We still use Windows XP on the vast majority of our end-user equipment at work. The standard procedure is to delete whatever partitions and data that come stock on the HP equipment and reinstall Windows XP Professional (SP2) fresh from a CD (or WDS image) and go from there.
Normally, for smooth and simple operation, this procedure requires that you go into the advanced settings in the BIOS and change the SATA mode from it’s native AHCI mode to IDE (PATA) emulated mode in order to avoid the blue screen of death (and having to install special drivers) during the install.
Today, we received a new model of laptop for a user, the first of it’s kind for us. It is a HP 635 with the AMD 1.6ghz Fusion E350 processor. I was surprised to find that, for the first time, I was unable to find any option in the BIOS for the SATA mode. There was not even an Advanced tab, that the option would normally be under.
With no option to change the SATA emulation mode, it looked like XP was a no-go on this rather cheapy laptop. Instead of giving up and deal with the bullshit of setting up Windows 7, I decided to hit up the Google. I eventually found a solution that worked for me.
First, I grabbed an external USB floppy drive, along with a formatted disk (I was surprised I could find a floppy disk!). Then I downloaded the AMD SATA AHCI driver from HP and extracted it to a folder. I copied all the files in the “RAID7xx” folder to my floppy and was ready to use it to install the SATA drivers for this chipset during the Windows XP install.
To do this, with your floppy drive attached with the disk inserted begin the Windows setup by booting to the CD. Then press the F6 option to install SCSI and RAID drivers during the beginning of the setup (when it is first copying the initial files). Choose the “S” option to specify the location of the drivers and choose the floppy drive. It should show that the AMD SATA drivers will be installed and then continue with Windows setup normally. Problem solved.
I learned of the drivers from this site, and it might be worth a read if you are looking to install Windows XP on newer HP laptops, or just need the drivers for a different model of laptop than I am working with here.
erocthefool
Did you save the build as an image? If so, did installing straight from an image work?
By: Michael on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
at 11:18 PM
I have not tried that yet. But with the way WDS handles drivers, I would think it would work. The SATA drivers would be part of the image.
By: Dave on Wednesday, August 31, 2011
at 7:27 AM
Hi there, thank you for sharing the info about XP install on the brand new HP635. Before proceeding further would you or any other “first adopters” please test the proper functionality of XP and this particular hardware, namely working HDMI video output and sound on the TV set, wireless networking, usb periferies etc. Thanks!
By: Zacater on Friday, September 2, 2011
at 7:06 AM
We only used this laptop as a VPN portal. But I can tell you for sure that a USB Sprint wireless card (mobile internet) works. I didn’t test anything else. HPs website has a full set of XP drivers for this model. So, even though they make it a PITA to install XP, is it still fully supported driver-wise.
As far as HDMI out, I’m not sure if this model has audio as part of the HDMI output. It is a rather cheap laptop, so it may only be video out. But that is not really in the scope of this article, sorry. Perhaps another visitor will have an answer for that.
By: Dave on Friday, September 2, 2011
at 7:32 AM
We are running XP Pro SP2 on these as well. There doesnt seem to be any drivers for the quick launch buttons. Anyone have a fix for this?
By: Chris on Friday, September 23, 2011
at 7:07 AM
Hi Dave, thanks for sharing your tips about that, I finally managed to find a usable floppy disk (that was the hardest part of all, you’re right!) to use with an USB floppy drive unit I purchased YEARS ago ‘just in case’ and still never used
I would just add to choose the X86 unit when loading the drivers, for those who don’t know the difference and are faced by the choice after successfully loading the drivers from floppy.
Thanks again, this notebook is a real bargain and I’, sure it’s going to become a great usable machine after I’ve finished installing XP SP2 (pity for the SuSe Linux install, maybe and Ubuntu one would have make me think twice before formatting… SuSe was one of the first Linux disotros I used, many many years ago, but Linux isn’t still ready for the Desktop, in many cases, especially for newbies… and this notebook is for a newbie).
By: Bonaventura on Saturday, September 24, 2011
at 9:14 AM
Is it necessary to use an usb floppy drive? Why can’t I use an ordinary usb-stick or external hard drive to copy the important files during windows installation?
By: Herby Hancock on Saturday, October 15, 2011
at 4:14 PM
Another Solution (if u had no USB-Floppy):
Download nLite (http://www.nliteos.com/download.html) and integrate the drivers in nLite, burn the image and install XP
By: nobody on Tuesday, October 18, 2011
at 10:19 AM
You would have to use a usb floppy because the standard Windows XP setup is expecting to load the drivers from a floppy, with no way around that, that I am aware of anyway. The usb floppy drives I’ve dealt with emulate a traditional drive, so it is a good idea to keep at least one around in a tech environment.
You could really need it , even when not dealing with legacy stuff like XP. You can also use a different solution to the traditional Windows setup, such as what “nobody” suggested above.
By: Dave on Tuesday, October 18, 2011
at 11:19 AM
Hi, I just found that neither the Intel version of this laptop (namely the HP 360 model) has an advanced mode for BIOS setup, thus leaving everybody in the cold with no chance to disable the SATA mode. Do you know it there’s a way to download the SATA drivers for this model too? Thanks.
By: Bonaventura on Tuesday, October 18, 2011
at 1:52 PM
@Bonaventura: The web page I linked to in the final paragraph (click on the words “this site”) leads to where I originally discovered the the drivers for the laptop model I was working with. There are other relevant drivers listed and linked on that page, including those for Intel chip sets. I recommend visiting that page to look for what you need.
