You did an outstanding job of giving instructions on this major problem with the Vista setup on Dell systems with Raid technology! I just wished I had your reference a couple of weeks ago when I went through all my troubles. No one at Dell or Microsoft seemed to have any awareness about this issue of the Raid BIOS settings. You are correct, they should have had this information out there for everyone to be aware of!
I do have a question about my system. Since I determined the problem was the BIOS setting for RAID after "muchado", I no longer have Raid set to "raid on" in my BIOS. It is set to "raid auto detect". It was the only way I knew how to get Vista up and going since I kept getting the IRQ error and the blue screen of death before. Actually, once I saw the settings in the BIOS (Raid On or Raid Auto Detect), I did not think I could have left "raid on" because I have Win Vista on Drive D and Win XP on Drive C.
My computer is working fine now with a dual boot system. I have Vista on drive D and XP on drive C. (Raid was changed from "Raid On" to "Raid Auto Detect".
Your instructions are very clear in explaining the intel files, how to get them, and why they are important during the installation of Vista "when you want to retain a Raid array". Your instructions with those Intel files also prevent a user from having to worry about changing anything in the BIOS (just leaving Raid On) when you want to retain a Raid array. However, I have just a few questions about your post as it pertains to the dual boot side of this topic when a person wants XP and Vista on two separate drives.
Would there have been any advantage (in my case) to leaving "Raid On" if I had known about the Intel Files you described? Obviously, I am thinking if I could have avoided reinstalling Win XP that would've been a huge time saver. But now that I've installed both OS from scratch, is there any difference? I am thinking Raid cannot really do anything for you if you have two different operating systems (even if it's set to on in the BIOS).
From your comments, I am assuming you are saying that even when a person does not want a raid array, this method of downloading those Intel files (while leaving raid on is still best because it allows you to keep the factory installed XP drive without having to do a clean install of that drive.
However, I was told there was no way around crashing my C drive if I wanted XP left on there (in a dual boot setup) because once Vista was installed on its respective hard drive, it's master record was going to overwrite the boot ini file that XP uses. Apparently, Vista has its own unique boot system that is different from XP, Win 2000 or Win 98. I don't know a lot about this topic but that much seems to be true about Vista's unique boot system. This new boot system by Vista seems to come into play when you get into a dual boot system with Vista and XP.....adding more complexity to the situation.
But I guess most importantly, I'd be interested in knowing if my "auto detect" setting (now that both operating systems are back on there) makes any difference (versus "raid on"). In other words, if you've got Vista on one drive and XP on the other drive, why would a person need to have "raid on" unless this feature really can prevent you from having to reinstall Win XP like I had to do. Please advise. Thanks.
I forgot to mention earlier. I would be interested in knowing the outcome of your situation when you get ready to put Vista on. In case I didn't already mention it, you have the exact same system specifications that I have. So if you have time, add something back to this thread when you get Vista going. Good luck :-)
WOW -- Thanks Chandler for taking the extra time to do this - you can't imagine what I've gone through with this ordeal - well, yea, I guess you can - that's how you came up with all this -- I'll try this within the next day or two - once I get my nerves up to go through it all again -- so you are basically saying that we can leave the RAID turned to on and not have to set it to auto detect - and by doing this procedure we can keep from wiping out XP on the C: drive and re-installing it + Keep our system turned to RAID ON ? Wow - if this works and I'm assuming it will - incredible. I did just download the drivers and WELL - finished the install by mistake - I wasn't sure at what point to stop - and when I went in and looked for the folder you mentioned I didn't see it - at any rate - I did install it - found the folder - rebooted from XP and back in and no problem at all - I haven't started the Vista install yet - but look forward to doing so hopefully with no problems -- I do have the Dimension 9200 - with 2 gigs of ram - 2x250 gig WD HDD -- and was close to throwing the Vista OS cd in the woods behind the house - ROFL -- Thanks again for your time and consideration. Regards Tom
Very Good - thanks again - I'll do that the correct way this time - I sure am glad you figured this out - I was at the point where I had just given up on Vista for now - and had no plans at all of getting back into it - after I crashed my system the first time - it was a nightmare having to re-install XP again -- thought I had it all figured out and boom - BSOD - very nerve wracking - of course a couple of times when the BSOD came up at the fist re-boot during the installation - I was left with a dual boot option that didn't work other than reverting back to XP - if I didn't hit that one - it would just keep trying to go back into setup of Vista - and BSODing again - I'll post my results back here within a couple of days - I do look forward to using Vista - but for the time being until things are completely stable with Vista - I need XP at the same time - I have wondered how complicated it's going to be when I finally get to the point that I only want Vista - how big of a mess is it going to be to have Vista ONLY on my C: drive and do away with XP -- considering once I do the dual boot with XP on the C: drive and Vista on the D: drive - would I just delete the Vista on D: and then re-install Vista on C: re-formatting C: to do a clean install of Vista and therefore doing away with XP? Does that make since. Anyway - thanks for posting this - from what research I've done - I haven't found an answer anywhere on this situation - and you did - two thumbs up my friend. Regards Tom
You didn't see the folder because when you finish the installation the way you did, it deletes the temporary folder. You must grab these drivers from the temporary folder and then CANCEL the installation since you don't need to install it but you do need to grab the drivers from it. So start the Intel setup, then find the folder, then cancel the setup.
