Sunday, December 2, 2007

How to install Windows XP raid drivers on a computer without a floppy disk drive

A nice write up from a friend of mine addressing technology advances today, where motherboards are being made without ps2 ports for the keyboard and mouse (can be fixed by buying a ps2 -> usb converter) , and more inconveniently, without a floppy disk cable input. What is worst is that these are the same motherboards that allow raid harddrives. When using winxp, the installation requires inserting a floppy disk into a: and loading up the drivers by pressing f6 during the beginning of installing windows xp.

So the dilemma ensues, how is one supposed to insert a floppy disk to install drivers the motherboard needs, when the motherboard does not come with a floppy disk cable input?

There are four solutions. 1st, get a usb floppy drive that windows xp will recognize. 2nd, create a new windows xp bootable cd that includes the raid drivers. 3rd, throw away the motherboard and get a new one. 4th, use windows vista.

Following, I will have the solutions to the first two, leaving the remaining two solutions for you to determine on your own.

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1st: get a usb floppy that windows xp recognizes.

A short list of what windows xp recognizes can be found at microsoft support.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/916196/


The following USB floppy disk drives are included in the Txtsetup.sif file and are therefore supported for use during Windows XP installation:
Plug and Play ID............................USB floppy disk drive model
USB\VID_03EE&PID_6901................Mitsumi
USB\VID_057B&PID_0000................Y-E Data; Sony part number 09K9835
USB\VID_0644&PID_0000................TEAC; IBM option part number 27L4226, FRU 05K9283
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2nd: solution is to make a windows xp bootable cd with the drivers copied onto the cd installation file structure

directions can be found here:

http://www.ginnerspc.com/articles.cfm?articleid=1703&page=1


basically the people made this guide to solve the "installing raid drivers on a computer without a floppy disk drive"

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