Thanks for reading
By: Dave on Friday, October 21, 2011
at 9:25 AM
Yes Dave, in fact I downloaded all drivers for the XP install from the site, too, but wasn’t able to spot the specific SATA driver to make it possible a Windows XP installation. Also, the BIOS on HP models 360 and 365 is ‘locked’, I mean you cannot disable the SATA option nor change much else.
I was forced to install Windows 7, which is more expensive by the way while it’s easier to find a ‘second hand’ licence of XP at a cheaper price, although the overall performance with Win 7 seems good enough to stick to this solution.
Thanks anyway for the precious hints and references.
By: Bonaventura on Saturday, October 22, 2011
at 8:20 AM
Thanks Dave, you saved our Christmas this year!!! I bought two HP 635s to my children, and I was absolutely desperate, that Christmas night will be one big Suse linux course and I will looks like a lost Dad in eyes of my children.
One big thanks once again for your post, and I wish you so happy holidays, as you bring to us.
By: Stefan on Friday, November 11, 2011
at 2:27 AM
Glad I could help.
By: Dave on Friday, November 11, 2011
at 9:34 AM
Many thx from my side too. After spending hours on the f*** HP Website to find technical data and infos for XP install, i’ve found your entry and say hurray -.-
ps: I didn’t find any technical data on the HP Website for the 635. Nothing which Hardware is used, eg network adapters. So i have to use some software like everest to find out which is installed. HP -> )m
By: wemheuer on Friday, November 25, 2011
at 4:57 AM
Hallo Dave,
i also have the same Problem, can i used your drivers with xp 32 bit sytem too?
By: rajput on Wednesday, December 21, 2011
at 8:23 AM
@rajput: Yes you can. Actually, this whole post is written about the 32 bit version of XP pro, I guess I should have mentioned that in the article. Not sure if it makes any difference, but I use a volume license copy of XP as well.
By: Dave on Wednesday, December 21, 2011
at 8:31 AM
Hallo Dave,
i also have the same Problem, can i used your drivers with xp 32 bit sytem too? und mit windows xp3 cd
By: rajput on Wednesday, December 21, 2011
at 8:32 AM
Hallo Dave,
Thanks alot, i have investet so much time for this Problem, even i was unable to install the windos with a xp cd with Sata drivers (nlite)!
Thanks alot once again!!
By: rajput on Thursday, December 22, 2011
at 1:51 AM
May i ask what files you copied into the RAID7xx folder?
i just copied the extracted RAID7xx folder into a floppy, but seems doesn’t work.
By: queenie on Thursday, January 5, 2012
at 7:07 PM
@queenie: You want to copy all the files from within the RAID7xx folder to the root of the floppy, not the folder itself to the floppy.
So it would be: A:\[the files]
not: A:\RAID7xx\[the files]
By: Dave on Thursday, January 5, 2012
at 8:03 PM
thanks for you quick reply : )
sorry i am not professional on this, tried to copy all the files to the floppy this morning, but when i press “s” and choose the xp86 platform, it shows ” windows already has a driver that you can use for “AMD SATA AHCI Controller-x86 platform”. “unless the device manufacturer prefers that you use the driver on the floppy disk, you should use the driver in windows.
(p.s: i am using a win xp sp3 DVD to install the OS)
By: queenie on Friday, January 6, 2012
at 1:57 AM
Hmm, I did not get that message so I’m not sure, but I was using a copy of XP SP2 on a cd. Your newer copy might already include the needed driver. If you choose the windows driver, do you get a BSoD or will it let you install?
I’m not sure which driver is newer or better, but I doubt it would make much difference. If the windows driver on your SP3 disk will work, it sounds like you did not need to do any of this.
If it doesn’t work, just use the driver off the floppy.
By: Dave on Friday, January 6, 2012
at 7:54 AM
thanks for your quick reply : )
it doesn’t allow me to install either from the floppy or windows.
so i plan to use sp2 disk today : )
By: queenie on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
at 8:29 PM
Thanks for your work on this. I might be buying 3 of the HP 635s soon and I’d like to load XP instead of 7 Pro 64-bit. I’ve also had good luck with nLite as someone above suggested. Much easier IMO than dealing with a floppy drive and finding a disk that actually works!
By: Brett on Friday, January 13, 2012
at 9:48 AM
Thank you, Dave and Nobody, nLite worked perfectly for me, using the AHCI driver recommended by Dave. I tried to save the original SuSe installation image first, but this seemed not to be a streamline process, so the Linux magic was just gone…
Just want to mention one thing – during the Win XP SP2 installation process, pressing F8 is required in certain phase to continue with the installation. However, pressing F8 did not work! After using Mr.Google for a while, there was a solution: press Fn key and then F8. This solved the problem. It’s not necessary to press the keys simultaneously (pressing F8 while holding Fn pressed), pressing them one after another instead worked just fine for me.
I am still curious (same as Zacater above) whether anyone found some Win XP functionality not working resulting from downgrading?
By: blackfish on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
at 1:58 AM
I’ve actually had to use the function (fn) key to use the F keys on other newer HP laptops as well. The quick keys take priority. It’s a setting that can usually be changed in the BIOS, but given this laptop’s few BIOS options, I don’t know if it is in there or not.
By: Dave on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
at 2:48 PM