Dell is Sending Me a New Computer Comparible to What I Have Now

It's information overload alright and my processor isn't processing it all
too well Until four or five years ago this would have been a welcomed
challenge and one
I would enjoyed meeting. MS (multiple sclerosis, not Microsoft) can do
rude things to one's cognitive.
I've been battling all day over the decision to just put Vista back on and
get on with life, or try one more time with XP.
I'm sorry about all the jumbled up threads, questions and replies. I guess
it's just a reflection of how all this looks to my brain...a jumbled up mess
lol
Monica


"S.Lewis" wrote in message
...

"Brian K" wrote in message
...

"S.Lewis" wrote in message
...


Yep. Versus simply copying off needed files/data and wiping/clean
re-installing the OS, I can't see that I would need often - perhaps
never, but I'm fascinated with the practice/concept.

And since I'm almost exclusively dealing with individual systems rather
than a large install base......


Don't get the idea that I really understand what I'm doing. I've done it
almost 10 times, just in testing, and I did the IDE to SATA transfer
again this morning. It certainly did ask for a lot of drivers and I guess
that's expected. Very old computer to a recent computer.

Like you, I may never use this in anger. But it's nice to know it's
available. I'll bet Monica would be pleased if someone had done this on
her new computer.





Don't belittle your efforts, Brian. I think it's damned cool.
Experimentation like this is a wonderful thing.

And regarding Monica's deal; sure it's always a wonderful feeling when you
can deliver to an end user the same desktop/apps/files/directories they
know after a machine or hard disk replacement.

But she's kind of put herself in a position now of having asked too many
questions while getting too much information at once.

I refer to this as "chasing one's own tail".

I've been there myself.

Monica,

When Vista was installed I think you had RAID/Auto/AHCI. Is that correct?
That should be the one.

Boot from the WinXP CD, almost immediately you will see a message at the
bottom of the screen saying something like Press F6 to install drivers. So
press F6 and wait. Shortly you will see a screen asking for drivers. Only
then, insert the floppy. You only need to select a driver from the next
screen but I don't know which is your one. Could someone advise?

If you can "see" your HD after the CD loads, you know the drivers have been
installed. Last time you got a BSOD.




"Monica" wrote in message
news
I really need an exact sequence of events if I'm going to give this one
more try.
I don't see SATA AHCI in the BIOS. Is that the same thing as RAID On?
Provided it is...
Put the XP SP 2 cd in the bootable optical drive
Insert the floppy that those Matrix Storage device drivers (unzipped)
Turn off the computer
Turn it back on, hit F2 to enter the BIOS
I make the change to RAID On, save and exit.
I get a message saying to press any key to boot from the CD
THEN WHAT? Is this when I hit the F6 key to load the storage device
drivers?
Will XP then continue reformat the drive and reinstall?

I really need an exact sequence of events if I'm going to give this one more
try.
I don't see SATA AHCI in the BIOS. Is that the same thing as RAID On?
Provided it is...
Put the XP SP 2 cd in the bootable optical drive
Insert the floppy that those Matrix Storage device drivers (unzipped)
Turn off the computer
Turn it back on, hit F2 to enter the BIOS
I make the change to RAID On, save and exit.
I get a message saying to press any key to boot from the CD
THEN WHAT? Is this when I hit the F6 key to load the storage device
drivers?
Will XP then continue reformat the drive and reinstall?


"Brian K" wrote in message
...



If you can't get SATA AHCI working, I'd start again. Delete the WinXP
partition. Choose SATA AHCI (or whatever the correct AHCI is for your
computer) in the BIOS. Boot from the WinXP CD and load SATA drivers from a
floppy by pressing F6. You have all the other drivers now so it shouldn't
take too much time.

Personally, I'd put Vista back on and be happy with it. You have more
than enough power and you'll have the OS that Dell will support.

If you have any problems, and call Dell, they'll make you put Vista back
on, reproduce the problem and call again.

Vista's fine. I run it on this laptop and several desktops. No big
deal.

-----Original Message-----
From: Monica ]
Posted At: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 10:10 PM
Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Conversation: Dell is Sending Me a New Computer Comparible to What I
Have Now
Subject: Dell is Sending Me a New Computer Comparible to What I
Have Now

It's information overload alright and my processor isn't processing it
all
too well Until four or five years ago this would have been a
welcomed
challenge and one
I would enjoyed meeting. MS (multiple sclerosis, not Microsoft) can
do
rude things to one's cognitive.
I've been battling all day over the decision to just put Vista back on
and
get on with life, or try one more time with XP.
I'm sorry about all the jumbled up threads, questions and replies. I
guess
it's just a reflection of how all this looks to my brain...a jumbled
up
mess
lol
Monica


"S.Lewis" wrote in message
...

