[seath15]

Here are my specs, first off.
Gateway Laptop
2 1.60 ghz processors
2 gb ram
160gb hd

My laptop came with vista home premium already installed on it. I want to set it up for a dual boot with xp/vista. I created a new partition named "XP" That is 50gb and formatted it. When i restart my computer with the xp installation disk in it it goes through the setup process until it hits the part where you would normally select which partition you want the xp installed on. PROBLEM-No partitions show up, it says it cant find any hard disks to install to-press f3 to exit setup. (that's the only option it gives me at this point) Ive read a few times that in BIOS settings disabling SATA native something other that it will help this problem, when i restart my laptop and go into BIOS there isnt an option to disable it. Please tell me why my xp disk wont recognize the partition i want to install it to and how i need to fix this problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[RootbeaR]

You'll need the sata drivers for XP.
At some point in installing XP it will ask if you need to install any 3rd party drivers and if so will tell you how to do it.

In BIOS, see if there is an auto-detect option for the sata drive, if so, set it to that.

[seath15]

I edited this lol...When i re-tried installation, i held f6 and it took me to the setup for installing additional drivers, yet it said there werent any. I think i found my problem on accident when i took the disk out though. I got the disk from my father who used it on one of his machines that had xp previously installed...what i didnt notice is that the disk itself says "The software is already installed on your computer. Only use this CD to reinstall the operating sytem on a Dell computer. THIS CD IS NOT FOR REINSTALLATION OF PROGRAMS OR DRIVERS"

The last bit i beleive is what the problem is.

Any suggestions on where to buy a good cd for dual booting...like one that has XP OS and all the drivers on it?
And if you know...a price range on that disk?

Thanks again!!

[RootbeaR]

Originally Posted by seath15

I edited this lol...When i re-tried installation, i held f6 and it took me to the setup for installing additional drivers, yet it said there werent any. I think i found my problem on accident when i took the disk out though. I got the disk from my father who used it on one of his machines that had xp previously installed...what i didnt notice is that the disk itself says "The software is already installed on your computer. Only use this CD to reinstall the operating sytem on a Dell computer. THIS CD IS NOT FOR REINSTALLATION OF PROGRAMS OR DRIVERS"

The last bit i beleive is what the problem is.

Any suggestions on where to buy a good cd for dual booting...like one that has XP OS and all the drivers on it?
And if you know...a price range on that disk?

Thanks again!!

I am in Canada, $150 for XP. Staples.

I don't think you will get one with all the drivers on the disc, but I could be wrong. Try your computer brand manufacturer. (I just did this with a Dell and found all required drivers from their support site)

When you hit F6 to install additional drivers, you will need to have them already on another disc ready to install (I would only install harddrive drivers at this point), when that is done, you will need to re-insert the XP CD, finish the set-up.

To check for missing drivers, R-click "My Computer", click properties, click the hardware tab, click "Device Manager."
Anything with a yellow exclamation mark probably requires a driver.

At this point, I would install the rest of the required drivers.

Just noticed you want a dual boot. I recommend a little more reading on the subject if not done already. There is a sticky at the top of the Vista forum. It also has a link to an additional piece of software you will need, bcedit or something like that, you will see it in the sticky.

Persevere and good luck!