# dumb question IDE/SATA **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [November 30, 2007, 7:26am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508 "2007-11-30T07:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr.Stevil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dr.Stevil](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Dr.Stevil)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 7:26am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/1 "2007-11-30T07:26:02Z")
So right now my (old)motherboard has 2 IDE channels and 2 SATA channels. I’m not sure if it is because of my motherboard, or if it’s because of windows XP, but I could never use the SATA channel out of the box. I had to install a driver first via windows (I don’t have a floppy drive to load the drivers first). My new rig only has 1 regualr IDE channel and 8 (I believe) SATA channels. Since I’m running 2 IDE dvd drives and one IDE hard disk (which I’ve always used for the OS) and another, larger, SATA HDD… what options do I have? I do plan on running vista, but I also plan on running XP on a dual boot. Do I need to ditch one of my DVD drives and run the HDD as the master and the DVD writer as the slave on the IDE? Or should windows (XP and vista) automatically recognize the sata channels without a driver? So that way I can ditch the IDE HDD and just use the SATA drive until I can grab another one thanks steve ---
**Author:** ![BuickGN](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/buickgn/32/7200_2.png) [@BuickGN](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/BuickGN)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 7:37am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/2 "2007-11-30T07:37:48Z")
get a usb stick and put the drivers on there, and make sure the sata channels arent set to raid if your not using them as raid. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Stevil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dr.Stevil](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Dr.Stevil)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 7:41am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/3 "2007-11-30T07:41:26Z")
you can use a USB drive via “F6” during install? no shit thanks for the help, kevin 🍺 ---
**Author:** ![BuickGN](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/buickgn/32/7200_2.png) [@BuickGN](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/BuickGN)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 7:46am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/4 "2007-11-30T07:46:15Z")
yeah most new bios will boot from usb. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Stevil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dr.Stevil](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Dr.Stevil)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 10:11am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/5 "2007-12-05T10:11:37Z")
well, it was either the HDD or the DVD-rom… didn’t like playing with both at the same time. first tried using the HDD as master and DVD as slave… then vice versa. Both times it only recognized the HDD. So I just ditched the old IDE HDD and am running both DVD’s along with the SATA. bummer :tdown: oh well, more reason to buy another SATA drive. Since SP1 is supposed to be coming out (or maybe it’s already out) I’m just going to stick with Vista and ditch XP all together, unless I need it for some reason in the future (or as a virtual machine) ---
**Author:** ![BuickGN](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/buickgn/32/7200_2.png) [@BuickGN](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/BuickGN)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 10:31am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/6 "2007-12-05T10:31:53Z")
damn steve ---
**Author:** ![JustinH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JustinH](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JustinH)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/7 "2007-12-05T11:37:59Z")
Vista doesn’t recognize sata drives out of the box? I haven’t done a fresh vista install yet… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Stevil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dr.Stevil](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Dr.Stevil)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 11:39am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/8 "2007-12-05T11:39:46Z")
yeah, it does (although, wasn’t 100% sure that it would a few days ago). XP doesn’t though… but I’m done with XP for the time being, so whatever ---
**Author:** ![RuBiCaNT](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/rubicant/32/7622_2.png) [@RuBiCaNT](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/RuBiCaNT)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 11:40am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/9 "2007-12-05T11:40:10Z")
[quote=“JustinH,post:7,topic:39508"”] Vista doesn’t recognize sata drives out of the box? I haven’t done a fresh vista install yet… [/quote] It does but he was saying he wanted to use XP rather than Vista but wouldn’t be as gunshy about Vista since SP1 is around the corner (Beta3 or RC1) is out now. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Stevil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dr.Stevil](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Dr.Stevil)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 12:17pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/10 "2007-12-05T12:17:33Z")
^ werd. no problems with vista yet though, so who knows. ---
**Author:** ![ILCisDEAD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a87d85/32.png) [@ILCisDEAD](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ILCisDEAD)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 12:49pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/11 "2007-12-05T12:49:22Z")
umm… what is the Sata driver you need… if its common like Nforce, a newer windows XP disk should auto recognize… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Stevil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dr.Stevil](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Dr.Stevil)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/12 "2007-12-05T12:51:42Z")
I believe it was the silicon image drivers. Not 100% sure on the new board. I have XP media center 2005… not sure if there is a newer version past that. ---
**Author:** ![ILCisDEAD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a87d85/32.png) [@ILCisDEAD](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ILCisDEAD)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/13 "2007-12-05T12:53:01Z")
yea silicon image isn’t in XP sp2 so its doubtful that its in media center. just grab a floppy and go for it… simple enough. or if you can USB it (check the bios) that would be easier. floppy drives are dirt cheap btw ---
**Author:** ![kansei](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/kansei/32/3107_2.png) [@kansei](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/kansei)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 11:54am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dumb-question-ide-sata/39508/14 "2007-12-09T11:54:59Z")
[quote=“Dr.Stevil,post:3,topic:39508"”] you can use a USB drive via “F6” during install? no shit thanks for the help, kevin 🍺 [/quote] Only on Vista! You can’t do that with XP, will need a floppy. [quote=“JustinH,post:7,topic:39508"”] Vista doesn’t recognize sata drives out of the box? I haven’t done a fresh vista install yet… [/quote] Not my 3ware escalade controller or onboard silicon images ones I’ve tried. I’ve had luck with some intel SATA controllers, but they aren’t even RAID controllers.