XP as secondary OS on Vaio NR series

[Rufiaa]

Hi everyone,

Apologies is this question was posted - couldn't find it.

I created a partition to install XP Pro but the intallation CD does not recognise the hard drive. It displays a message that there isn't any...

I formated the new partiton. Do I need to install any drivers on it?

Please help! I hate Vista, only leaving it because of warranty.

[Blencogo]

Hi Rufiaa and welcome.

You have a SATA hard drive in your Vaio and XP does not support such up to date technology!

You need to load the SATA drivers during the XP install and you can do this in two ways: -

1. You need to get a USB floppy disc drive (you know the 1.44MB floppy discs). Copy the SATA drivers to a 3.5 inch Floppy Disc and connect the drive to your USB port. Now try to install XP from the installation disc and when you get to the 'Welcome to Setup' screen, press F6 to load the SATA drivers.

2. Make a new slipstream XP install disc from your XP install disc and include all the required drivers in the new bootable disc. You will need to download the free program nLite . Read the tutorial on the nLite site to learn how to do this.

Good Luck

[Rufiaa]

Thanks a lot!

I am trying the second option and looking for the correct drivers on Microsoft site and forum.

[Rufiaa]

Hi

Vaio support says that there's no XP drivers for this model and there are no plans to prepare them...

I installed XP with Vista SATA driver and it worked fine - basic functions. Then I had to restore the original state, I had no access to Vista cause XP has to be installed first.

But do you think that the fact that XP is running on Vista drivers may cause problems in future?

[Blencogo]

Hi,

You will have to use the XP Drivers from the VGN-N11S. This was the last model sold with XP installed and it looks like all the device drivers will work on your Vaio.

You can download the XP Drivers and Utilities from here: -

VGN-N Series XP Drivers

If you already have Vista installed, follow this tutorial: -

How to dual boot Vista and XP (with Vista installed first) -- the step-by-step guide with screenshot...