Dell Precision 390 - Intalling XP

dg1261 wrote in
.116:

Boris wrote in
. 116:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/g...oadIndex?cc=us
& d lc=en&lc=en&softwareitem=ob-51521-1&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

I checked out the site, and the instructions, and yes, it looks like
even I could do it. I'm going to try and see if it works for me.


Be aware that AHCI is an either/or proposition. If XP is installed in
ATA mode (as you've now done) it will not boot if the BIOS is
subsequently switched to AHCI mode. If XP is installed in AHCI mode
it will not boot if the BIOS is subsequently switched to ATA mode.
You have to choose one or the other at the time of installation and
then stick with it.

Many of the improvements in the AHCI spec aren't of much use with XP,
I did wonder about that, but the machine is running as snappy as ever.
so now that you've installed XP in ATA mode there's not much harm in
leaving it that way.
I will stay with ATA.
But if you do wish to try AHCI, it will involve
starting over with another clean install, this time with the BIOS set
to AHCI mode.

(FTR, it is technically possible to change an existing installation,
but it's not altogether easy and generally more trouble than it's
worth.)
Too much trouble, and as you say, not worth it.

Note that Dell also has the AHCI driver on their site. Go to
support.dell.com, find the drivers download page for the Precision
390, select XP as the OS, scroll down and expand the "Serial ATA"
subsection, and find "Intel Matrix Storage Manager" (R158601.exe).
Here's a direct link:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/...riversDetails?
driverId=9X3P4&fileId=2731098868&osCode=WW1&produc tCode=precision-390
&languageCode=EN&categoryId=SA
Very helpful. I will get it now should I want it later.

Download R158601 and copy the extracted files to a floppy. When doing
a clean install of XP, press F6 when prompted and feed the floppy to
the Setup routine.

On Monday, September 29, 2014 9:24:50 PM UTC-4, Boris wrote:
I've got a Dell Precision 390 running Windows XP. It's my 'garage'

machine. I loaded XP on it in February 2010, and it's running kind of

buggy now. It locks up alot, and I've tried to diagnose, but I can't. I

want to install XP fresh, but...



When I put the Dell XP cd in the cd drive, and turn the machine on, the

cd is recognized, and XP starts examining the system, etc. When finished

examining, it says press Enter to install XP, but then it says there is

no hard drive installed. However, I do have the SATA0 turned on in the

bios. If I just let the OS come up without the XP cd in the cd drive, it

comes up fine to the desktop.



This happens even if I install any other hard drive in the machine. XP

examines the system, and then says press Enter to install XP, but then

immediately says no hard can be found.



Any ideas?



TIA

Wish I could be more specific, but I have done very little with XP systems in the last few months, and, of course, I did not take good notes. But I seem to recall that if you get the native XP AHCI drivers, install them, and then change the SATA access in the BIOS to AHCI, one can end up with an XP system with working AHCI and no need to reinstall the whole mess and the gigabyte or so of Windows update crap. I managed to pull this off some months ago, but I don't recall exactly how I did it. Perhaps a Google search would help.

Finally, for those who still run XP systems, I have the registry change needed to continue getting XP updates. Seems as though the trigger to still get XP updates is to add the registry entry to make the Microsoft mother ship think it is dealing with a POS. No, that not Piece of S***! It's Point of Sale, industry nomenclature for computers controlling cash drawers, as one might see in a restaurant or retail store. Microsoft's definition of POS also covers ATMs, over 90% of which run XP across the planet. So the banks and retail associations are paying pretty good bucks to Microsoft to keep Windows XP safe. Hah! With all the retail security breaches, one has to wonder.

But if anyone is interested, I can post the registry change, a simple text file added to the registry... Ben Myers

On Monday, September 29, 2014 9:24:50 PM UTC-4, Boris wrote:
I've got a Dell Precision 390 running Windows XP. It's my 'garage'

machine. I loaded XP on it in February 2010, and it's running kind of

buggy now. It locks up alot, and I've tried to diagnose, but I can't. I

want to install XP fresh, but...



When I put the Dell XP cd in the cd drive, and turn the machine on, the

cd is recognized, and XP starts examining the system, etc. When finished

examining, it says press Enter to install XP, but then it says there is

no hard drive installed. However, I do have the SATA0 turned on in the

bios. If I just let the OS come up without the XP cd in the cd drive, it

comes up fine to the desktop.



This happens even if I install any other hard drive in the machine. XP

examines the system, and then says press Enter to install XP, but then

immediately says no hard can be found.



Any ideas?



TIA

After all that, I agree that it is hardly worth it to go through the work to change from ATA to AHCI... Ben