Problems with Install of Samsung Spinpoint M7E

[Apathy]

Hey guys,

So I've just installed my new Samsung Spinpoint M7E hard drive into my Sony Vaio VGN-NS10L. The startup screen is simply blank. I can get into the BIOS and the main page recognises a 640GB hard drive but there are no selectable options. On attempting to install Windows XP it shuts down the operation every time, telling me to 'check for viruses, remove any newly installed hard drives' etc etc...

(*** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF78D2524, 0xC0000034, 0X00000000, 0x00000000))


There was no jumper with the hard drive to force it to 1.5 GB/s, I'm not sure what else to try.

I've created a bootable USB to run Samsung's 1.5 GB/s patch and the ESTool as per the topic 'ESTool Not Working?' on this forum to identify any problems. The first tells me that no hard drive exists on running the script, the second simply moves the cursor down a space and then I can do nothing.

It's worth mentioning that Vista was originally running on that laptop, but with the loss of my previous hard drive it seemed a good time to downgrade. Is it simply not possible? Is it the software or the hardware that's the problem? I've run out of ideas, have been at this for hours and would appreciate any help that can be offered If I've missed out anything significant you might need please let me know.

Cheers,

Apathy

[Queelis]

Have you at least tried a Vista install (ofc Win7 would be even better)? Maybe it's something with XP being ages old that's preventing it from recognising the drive.

By the way, Microsoft suggests updating the BIOS if the error occurs during Win XP install. Have you tried that?

And it seems to happen to people who try to downgrade (either from Vista or Win7, though who would want to downgrade from 7 to XP is anyone's guess )