Long life to a HP Proliant!

[falvares]

Hi,

I have ths old HP Proliant ML110 G2 P4 3.2GHz, 2GB memory, 4x80GB SATA, that I used as a server (Win Server 2003), and it is now deactivated.

I don't want to use it as a server any more, and as it is a very good computer, I ask: can I install Win7 Pro on it?

Some time ago I asked my fellows if I could install Win XP on it, but they told me no, because Win XP has no support to SATA HDs. (???)

As it would be used as a secondary computer in my office, the XP option seemed to me the best one, because (that's what I think - don't know if I'm misinformed) the 2GB memory and the P4 3.2GHz processor, wouldn't perform as fast with Win7 Pro as Win XP. I'm I right?

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[Mychael]

Well i'm running WIN XP and all my drives are SATA. Of course your motherboard needs to be SATA compatible but I'm assuming yours is. Cant comment on speed, I believe that 2gb is the recommended minimum for WIN7 32bit. Certainly more then enough to run XP on.

 

[falvares]

Thank you, Mychael. Will try to install Win XP Pro on it.

Cheers!

 

[sbarrow47]

If you want to install XP, you will probably have to pre-load sata drivers into the xp install cd.

Look up the nlite program, it lets you do this.

 

[Mychael]

No, XP will see SATA drives straight up. At least mine did.

 

[sbarrow47]

Yes that's why I said probably. But it depends on the XP CD. The older ones require the drivers.

 

[Ian]

My g/f has a very similar spec PC to that one and runs W7 Ultimate on it without a hitch - around the same speed as XP, but with extra benefits. I'd go for W7 Pro over XP if you are able to .

 

[w7pro]

Hi,

I have ths old HP Proliant ML110 G2 P4 3.2GHz, 2GB memory, 4x80GB SATA, that I used as a server (Win Server 2003), and it is now deactivated.

I don't want to use it as a server any more, and as it is a very good computer, I ask: can I install Win7 Pro on it?

Hooray for keeping a good computer running! I recommend you visit the Windows 7 Compatibility Center at http://bit.ly/CptCtr. It can scan your machine for compatibility issues. Also, there's a FAQ at http://bit.ly/CmptFAQ. I have more resources on compatibility if you need them, just let me know. Hope that helps! Best, Andrea Hofer Windows 7 Professional Outreach Team @Win7ProSB

 

[Cypress]

I'd run Ubuntu instead of 7. That CPU is getting old.

 

[yodap]

I'd run Ubuntu instead of 7. That CPU is getting old.

You are unbelievable!!!

falvares
Yes it will run any 32bit version of Linux. And yes It will run any W7 32bit version very well. How do I know? Because I'm doing it. If you get a retail version of W7 it will come with both 32 and 64bit disks. Use the 32 for as long as you want and you will have the 64 for whenever you upgrade your hardware and take that HP out of commission. Good luck!

 

[mike3rdof5]

Well said Yodap.

Do or do not, there is no try.

 

[Bobinator5000]

GAH!!!!!!!!

*bangs head on desk*

A: Get into your BIOS, SATA controllers can emulate IDE operation for legacy OS via a BIOS option. Typically SATA operation is AHCI or SATA, and IDE operation is labeled IDE(SOMETIMES AHCI but rarely). If you set it to IDE operation XP/2k will view the disks as IDE disks and mount them.

XP SP3 DOES NOT support SATA naively.

B: Google, install and run HWINFO32; find the type of motherboard you have, hit the manufacturers website, download the SATA drivers. They should be in their own folder; it'll consist of a .inf and multiple sys files. Copy those files to the root directory of a floppy. Put in the windows disk, wait for the installer to ask "hit f5 to install 3rd party drivers"; hit F5, it'll scan the floppy and prompt you for what drivers you want to install. Select which drivers you want, and the install will detect the SATA disks and go merrily on it's way.

With 4 SATA disks you're going to want to use RAID I'm sure; you can do this using the above process so long as the correct drivers and controller type are selected.


​

 

[catilley1092]

*bangs head on desk*

A: Get into your BIOS, SATA controllers can emulate IDE operation for legacy OS via a BIOS option. Typically SATA operation is AHCI or SATA, and IDE operation is labeled IDE(SOMETIMES AHCI but rarely). If you set it to IDE operation XP/2k will view the disks as IDE disks and mount them.

XP SP3 DOES NOT support SATA naively.

