tones

@ Fernando 1 Really appreciate the follow up and offer of helping me get the laptop back in AHCI mode...i no longer have the laptop im afraid, my friend has gotten it back and is just soo happy to have it running again that as of right now he doesnt want to let it out of his sight Thant said, if i get it back in my possession i will do as you requested and post the information you asked for.....i too would like to see it set back to AHCI. Id still love to know why everything you asked me to try initially didnt seem to work.....and then all of a sudden hay presto.....*weird Again, Thank you for all the help and advice tones

Yes....when the timer comes on screen warming of a reboot thats when ive removed it....so it has no chance on reboot finding the cd again and try to force it to see the files its supposedly copied to hard drive...did this in both modes... My apoligies...questions just led to more questions and here we are.... Ok...reading last few poists i began to get frustrated....so...restarted laptop..hit F2...reset BIOS back to shipped defaults....restarted pc with cd in drive....started loading windows then get the BSOD ...we know why...cos its defaulted back to AHCI mode. Entered BIOS again...set to compatibility mode....saved...restarted pc with cd in drive....It WORKED !!!! it loaded files...restarted and continued on installing windows like it should have days ago !! Look in BIOS....the ONLY changes i see are that the boot sequence is back to HDD as 1st boot..and its in compatibility mode. So i have NO friggin clue why it all of a sudden took. USB is still showing as boot option 5..... Really appreciate all thye advice guys.....but im no wiser as to why its working now and not 3 days ago....

Hi cdob.....thanks for your input In the boot menu...5 is the usb memory...but it has no menu i can edit ....except move up or down the boot order....i do see under advanced tab "legacy USB support" im guessing thats not what you mean ?

Checked that link but im afraid its above my pay grade...dont understand what its saying or asking me to do As for everything else you asked me to do...followed it to the letter.... Booted from cd in compatibility mode.... once files were loaded and it asked me to reboot i entered bios and mad HDD 1st boot option The same thing happened as before....didnt find copied files and started to do the install from scratch from the cd.....i stopped this and took out cd before it started to copy anything...restarted pc (no cd in drive) but then got that black screen error that i posted above Godd dang it ....this is crazy

No, it auto loads from cd...no asking me to hit any key......just goes straight into windows setup.....maybe cos its a formatted harddrive and theres no other option available? not sure I reset to compatibility mode...restarted pc with cd in drive...no prompt to press any key to boot from cd....It auto loads windows setup screen...bottom left window says setup is loading files...... Once files are loaded i get the welcome to setup screen *To setup windows XP now, press ENTER...then i get the User Agreemnet..click F8 Next screen i get i took a screen shot of for you.....as im not for sure its seeing the drive...seems to be if it lists the size ?? I choose the C partition and hit enter...thne i get the "are u sure screen to continue" Press C.....pressing C then gives me the option to leave partition as is or format...it lists the same size mbs as the screen shot....If i choose "leave as is" i get the following screen....showing a previous install attempt. At this stage...if i choose a different folder...or if i formatted on previous screen the results are the same...loads windows files....then restarts pc only to find the cd and start the process all over again...if i remove the cd before it restarts i get this screen... I didnt intregrate any...just xp wth SP3 slipstreamed...guessing NO sata driver will get the same error as wrong sata driver?

HI I think i misled you...when i say endless reboot...it doesnt do it on its own....its just when the CD finishes loading files it asks to reboot pc to continue / finish installation...its at that point that it gets back to the beginning of the XP install process.... The error message after trying to install XP in AHCI mode is : (BSOD) A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer...... Askes to check for viruses Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers...check drive to make sure it ois properly configured.....run chkdsk / f for corruption Technical information:*** STOP: 0X0000007B (oxF78D2524, 0xC00000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000) 2 sticks of 1GB (2gb's) Boot Screen shows the following 1. CD/DVD TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-L633P (S4) 2. HDD FUJITSU MH22160BH G1 (S1) 3. FDD (no entries) 4. LAN (no entries) 5. USB Memory (no entries)

@ Fernando 1, Just downloaded and slipstreamed SP3 into my disk and tried in compatibility mode, loaded the files and the cd restarted the machine with same results...it finds the cd again and thinks its installing / copying files for teh 1st time...so just loops around again. *dang it !!! though it mightve fixed its self with SP3 ..lol In AHCI mode i get a blue screen BSOD 0X0000007B

@ Fernando 1, Thank you for the welcome and the time you took to reply to my cry for help Not sure if you will be able to open this url... http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/modelContent.jsp?modelFilter=&rpn=PSLB8U&category=&selCategory=2756709&moid=2145604&os=&ct=DL&selFamily=1073768663 As far as i can tell it is an original, does not have that WINNT.SIF file, but does have some other winnt files.... WINNT.EXE / WINNT32.EXE / WINNT32.HLP / WINNT32.MSI / WINNT32A.DLL / WINNT32U.DLL / WINNTBBA.DLL / WINNTBBU.DL_ / WINNTBBU.DLL / Folder named WINNTUPG Yes, tried in both modes...not sure if it detected the hdd, but going to say no....as after the files are loaded from cd and it restarts in tries to start the process over again with cd in drive....with no cd in drive after restart (and files allegedly loaded) i get a error of sorts no boot device found..... After XP copies / loads its files for install and restarts the machine Not sure...sorry. Opps...could this be the problem.....its not got any service packs slip streamed into the cd ! * missed that bit in your instructions i guess !! Will try figure out what service pack i need to download and how to integrate into cd with Nlite.....will let you know later today if successful at this task. Again, thank you for your help... tones

Hi Guys, appreciate any help you can give to help me try get XP pro installed on a toshiba L305-S5902 model PSLB8U-002003. It originall shipped with vista but became hosed with spyware / virus then the owner tried resetting it to factory restore...unfortunetly he somehow formatted the drive and hidden recover partition and so im trying to get at least xp installed for him. So before coming here and finding this thread i didnt realise the failed install was down to sata drivers ( i think )...windows would load files...reboot and do it all over again....in both AHCI and Compatibility mode.... Then i tried creating a slipstreamed cd using the information in the start of this thread......ive tried 3 different custom cds and all have same effect....rebots pc and tries to start install over again.... My latest attempt and adding drivers to the cd had the following 32bit Intel MSM AHCI & RAID driver v8.9.8.1005 mod by Fernando 32bit Intel MSM AHCI & RAID driver v8.9.8.1005 WHQL 32bit Intel RST AHCI & RAID driver v10.1.0.1008 mod by Fernando Intel chipset drivers v9.1.1.1027 WHQL for integration JMB36X_WinDrv_R1.17.62_WHQL JMB36X_WinDrv_R1.17.62_WHQL_eSATA Did i miss something ?? or am i adding too many to get the install to work....Im not 100% sure ho i can find out the exact drive combo i need to add to the cd....appreciate ANY help anyone can give..... tones