Message Edited by ChandlerL on 02-19-2007 11:22 AM
You could but if I were you, I would simply erase the C:\WINDOWS (XP) and C:\PROGRAM FILES (XP) directories. That essentially erases XP. All you'd have left is the remnant of its existence in the bootloader (choose "earlier version of Windows" or Vista)
To fix that. Google VistaBoot Pro-- get the beta (free). It supports altering the bootloader so you can erase the "earlier version of Windows" and just have "Vista" as the choice. When that exists by itself it no longer pops up and just loads Vista.
Message Edited by ChandlerL on 02-19-2007 01:58 PM
Don't format it though because you could risk losing your bootloader which enables you to load any OS (XP, Vista, etc.). Erasing C:\Windows and C:\Program Files would do the trick with a lot less fuss.
Message Edited by ChandlerL on 02-19-2007 12:58 PM
I would simply erase the C:\WINDOWS (XP) and C:\PROGRAM FILES (XP) directories. That essentially erases XP. All you'd have left is the remnant of its existence in the bootloader (choose "earlier version of Windows" or Vista)
To fix that. Google BootMagic Pro-- get the beta.. It supports altering the bootloader so you can erase the "earlier version of Windows" and just have "Vista" as the choice. When that exists by itself it no longer pops up and just loads Vista.
Scott wrote:
So would BootMagic Pro (or other similar utility program) be installed on the XP drive and the Vista drive? It seems like it would need to be installed on the Vista drive to acomplish the task of getting rid of the XP bootloader from the C drive but I am not sure??
As I said before, you have the exact same computer as I do so your results will be most interesting for me. Actually, my step father also has an XPS 410 computer (same as mine and yours) and I will be helping him with Vista in another month or two so all of this feedback is helpful and a learning experience for me too (even though I already went through the nightmare dealing with my machine a couple of weeks ago).
Made an error in the program name in the previous post. The software I was referring to is the freely available VistaBoot Pro. I've updated the original message to avoid confusion.
At any rate, you can install it in XP or in Vista and use it in either OS to modify a Vista bootloader setup (remove an OS selection, change the # of seconds it waits before it automatically loads an OS, etc.).
I also tried to do a clean install (100% formated hard drives) with windows vista with the drivers you said on a floppy, i got a lot of blue screens again when windows setup was loading up.. eventualy it got there (had to turn off the machine and on lots of times) when i got where it asks for the driver of the hard drive I loaded the floppy you said and it showed no drivers.. i had to click the compatibility check thing that shows only the compatible devices and it showed a lot of files.. clicked them all and none of them worked
Hi Chandler, thanks for this info.. I have a question.
I have a new XPS 710 with Raid Mirror config, 500gig
it came with windows xp media center, however I separetly bought a copy of windows vista ultimate edition so I completly formated my dell (100%) and I tried a vista install.
for starters, the computer went bluescreen when i booted with the vista disk but eventualy it loaded (after many tries) and of course, it didnt detect a hard drive, it needed a driver (which i didnt have or at least didnt know where to look for)
so what I did was, load up my windows xp media center cd that dell gave me, it loads the files but then i reboot the computer and switch it with the vista disc, then vista detects my hard drive and install the OS.. .everything seemed fine but now i realise every once in a while (more often actualy) i get bluescreened... and i have to reboot... I dont know whats going on.. Im gona install media center again .. which s cos i wanted vista ultimate in this pc...
how am i gona be able to fix this eventualy? i dont know if dell is gona release and vista hard drive drivers? for my machine
Hey Chandler - Thanks again for the information and research you've done here - just one last question before I try and do the install again - could you verify that the page you load the drivers is very close to the beginning - if I remember correctly - it's maybe right after you put in your COA? - but basically before it starts installing the windows page -- is that correct - I do remember seeing the box on the lower left to load drivers - There again I'm just trying to head off any problems beforehand. Thanks in advance. Tom
scott784
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February 19th, 2007 01:00
Message Edited by scott784 on 02-18-2007 11:06 PM
scott784
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February 19th, 2007 03:00
proimage1
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February 19th, 2007 03:00
proimage1
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February 19th, 2007 12:00
proimage1
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February 19th, 2007 15:00
ChandlerL
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February 19th, 2007 15:00
Message Edited by ChandlerL on 02-19-2007 11:22 AM
proimage1
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February 19th, 2007 16:00
ChandlerL
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February 19th, 2007 16:00
QUOTE:
You could but if I were you, I would simply erase the C:\WINDOWS (XP) and C:\PROGRAM FILES (XP) directories. That essentially erases XP. All you'd have left is the remnant of its existence in the bootloader (choose "earlier version of Windows" or Vista)
To fix that. Google VistaBoot Pro-- get the beta (free). It supports altering the bootloader so you can erase the "earlier version of Windows" and just have "Vista" as the choice. When that exists by itself it no longer pops up and just loads Vista.
Message Edited by ChandlerL on 02-19-2007 01:58 PM
ChandlerL
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February 19th, 2007 16:00
Message Edited by ChandlerL on 02-19-2007 12:58 PM
scott784
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February 19th, 2007 17:00
To fix that. Google BootMagic Pro-- get the beta.. It supports altering the bootloader so you can erase the "earlier version of Windows" and just have "Vista" as the choice. When that exists by itself it no longer pops up and just loads Vista.
Scott wrote:
So would BootMagic Pro (or other similar utility program) be installed on the XP drive and the Vista drive? It seems like it would need to be installed on the Vista drive to acomplish the task of getting rid of the XP bootloader from the C drive but I am not sure??
scott784
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February 19th, 2007 17:00
ChandlerL
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February 19th, 2007 18:00
kuhnesito
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February 20th, 2007 10:00
kuhnesito
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proimage1
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February 20th, 2007 13:00