Dell Optiplex 755's and Windows XP installation

Windows XP installer does a blue screen of death on installation, with a STOP: 0×0000007B error. Installation fails due to the BSOD and is not recoverable.

In this particular instance, it means Windows cannot detect and load the correct harddisk controller driver.

driver,

Perbecause http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=107364cit :

does

Dellnot has a BIOS update on 6November 2007 which adds a “Legacy” mode tosupport the BIOS’sdefault SATA ports,operation thenmode you can loadin the Dell SATABIOS drivers (Intel ICH9) via floppy or a slipstreamed XP CD..

The DellIn BIOS, update (rev A04) is available onin the DellDrives site at http://support.dell.com/ .
" 5. Added— SATA legacyOperation, you can change from the default RAID/AHCI mode supportto forRAID/ATA oldermode operating(not systems.Legacy "mode), and Windows setup will now run.

This error occurs in both Windows XP and Windows XP x64, even with SP2 slipstreamed. As for the fix, I have only tried it with Windows XP x64 with SP2 slipstreamed.

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A user online has reported the same problem, albiet with a slightly different solution: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=107364c :

The user there recommends installing the updated BIOS, which then enables a “Legacy” mode to be selected in the SATA Operation menu. Then the user loads Windows XP and with F6, loads the Dell SATA drivers. From my testing, you do not actually need to load the Dell SATA drivers, but I believe this user was using a different OS (XP SP2 32-bit) and that may be a factor.

The Dell BIOS update (rev A04) was released 6 November and is available on the Dell site at http://support.dell.com/ .

" 5. Added SATA legacy mode support for older operating systems. "

This update is labeled as “URGENT” according to Dell. It adds a “Legacy” mode support for the SATA operation, although we do not need to use this mode, so I am unsure if we need it or not.