Nlite Raid installation disk

[PvtMatter]

OK, I will say it...I am a Noob when it comes to nliteos. Here's the sad story. I have an Alienware Area 51 desktop. It came with Windows XP Media Center OS. I attempted to upgrade to Windows 7 and that's when everything went south. I had a Sata RAID 0 installation (2 disks) and a data disk, my drive D. Somehow the installation put Windows 7 on my Data (D) drive and reversed my drive letters. So, whenever I booted up I had to select between Windows 7 and "an earlier" windows although I had deleted the Windows.old folder.

Finally I am getting to my problem. Finding that situation to be annoying and not wanting what appeared to be a dual boot situation, I reformatted my C drive with the thought I would just add Windows XP from the Alienware MCE recovery disk. It wouldn't work. When I tried to install, the installation couldn't find my Raid drives. I called Alienware and they would not help me reinstall the OS that came on the system (still in warranty). They told me I would have to download the RAID drivers from their website (I did) and go to nliteos.com and prepare a boot disk that would load the RAID drivers first and then I could reinstall the XP MCE OS.

Well, I read everything I could on the web site and can not figure out how to prepare a boot disk with the RAID drivers on it. That's where I need some "hand holding". I simply can't follow the directions as a Noob.

I downloaded the SATA RAID driver v9.31 WHQL. This was the driver my system required so I have it now.

Would someone please help me prepare a boot disk given the info above? After I reinstall XP then I will upgrade to Win 7 but this time I will disconnect my D drive!

[sixcentgeorge]

you do not need to create a bootable disk ; start by copying the driver to the disk A: ; then when xp-setup start it shows a line " press F6 for scsi driver" . do press F6 and it will use the driver of disk A: .

with Nlite you can add driver to install of xp so you do not have to do the F6..

[Ponch]

you do not need to create a bootable disk ; start by copying the driver to the disk A:

The computer is still under waranty, it is less than 4 years old and probably has no floppy drive as most computers today. Or Alienware's helpdesk are noobs as well. True, you can try an USB floppy drive but I read not all of them can be used for this.

@ PvtMatter, there is an nLite section in these forums (in fact, it is directly linked from nlite's official site).

If not already done, you will need to

-download the last version of nLite

-have a running windows XP with .net to run nLite (your Windows seven won't do, unless you're confident with virtual machines).

-an original set of MS-WinXP install files (original install CD, your MCE will do, I hope, because originaly nLite was not made for MCE)

So start nLite, check what it asks for and come back with your success or your questions.

Basically, you will have to

-indicate where your install files are

-indicate where you want to copy them on your HDD (for processing)

-choose what you want to do (integrate drivers, maybe SP3, and "make iso")

-indicate where your drivers are located (the .inf or oemsetup.txt file)

-start the process

-when process is finish, click "make iso"

-give a name and path to the .iso file

-burn your iso file.

Good luck.

[Fernando 1]

@ PvtMatter:

It is not easy to help you, because you have written, that you are a PC Noob and all ways out of the dark are somehow more or less difficult for users who never have opened their PC case.

Since you obviously have a DVD with the final Win7 version and a suitable key for it, I don't recommend to create a new Windows MCE CD with integrated RAID drivers.

At first step you should check, where Win7 has been installed. (Note: It will always show itself when running as drive C, but it may be physically installed onto any other partition).

Run Win7, open the Disk Management and have a look onto the partitions shown at the buttom. The left one is the active partition with the MBR (usually drive C).

Additionally you may reboot and choose the "Earlier Windows" Operating System. This way you will see, if you really have a dual boot system. (Note: If you should get a message like "no NTLDR found", you can be sure, that you haven't got it really).

If you should realize, that Windows 7 has been installed onto the wrong hdd (outside the RAID with your DATA), I would do the following

1. Do a backup of your important data.

2. Open the Desktop case and unplug the SATA cable from your DATA hdd, which is outside the RAID array.

3. Insert the Win7 DVD and boot off it (the optical drive has to be set at first bootable device within the BIOS).

4. When Win7 Setup will show you the RAID and its partitions, highlight the partition, where your previous MCE was installed (probably drive C).

Important: Before you hit the "Continue" button, you should hit the "Advanced options" button and choose to format the drive, where you want to get Win7 installed. This way you will completely delete the previous MCE partition and get a clean install of Windows 7 onto the same partition (probably drive C).

5. Once Windows 7 is up, you should shut down your PC, open the case and reinsert the SATA cable to the non-RAID hdd.

6. At next PC start you should enter the BIOS and have a look to the "HARD DISK BOOT PRIORITY" settings. The RAID should be on top. If needed, change the order and save the new BIOS settings.

7. After the next reboot you should boot into Windows 7 and see all your hdd's and datas within the Windows Explorer.

Good luck!

Fernando

EDIT:

If you want to follow Ponch's advice by creating a Windows MCE CD with integrated SATARAID drivers, I recommend to have a look into >this< guide (provided, that your Alienware Desktop has an nForce chipset and your RAID is a NVIDIA nForce one).

-indicate where your drivers are located (the .inf or oemsetup.txt file)

Don't search for a file named OEMSETUP.TXT. Ponch meant a file named TXTSETUP.OEM. Edited November 3, 2009 by Fernando 1

[Ponch]

-indicate where your drivers are located (the .inf or oemsetup.txt file)

Don't search for a file named OEMSETUP.TXT. Ponch meant a file named TXTSETUP.OEM.

Exactly. I had a feeling something was wrong with that. Thanks anyway.