"Patient Guy" wrote in message
news:Xns9ABC7EF866C00UVAA@207.46.248.16...
>
> After creating 6 GB partition (maximum shrink volume available) and
> formatting NTFS using the Vista HP disk management control for setting up
> an XP Pro system in that space, I am unable to run the XP setup disk
> because it apparently does not have the drivers for running the hard drive
> ("the machine apparently has no hard drive"),
>
> Once I find the drivers (a chore in itself), can I somehow load them into
> a
> RAMdisk and then run XP setup?
Not likely, the easier thing is to use a USB floppy drive, $20. The
drivers will be easy to find.
The real question is whether they will *work*.
On this R61 thinkpad, I had to shift the SATA controller into a
compatibility mode because the SATA driver Lenovo offered was accepted
during XP setup, but it still couldn't find the hard disk in AHCI mode.
Had to shift modes, yes from the BIOS, install XP, then install the driver,
then go back to BIOS and shift modes.
> This is a new laptop, so naturally there's no floppy, and we have no USB
> floppy, and what's worse---see below----even if we did manage to borrow a
> USB floppy, we're not sure if we can alter the boot sequence because we
> have no access to BIOS.
You won't need to; the floppy is normally assigned A automatically, and
that's where XP looks.
But as noted above, this may not help you.
>
> I hope that answer does not involve accessing BIOS: this Toshiba laptop
> is
> presenting me with a password block to the BIOS and the owner of the
> laptop
> claims he did nothing to create a password during his setup/initial use.
> I
> see no BIOS battery when uncovering the screwed-down accessible areas of
> the laptop bottom. Dozens of times we've tried to guess the password
> (unit
> shuts down after 3 failed tries).
Laptops don't have a BIOS battery. Remove the main battery and the power
adapter, hold the power switch down for 30 - 60 seconds. That's the usual
secret handshake. Otherwise, you must call Toshiba support, and probably
send the unit for service.
HTH
-pk
