# Installing XP on a SATA Hard Drive



## Ryan K (Jul 3, 2008)

This is my first time building a computer and I've come across an unexpected problem. When I try to install Windows XP Home Edition, I get an error message stating: "A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent any damage to your computer." The error code is the following:
STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF78D2524, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

After doing some research on the error, I discovered that the most likely cause is Windows XP's lack of drivers for SATA drives. The drive onto which I am trying to install XP is a Western Digital Caviar 500 gb SATA drive. I am using a Gigabyte S-Series GA-MA78GM-S2H motherboard. Under the BIOS, I have tried configuring the hard drive as Native IDE to remedy the SATA problem; however, when I do this, my two Samsung SATA DVDR/W drives are no longer listed under BIOS boot order options, so I cannot boot from the XP installation CD, and upon startup the computer would stop at "Verifying DMI pool data..."

Because IDE mode clearly wasn't working, I have switched back to SATA AHCI so that I can boot from the XP CD. I've tried finding the proper drivers to use and putting them on a floppy so that I can press F6 during XP setup to direct the setup to them, but none of the drivers I've tried so far have worked. As of now, I've tried using the following drivers that came on the CD that came with my mobo: "(Windows XP/2003) Driver for Gigabyte GBB36X Controller" and "(Windows 2000) AHCI Driver for Gigabyte GBB363 Controller". Neither of them have worked.

Can anyone give me some advice? Am I taking the right approach by trying to point XP setup to the drivers on the floppy disk? Was I doing something wrong when I switched the hard drive to IDE mode in the BIOS? Am I using the wrong drivers? The only option I've yet to consider is slipstreaming the drivers onto the XP CD, but I don't see how that could help since the drivers wouldn't even work off a floppy!

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.


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## patriothntr (May 29, 2008)

Hmmm...should work fine as a SATA...what version of XP are you installing (service pack)? 

Try updating the BIOS for starters...

How far do you get in the installation process? Have you run a memtest?


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