Vista and XP Reformat Help

Hey guys I was wondering if someone could help me with a similar problem. When installing XP on my Acer computer, I receive a blue screen with the following error:

STOP 0x0000007B

After hours of phone calls to different vendors, I was able to draw the conclusion that my SATA hard drive needed certain drivers to be installed during the XP set up (pressing F6 and installing a RAID driver from a floppy) but I have a little problem - I don't have a floppy drive on my computer, and would rather not install one. Though I will if I have to, is there any way to install these drivers without needing to use a floppy drive? I just want to be able to run XP on my computer.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Wouldn't I have to buy a USB device to boot from?

 

As far as I know, the only way to install the SATA drivers (also known as the "F6 drivers") is from a floppy disk You can buy an external USB floppy for under $40 at most any PC store or order one from TigerDirect or Egghead... I know, it's a drag for something you'll only use once or twice a year... maybe a friend has one you can borrow? Even if your BIOS supports the USB flash drive option as suggested above, I'm pretty sure that Windows XP does NOT and you wouldn't be able to read from the flash drive when needed during the XP setup, I could be wrong tho'.... Like I said, it's been my experience that the ONLY way to install the F6 SATA drivers is via floppy drive.... sorry.....

hd2k

EDIT: I was just thinkin'.... maybe you can boot to your Vista install disc, and let it detect and format the drive; but abort the setup process IMMEDIATELY after the format is finished, right before any system files get copied to the drive. I suppose you'd have to power down right after the format is done, and that may not be the healthiest manouvre for your hard drive (or your PC for that matter) so, do so at your own risk.....

 

Thanks for all of the quick responses. Sigh.. looks like I'll have to get my bro to install the floppy from my old computer, seeing that I don't know how. I would buy a floppy USB, thats a good idea, but I have no idea if my MB supports it; my Acer computer included no manual for the MB and I had to enter the BIOS just to see what the make is. Hmm wonder if I could buy one from Best Buy and return it when I'm finished with the XP installation haha.