How To Slipstream SATA Drivers Into XP CD

Since the inception of Windows Vista, almost all notebook PCs come with Windows Vista or Windows 7 pre-installed. But if you like Windows XP more than Windows Vista then a simple Windows XP wouldn’t suffice for installing it on your notebook PC. If you BIOS has an option to change your hard disk mode from SATA to IDE then you can just pop in the good old Windows XP CD and get it set up within minutes. But if it doesn’t, then you have to do it the other way as mentioned below.

You will just be requiring the Windows XP CD and a few softwares and stuff that I will tell you as we go along. You might ask just why wouldn’t a normal XP CD do the task? The answer is pretty simple. The original Windows XP CD does not have SATA drivers so it can’t detect your hard drive during the installation process. The solution is simpler. Just slipstream them into the CD! So lets begin.

Step 1 :  Download and install nLite

This is an amazing software that lets you tweak and hack your XP CD to the core with an extremely easy to use UI. Download and install the software from here.

Step 2 : Download SATA drivers

You need to get your hands on the SATA drivers next, that you will need to slipstream into the CD. Although there are different version based on your motherboard that you can search them on Intel website or download the standard ones by searching for the right driver through google, which work with most of the motherboards. After downloading extract the driver and remember the location.

Step 3 : Insert XP CD and start nLite

Now that you successfully have the tools and utilities, we can get down with the real stuff. Launch nLite after inserting Windows XP CD into the drive. Choose to make an image of Windows XP in a directory of your choice. Click next and proceed to skip import or load previous settings step by clicking next and proceed to next step.

Step 4 : Add the SATA driver

On the next page, you will find a “Drivers” tab. Click on it and also check the bootable ISO option and then click on next. Click on the button at the bottom to insert the driver. Give the location to the folder where you extracted the SATA driver. You will find a couple of inf files, select any one of them. Now select the all the driver files. That is it, click Next.

Step 5 : Burn the ISO

You will now be asked for confirmation, select yes and let nLite integrate the driver and create a bootable image. Burn it on a CD by just hitting the Burn button at the bottom and you will be ready to install Windows XP on your laptop!

Good luck slip-streaming.