"Brian K" wrote in message
...

"S.Lewis" wrote in message
...


Yep. Versus simply copying off needed files/data and wiping/clean
re-installing the OS, I can't see that I would need often -
perhaps
never, but I'm fascinated with the practice/concept.

And since I'm almost exclusively dealing with individual systems
rather
than a large install base......


Don't get the idea that I really understand what I'm doing. I've
done it
almost 10 times, just in testing, and I did the IDE to SATA
transfer
again this morning. It certainly did ask for a lot of drivers and I
guess
that's expected. Very old computer to a recent computer.

Like you, I may never use this in anger. But it's nice to know it's
available. I'll bet Monica would be pleased if someone had done
this
on
her new computer.





Don't belittle your efforts, Brian. I think it's damned cool.
Experimentation like this is a wonderful thing.

And regarding Monica's deal; sure it's always a wonderful feeling
when you
can deliver to an end user the same desktop/apps/files/directories
they
know after a machine or hard disk replacement.

But she's kind of put herself in a position now of having asked too
many
questions while getting too much information at once.

I refer to this as "chasing one's own tail".

I've been there myself.

Monica,

Get as far as that screen and let us know the choices.




"Monica" wrote in message
...
"You only need to select a driver from the next screen but I don't know
which is your one"

Does anyone know? I'm ready to reinstall XP and add these Matrix Storage
Drivers.
Thanks,
Monica

"Brian K" wrote in message
...
Monica,

When Vista was installed I think you had RAID/Auto/AHCI. Is that correct?
That should be the one.

Boot from the WinXP CD, almost immediately you will see a message at the
bottom of the screen saying something like Press F6 to install drivers.
So press F6 and wait. Shortly you will see a screen asking for drivers.
Only then, insert the floppy. You only need to select a driver from the
next screen but I don't know which is your one. Could someone advise?

If you can "see" your HD after the CD loads, you know the drivers have
been installed. Last time you got a BSOD.




"Monica" wrote in message
news
I really need an exact sequence of events if I'm going to give this one
more try.
I don't see SATA AHCI in the BIOS. Is that the same thing as RAID On?
Provided it is...
Put the XP SP 2 cd in the bootable optical drive
Insert the floppy that those Matrix Storage device drivers (unzipped)
Turn off the computer
Turn it back on, hit F2 to enter the BIOS
I make the change to RAID On, save and exit.
I get a message saying to press any key to boot from the CD
THEN WHAT? Is this when I hit the F6 key to load the storage device
drivers?
Will XP then continue reformat the drive and reinstall?

"You only need to select a driver from the next screen but I don't know
which is your one"

Does anyone know? I'm ready to reinstall XP and add these Matrix Storage
Drivers.
Thanks,
Monica

"Brian K" wrote in message
...
Monica,

When Vista was installed I think you had RAID/Auto/AHCI. Is that correct?
That should be the one.

Boot from the WinXP CD, almost immediately you will see a message at the
bottom of the screen saying something like Press F6 to install drivers. So
press F6 and wait. Shortly you will see a screen asking for drivers. Only
then, insert the floppy. You only need to select a driver from the next
screen but I don't know which is your one. Could someone advise?

If you can "see" your HD after the CD loads, you know the drivers have
been installed. Last time you got a BSOD.




"Monica" wrote in message
news
I really need an exact sequence of events if I'm going to give this one
more try.
I don't see SATA AHCI in the BIOS. Is that the same thing as RAID On?
Provided it is...
Put the XP SP 2 cd in the bootable optical drive
Insert the floppy that those Matrix Storage device drivers (unzipped)
Turn off the computer
Turn it back on, hit F2 to enter the BIOS
I make the change to RAID On, save and exit.
I get a message saying to press any key to boot from the CD
THEN WHAT? Is this when I hit the F6 key to load the storage device
drivers?
Will XP then continue reformat the drive and reinstall?

"Brian K" wrote in message
...
Monica,

Get as far as that screen and let us know the choices.




Intel Matrix Storage Manager
Screenshots of the ICH9/iastor.sys driver from device manager after
installation, including version number:

Device manager entry:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=5yteft&s=5

Driver detail properties within the above entry:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2hf54ep&s=5