I have done my homework and I am dealing with a situation where no specific XP AHCI drivers have ever been written for the Intel(R) ICH9M/M-E Serial ATA Storage Controllers in my Dell Studio 1737 Laptop. Trying the 32-bit Vista AHCI drivers caused an immediate BSOD...and it just really bugs me to be using IDE mode with my new SSD! I think Win7 and Ubuntu might be ignoring that setting in this multi-boot machine and using AHCI anyway, but I am not certain of that. I just know Ubuntu had some trouble during "Live" and installation but has since had no trouble there at all.
I know there are differently-branded machines of the same vintage that *do* have XP AHCI drivers for those controllers, but I have no idea where to look to try to find them.
Any thoughts or suggestions here other than to ditch XP? At least for me at 65, that is not likely to ever happen...and neither will I ever have Win10! I just spent these past two months getting three Win10 machines tamed-and-controlled to be what I consider child-friendly and child-safe for my grandchildren, and I hope I never again ever see a Win10 screen.
I know there are differently-branded machines of the same vintage that *do* have XP AHCI drivers for those controllers, but I have no idea where to look to try to find them.
Any thoughts or suggestions here other than to ditch XP? At least for me at 65, that is not likely to ever happen...and neither will I ever have Win10! I just spent these past two months getting three Win10 machines tamed-and-controlled to be what I consider child-friendly and child-safe for my grandchildren, and I hope I never again ever see a Win10 screen.