B: Google, install and run HWINFO32; find the type of motherboard you have, hit the manufacturers website, download the SATA drivers. They should be in their own folder; it'll consist of a .inf and multiple sys files. Copy those files to the root directory of a floppy. Put in the windows disk, wait for the installer to ask "hit f5 to install 3rd party drivers"; hit F5, it'll scan the floppy and prompt you for what drivers you want to install. Select which drivers you want, and the install will detect the SATA disks and go merrily on it's way.

With 4 SATA disks you're going to want to use RAID I'm sure; you can do this using the above process so long as the correct drivers and controller type are selected.


​

What do you do if you don't have floppy discs? My XP Media Center discs has only IDE drivers, and no SATA ones. Is there a way to do this by a USB thumb drive?

BTW, welcome to the forum! I just noticed this was your first post. Hope that you enjoy it here, it is a great place to learn, in a friendly environment.

Best of Luck,
Cat

 

[Mychael]

*bangs head on desk*

A: Get into your BIOS, SATA controllers can emulate IDE operation for legacy OS via a BIOS option. Typically SATA operation is AHCI or SATA, and IDE operation is labeled IDE(SOMETIMES AHCI but rarely). If you set it to IDE operation XP/2k will view the disks as IDE disks and mount them.

XP SP3 DOES NOT support SATA naively.

B: Google, install and run HWINFO32; find the type of motherboard you have, hit the manufacturers website, download the SATA drivers. They should be in their own folder; it'll consist of a .inf and multiple sys files. Copy those files to the root directory of a floppy. Put in the windows disk, wait for the installer to ask "hit f5 to install 3rd party drivers"; hit F5, it'll scan the floppy and prompt you for what drivers you want to install. Select which drivers you want, and the install will detect the SATA disks and go merrily on it's way.

With 4 SATA disks you're going to want to use RAID I'm sure; you can do this using the above process so long as the correct drivers and controller type are selected.
​

All I can say is that I set my bios to SATA, that was all I did, I did not need to install anything else. This is with XP SP2. Upgraded to SP3 after up and running.

Will be different with other MoBo and other variables but that is how it panned out for me. Can only comment on my own personal expereince.

 

[catilley1092]

I have never did any adjustments in the BIOS, except enabled the option for virtual machines to work properly. I forget the exact name for it.

So, in modern computers, does this option to emulate IDE exist? And if so, once finished, do you go back and reset it to the way it was?

And finally, is this the hump that I need to get over to install XP Media Center on here? I have no floppies, nor is there a place for them, and if there were, I don't even know how to use them. Although I've used computers on my job, when I worked, it wasn't until 2000 when I finally had my very own notebook, with Win 2K Pro installed on it.

I've done everything that was suggested, formatting the partition as NTFS prior to attempting the install, nothing has worked. What I was going to do was, using a backup image taken with Macrium, installing the OS on here through the backup and hope that it'll boot, with startup repair. Problem is, all of those Dell drivers on the OS concerns me. And still no SATA controller installed on the OS.

Any suggestions?

Cat

 

[TrainableMan]

Cat, can't you just burn it to a CD? What does the directory structure (folders and sub-folders look like currently? Could you show a fully expanded screenshot or the windows explorer directory for the XP install disc(s)? Also you would burn the drivers to a separate CD and insert when requested.

 

[catilley1092]

Yes, I can burn my original SATA driver to CD, but what do I do with it? Will the install process stop if I eject the install CD to do this?

I don't know how to post these screenshots of these things, that's something that I need to learn how to do, it was only a few months back that I learned how to make paragraphs. My posts used to look bad, everything being in one huge one.

I could stand to go to the local community college to learn these things, they have short courses. Something that I need to do, if it's not too expensive.

Cat

 

[TrainableMan]

Well I haven't done it in ages but it always used to be smart enough that when you tell it to browse for driver you pop in the other CD and then when it needs the original it says please insert XP yada yada.

 

[catilley1092]

Thanks, I'll have to give that a shot later in the week.:top: I have my hands tied up installing another OS (XP Mode). As soon as I'm finished and backed up, I'll see if it'll work. When you install XP Media Center, you have to use three different CD's anyway, so one more won't make much difference.

Cat

 

[sammycloud]

I am using HP Proliant ML110 G2 with old xp os, recently changed to win7 all my drives are updated, Its giving better perfomance . I never updated the bios till now.