Installation issues

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  1. Posts : 6
    Windows 7
       #1

    Installation issues


    Hello, first I want to thank Brink for his helpful tutorial. :) I have recently purchased a Toshiba Satellite L455-S5975, which was a cheap but perfectly sufficient laptop for my purposes. I would like to set up a dual boot with the Windows 7 that came pre-installed on it and a (completely legal) copy of Windows XP that I just purchased on ebay. Upon following method two outlined by Brink, partitioning my hard drive via the Windows 7 disk manager was no problem, but as soon as I tried to install Windows XP I ran into a problem.

    My computer crashed before the installation even began, giving me a blue screen of death with a "Stop 0x0000007B" error. I Googled this to find out what it meant and soon learned that I was facing a very common problem with SATA driver incompatibility. From what I gathered by reading some help threads, it seems that I need to download some kind of SATA driver that is compatible with my particular computer and then either 1) use a program called nLite to make a "slipstream" CD that has the needed driver as well as the Windows XP installation on it, or 2) copy the driver files to an old floppy disk and use a usb-connected floppy drive that is recognized by my system as an A: drive to install the driver by pressing F6 at the beginning of the Windows XP install setup.

    OK, seems simple enough. I could go either route. To my good fortune I even have such an external floppy drive as well as blank floppy disks that have been sitting in my closet for ~8 years.

    My problem is that I have no idea how or where to obtain the needed SATA drivers?? going to the Toshiba support pages for my laptop does not seem to help at all; they only list Windows 7 drivers as possible downloads. Is there some kind of general SATA driver that works for most computers or do I need one specifically designed for the laptop I bought? Where can I get it?

    Then there is an additional "complication" to my question. For some reason I thought it might be a good idea to enter the BIOS and look around to see if maybe I could change something that would make it work out. That is when I stumbled upon an option that mentioned "SATA" that could be changed from "AHCI" to "Compatibility Mode." Honestly I shouldn't have screwed with these since I had no idea what they meant... but being easily lured I changed it to "Compatibility Mode" thinking it might make it... well, compatible. Windows 7 then started and downloaded about 7 or 8 drivers automatically upon startup (some things with "ATA" in their names so it made me think I was on the right track). so I restarted and tried the Windows XP install again. This time it worked out! ... Only when XP started, it had a terribly small and horrid resolution (right click on desktop -> properties -> ... only lets me change the resolution from 800x600 to 1024x768), and it had absolutely no ability to connect to the internet (neither wirelessly nor via Ethernet). This is quite terrible... so I used another computer to download the .Net Framework and EasyBCD, then moved them to my laptop with a flash drive and finished Brink's tutorial. I rebooted and started up windows 7 and looked again online for information about "compatibility mode" and it seems that while this makes installing Windows XP possible, it is not the recommended method since one loses AHCI mode, which cannot simply be turned back on in the BIOS without some drivers (or something like that).

    SO, if any kind soul has bothered to read all my lengthy ramblings and can set me straight, your help would greatly be appreciated. At this stage, my guess is that the Windows XP I have installed is lacking a bunch of drivers it needs? This may explain my I am prevented from changing the resolution to something better than a very stretched out looking 1024x768 and why I cannot connect to the internet. So what should I do? Should I reinstall windows XP in AHCI mode and either slipstream a CD or use the floppy drive to install the SATA drivers? If so, where do I get these drivers?? Or can I fix things from where they are now (seems like this option may be a bit of a pain since I don't have internet access in XP)? Is the reason I can't connect in XP because I am missing drivers?

    Anyway, thanks for any help anyone can offer! :)
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,797
    Windows 7 Ulti. x64
       #2

    Welcome to sevenforums.
    Sounds like you need to go into your device manager in win 7 and find the name of your graphics card and your network adapter. Go to the manufactures web site and find xp drivers download to 7. Then go to your xp and copy them from your 7 partition and install them in XP. This is a usual problem in an xp install. If Seven is working good for you and xp only has two missing drivers then you are doing good. I would stick with what you have going and see if you can fix it. Good luck to you.
      My Computer

  3.    #3

    In your XP Device Manager driver tab for Graphics controller and Ethernet/WIreless adapter browse for the driver in the Window's 7 files: windows/system32/drivers or windows/system32/driverstore/filerepository and see if it takes a driver from those files.

    Since those particular drivers aren't on the manufacturer's download page you give for XP, then you need to google the exact name of the device from the device manager and locate those XP drivers, load to a USB stick or disk and browse for them there from the XP Device manager Update drivers tab.

    Once you get online, Windows UPdates will give you other drivers under Custom search.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 6
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thanks to both of you. I will try what you suggest this evening and see if I can find those drivers. I'll post back to let you all know how it went. Thanks again!
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 6
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #5

    According to the device manager my computer has a Realtek rtl8187b wireless network adapter. I went to the Realtek website and downloaded the driver for XP, shut down, and started up in Windows XP. I then ran the setup for the driver I downloaded in windows XP and it installed successfully. Then... nothing? I checked device manager in Windows XP and it still listed my wireless network adapter (along with some other things) as having no drivers!? It gave me the option of "reinstalling" the driver, at which point it asked to connected to the internet to search for them on the Microsoft updates page. Obviously that didn't work out.

    So now I'm confused; I got the right drivers and they seemed to install perfectly... but it had no effect? I feel so close though! Hmm... Any thoughts?
      My Computer

  6.    #6

    It may have just unzipped the file and now you need to browse to it using the XP Device manager Realtek adapter driver>Update. Look for a SWSetup file or Realtek file in the root (C:?) of XP or check Program files. Then browse to Drivers/XP in that file, or browse every folder.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 6
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #7

    I tried just about everything with the drivers that were supposedly exactly what I needed, but they just didn't seem to work? After several hours of desperate attempts at downloading any drivers that looked even remotely possible, one miraculously worked (even though it was for a different computer! - perhaps it has the same piece of Ethernet hardware). Once I had internet going, almost all the rest of the drivers were much easier to get. All except the "SM Bus Controller," which still needs a driver. I found several hits on Google but none had drivers that did anything for it. It seems that this is the only thing left though.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1,797
    Windows 7 Ulti. x64
       #8

    Oranges
    Thanks for reporting back that you have resolved your problem. Drivers are a big part of doing OS installs. Glad that you pushed forward and now are able to enjoy your efforts. This forum is a wealth of info in its tutorials and its members. We hope that you enjoy your time here with us at SF.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 6
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Thanks everyone, I appreciate all your help! Things are working smoothly now. I still need a driver for the SM bus controller though (not sure what it does and the fact that it's missing a driver isn't making any noticeable difference). This seems to be exactly my issue (the second of the three listed):

    Chipsets - SMBus drivers

    However, after following the links and being offered several of what look like the same program, it didn't fix it. I does mention that I should have installed it before I installed the chipsets... whoops?
      My Computer

  10.    #10

    Did you download and install the chipset for your model?

    Did you install the chipset for your model? Should be the first one installed for an old OS like that.

    I have had missing SMBus drivers on XP installs before and found them by googling the hardware name + chipset + model, etc. extensively until I found the driver and got it in. There is always someone before you who has been asking, and maybe found it.

    It's a longshot but browse from the XP Device Manager's SMBus driver update tab into the Win7 system32/drivers folder to see if it will pluck it from there.
      My Computer


 
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