Installing win2k after XP

Question

Dell dimension desktop 520 P4 3GHZ;3GB RAM HDrives: 2 WDC 250GB each I am running XP media center and I would like to install Win2k on my second harddrive. I try to boot from the win2k CD and it starts its setup but when installation should start I get a blue screen with 'Inaccessible boot device' I tried to unplug the first drive so only the second drive is present but it won't go. When I go in the Bios and change 'raid on' to 'autorun' I get a few steps further until partitioning starts. I show the partition I want and I get a message 'will have to format in FAT32 because the partition is larger than 2024kb' I do ok and than 'Can't format the partition because it's damaged' and that's the end of it. I think it has something to do with raid making the drive 'inaccessible' Is there something I can do about this? I installed and uninstalled 3 linux OS on that drive just to test it without any problem,all working fine. Installing another windows on another drive should not be a problem,no?

jackshack · Answer

You found one problem already; the E520 uses SATA drives and Windows 2K doesn't include SATA/AHCI drivers. Switching the controller to RAID Autodetect/ATA puts it in IDE mode that Win 2K will use.

Another problem is that the E520 has a PCI-Express bus. Windows XP had to get to Service Pack 2 to address this. I don't know if there is an update for Win 2K that will cover it - Service Pack 4 maybe, but it would need to be already part of your installation CD.

Yet another trouble is that Win 2K will be unaware of Windows XP. For easiest dual booting the older operating system should be installed first. When you do it that way Windows XP will detect the older os and give you the option of setting up a dual boot. Installing the other way round is possible, but you will need to learn how the boot proceeds so you can manually modify the necessary files.

Last, your Windows XP Media Center has already been installed using the RAID ON option. If you switch this to IDE mode your Win XP MCE will no longer boot as it has the wrong drivers installed for that option. There is a way to correct this, but it is a bit involved.

mombodog · Answer

What you can do is download and extract this sata driver to a floppy diskette, then use F6 at the very beginning of 2K setup to load a third party driver from the floppy drive.   Click Me

exsencon · Answer

Thank you both for the reply. It looks like I am climbing a moutain here! First I try to download the sata driver for 2k and have it installed during setup. Keep you posted!

exsencon · Answer

Well I downloaded that sata driver but it's a WinXP driver really and that's a no go. It starts allright and then after partitioning it asks for that sata driver again and then it freezes. I guess the xp sata driver doesn't work for win2k. Does anybody know where I can get a win2k sata driver?

mombodog · Answer

Here is the W2K driver direct from Intel   Click Me

exsencon · Answer

Still no luck. As a matter of fact the intel driver didn't even get me as far as the dell sata XP driver. With the intel driver I get the usual message: "inaccessible boot device". The dell XP driver gets me to the partitioning bit before abandoning.
I tried a few other drivers from the internet-no luck.
One thing I am thinking about is the fact I am using a USB floppy drive (desktop doesn't have an internal floppy) I don't know if that is an issue. It looks like a dead end really. Any suggestions?

mombodog · Answer

I would try installing an internal floppy drive temporarily, to load the driver.

exsencon · Answer

Installed an internal floppy drive-still no luck. As a matter of fact, the internal floppy even refuses the sata XP driver who got me as far as partitioning with my USB floppy. End of story? Apparently Dell doesn't provide a sata driver for its Dimension 520 machines who are supposed to run with XP installed (and they do!) It's just a pity one cannot install another Windows (except Vista probably because more recent) I tried a lot of Dell drivers I could find in support but they don't provide one for the 520 or they don't anymore.:smileysad: Suggestions are always welcome. In the meantime I installed a few linux on my second HD,running fine!:smileyhappy:

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