I need to help my friend to format her laptop next week. Although I have been formatting desktop PC for numerous times, this is my first time dealing with a laptop. Just wanna ask if there is any extra stuff I need to know before formatting, or is it the same as formatting desktop? As the laptop does not come with floppy drive, I am kinda worried about the SATA HDD detection problem while installing Windows XP. Any idea on how to overcome this problem (or it would not happen at all?)? How about all the required application software such as the touchpad driver or stuff, would it be installed automatically after I reinstall the Windows, or do I need to install from the application CDs (which I am not sure whether I could get or not)? Thanks for the help.

EDIT: It's a Toshiba laptop, 2006 model, not sure which model is that though

if u r not sure got driver cd or not for the laptop, why not u go downloading from their website first?but have to make sure the drivers are for the correct model la

last time i re-format and re-installed a fresh win xp for my bro-in-law laptop (ACER 4715), dun have any problem with 'sata hdd detection' or whatsoever, just installed it like for dekstop

about touchpad, i dun think the driver come with OS, need to install by ourself

I had been format laptop a few times without any error.
U need to install the driver for the hardware from driver CD or downloaded.
The touch pad has driver but not necessary to install(windows already can use touch pad).

what brand of laptop are you using?

it's TOSHIBA as stated in my first post

if not sure about its model, quite a problem when u want to download driver from net
hopefully the sticker that states it model no stil there on the laptop

Toshiba laptop you have to have SATA driver in your cd if the laptop is using SATA. Otherwise it won't work because there is no option to change in BIOS.

will try to get the driver cd


boot with WinXP cd, then how to insert driver cd while the windows cd is still inside the drive?

The driver should be installed once u had finished install Windows.

Make a windows xp cd with SATA driver in it. google for more.

i just formatted two laptop in the last 24 hours. 1 is acer and another is asus. i think u better get the laptop model and download the appropriate driver.

most new laptop need sata driver to install xp..

any problem faced while formatting those lappies?


that is quite an old laptop though

acer no problem cause got the installation cd form the manufacturer. but asus i need to download all the driver from the website. and to download it the most important thing is to know the model of your laptop, or the series of the laptop should be sufficient. good luck bro.

if you want to install in a sata hd, of course, get the respective driver from the website. but if at the bios have a function to disable the sata, just turn it off and install your xp. i think the data transfer speed is not that much different.

Look for Windows that can support sata. I think new windows such as sp3 doesn't have problem because it has sata driver inside the cd. Or else download the sata driver 1st.

i am going to install original windows (came together with the laptop purchase) on the laptop, i think it's SP2

will wait for next week and see what i could get, if encounter any problem (touch wood) then only ask here. but let's say if the SATA can't be detected, i couldn't format it also right? since the HDD can't be detected anyway

Make sure the sata mode in bios is set to IDE instead of AHCI?

What is the chipset of that laptop? You can find the driver of it and slipstream the driver into a windows installation cd with nlite, you can even integrate it with SP3.

reformat PC n laptop is the same thing actually.

the only problem is drivers for laptop. each laptop has a specific set of drivers. pls check with manufacturers website to confirm that u have all the drivers needed.

if u do not have all the drivers, i advise u to send it to a shop so that they can get all the drivers for u.

1 missing driver may not seem like a big deal now but it will be when u find out that ur laptop dont have sound or cannot detect LAN.

good luck.

honestly i have no idea abt the specs of the laptop. i have the stand-alone file for SP3, so after installing the original SP2, i will install the SP3 next.



what if i use Microsoft Update? would it be able to provide the up-to-date drivers?

installing sp3 on my toshiba L300 made it unable to boot lol

usually, there won't be a problem like the SATA being undetected. just format it like the usual dekstop-style. insert the XP CD, restart & boot, select the drive you wanna format, let it run for 30 mins or so installing it & there you have a new XP.

the main concern will be the drivers of the laptop. make sure they're all ready prior to formatting the laptop. been dealing with few Acer & Toshiba models before and i can say some models' drivers are hard to sourced. try the manufacturer's website first. good luck.

hopefully that would not happen to my fren's laptop


i am not sure about the laptop i am going to handle next week, but i have encountered the SATA problem before with my another fren's desktop.
would try my best to source for the drivers as what you all suggested earlier. thanks for the help

even dekstop have this 'SATA' problem during windows installation? weird la, coz i've installed XP so many times already into my pcs (even into my friend's & my family's pc), all of them using XP SP1 and these pcs using SATA hdd, never had any problem like that (i never turn of anything in bios prior to the installation, just change their boot sequence)

i had a shock too when the windows installation could not detect my fren's HDD, after did some search online only knew about such problem

I thought Windows XP original instalation CD does not come with nforce sata raid driver, that's why when you are installing XP on nforce machines you will have to load the sata raid driver from floppy or by integrating it into the installation CD?

Does XP dun have SATA driver which cause format has problems?
http://komku.blogspot.com/2007/11/integrat...to-windows.html

format laptop is just as simple as format desktop and all the utilities drivers needed to be install and they come in 1 cd

my fren aso got tis prblm too..cnt detect hdd rite...ur laptop freedos ka??..

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Added on August 17, 2008, 5:50 ami mean jus buy from shop n freedos??..

if laptop cd-rom sudah rosak.... how to format????

can it boot from usb? if yes, you can try using usb devices (thumbdrive, external cdrom, etc...) to format it.

it's an old laptop, just wanna reformat it and give the laptop a clean windows install

quite weird...bt my fren solution is go find pendrive tat hav floopy disk...some old pendrive have it...

i think the laptop use sata right?
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/501772


hmmm....u can download the driver all from toshiba website...base on your model

downloaded all the drivers, popped in the windows disc, boot it up, then gave me error code in the end i did not format, did what i could to fix the laptop, ran spyware scanner and deleted some trojans and malwares, then ran NOD32 and deleted few more trojans. googled for the solution for the autorun trojan thingy, and fixed it too. then uninstalled all the unnecessary programs, and installed SP3, and other updates as well. finally I defragmented the HDD and immunize the system from spyware using spywareblaster and spybot. ccleaner was also used. for the final touch, installed Zune theme for her

thanks for all the replies guys, although in the end i did not get to use any of those advice

thread closed