In order to install an operating system onto a single Serial ATA hard drive when the system is in RAID mode or AHCI mode, the F6 installation method must be used to load the Intel® Matrix Storage Manager driver during operating system installation.

Use the following steps to install the Intel® Matrix Storage Manager driver using the F6 installation method.

1. Click F6 when you see a message in the status line that says, Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver. This message appears at the beginning of Windows XP* setup (during text-mode phase).

   Note Nothing will happen immediately after pressing F6. Setup will temporarily continue loading drivers. You will then be prompted with a screen asking you to load support for mass storage device(s).

2. Click S to Specify Additional Device.

3. When you see a prompt that says, Please insert the disk labeled Manufacturer-supplied hardware support disk into Drive A:, insert a floppy disk containing the following files: IAAHCI.INF, IAAHCI.CAT, IASTOR.INF, IASTOR.CAT, IASTOR.SYS, and TXTSETUP.OEM.

   Note You can use the Floppy Configuration Utility to create a floppy disk with the necessary files. If you do not have a floppy drive on your system, you can use a USB floppy drive or create a slipstream version of the operating system.

4. Click Enter.

5. Select your controller from the list of available SCSI adapters. Use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the list as all controllers may not be visible.

6. Click Enter to confirm your controller and continue. At this point, you have successfully installed the Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver and Windows setup should continue. Leave the floppy disk in the floppy drive until the system reboots. Windows setup will need to copy the files again from the floppy to the Windows installation folders. Once Windows setup has copied these files again, remove the floppy disk so that Windows setup can reboot as needed.

Related Topics:
What is the F6 installation method?
What if I don't have a floppy drive on my system?

This applies to:

Intel® Matrix Storage Manager