Will,
The problem may not be the SP3 at all.  I was recently downgrading a Dell
Vostro 1510 from Vista to XP Pro.  I couldn't get the machine to boot from
any XP disk until I changed a BIOS setting labeled "SATA AHCI Controller
Mode".  Your choices are ATA or AHCI.  The XP CD doesn't recognize the AHCI
mode at boot up time.  I changed that to ATA and the machine took off
without a problem.  Look for that in your BIOS.

Ron Jobe



On Sat, May 2, 2009 at 7:17 AM, Will Stephenson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello all!
>
> I've been tearing my hair out over this one. I am trying to repair a Dell
> laptop that has XP sp3 on it. Because the owner sent it to me from Florida
> (I live in Maine), I did not get the Install CD. So I cleverly thought to
> use a copy of Windows XP Home that I have to do a repair. Since the Dell
> laptop has a SATA hard drive, the older XP CD can't find it. So, since I've
> read many times about slipstreaming service packs, I decided to try it.
> After many attempts to do it right, I have a folder on my hard drive with
> the updated XP sp3 all ready to roll!
>
> My problem, I think, is that I can't make a bootable CD that starts XP
> setup
> from boot time. I have tried including the Microsoft corporation.img file
> from the XP original cd as the image file (from the Paul Thurrott's Super
> site (http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp)
> and
> just get a Code 4 error(?) when using the cd to boot the laptop. I turned
> the slipstream folder into an .iso file and burned it to a cd - No
> operating
> system found.
>
> I have been doing the "bootable" burn with Roxio Creator DE, which I am
> thinking might be my problem. Nero has been suggested by the above
> mentioned
> site, but I don't wish to buy it and Nero always seems to invade my
> computers too deeply. Am I being too paranoid?
>
> Does anyone have any ideas, or programs that would burn this CD correctly?
> Thank you for your time and thought on this.
>
> Best, Will
>
> Will Stephenson
> Acadia Technologies Inc
> mailto:[log in to unmask]
>
> "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." -- Aldous Huxley
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