsu-Siemens laptops. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/9 "2008-11-28T00:32:54Z")
The install disk I was going to use has SP3 included so I’m good there. I’ll have a look at the BIOS settings when I get home from work, I just hate the thought of rebooting the PC since the trojans which are currently plaguing that PC will probably reappear… ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/10 "2008-11-28T01:07:06Z")
> [@Jeff](#): > > The install disk I was going to use has SP3 included so I’m good there. I’ll have a look at the BIOS settings when I get home from work, I just hate the thought of rebooting the PC since the trojans which are currently plaguing that PC will probably reappear… Use this for the trojans This has worked well for me > **[Free Antivirus 2026 | Download Free Antivirus & Virus Scan | 100% Free & Easy...](https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download)** > > Download free antivirus: easy install for all devices. Remove unwanted malware like viruses, ransomware, spyware & more. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/11 "2008-11-28T01:12:16Z")
I’ve been using that one. It cleans my PC but unfortunately the infections all reappear after restarting. ---
**Author:** ![Racer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@Racer1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Racer1)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winxp-installation-sata-drivers-and-usb/474734/12 "2008-11-28T14:32:57Z")
As others have said, you need to slipstream the latest service pack with your XP installation files. SP2 works with most SATA drives in my experience.