WhyAskWhy said:Have you tried the XP CD without the SP2.

Thanks WAW, I did try to install XP with SP1 only; but I had the same problem: SATA driver loaded via "F6" key option didn't work, so the SATA drive wasn't recognized.

I remember when I loaded the XP pro into a Panasonic M34, it would give me BSD no matter what. If I loaded another XP CD without SP2, it worked ok. But once I installed SP2, it went to BSD again. Ghost was handy.

XP SP2 apparently can cause a BSOD loop on some computers. This is a known bug in XP SP2.

FWIW: One thing I tried on the Gateway was to install XP SP1 on a different computer, then swap the drive with XP on it to the Gateway. On bootup, I got this error: "STOP 0x0000007b" Surprise...this stop error means Windows can't access the C: drive. It appears that this Gateway ML6230 does not support XP, no matter what you do.

Thanks again for your help.

HP is nice too, great cust support

my friend bought that Gateway. nutin but headaches. he told me hed never buy the brand again. he was upset he had to stick with vista. xp install was impossible. he said the only option was to trade it for an older xp lappie or sell it to help get $ for macbook

Erickson said:You know its cheaper to buy a custom built; And then Vista/XP/Linux and whatever you want for PCs will work.

Isn't that nice?

Last year, I switched entirely to notebook computers (except for a gutted P3-500 HP minitower that I found in the trash, resurrected as a Win2K file server). Notebooks can't really be custom built, per se, so that is a limitation.

I've built dozens of custom PC's over the years. Then I bought a Dell Dimension 4550, and fell in love with the tool-free clamshell enclosure, the *ultra-quiet* oversized fan and custom, high-efficiency ducting. That was the best computer I ever owned, and it hooked me on Dell.

So far, I've had 3 Dell notebooks, and all have been superb. Never a single problem, and very easy to install a variety of OS's (Win 2000, XP, Vista, OS X, Linux). I've owned IBM, Toshiba, Compaq, HP, Gateway and Apple notebooks. Dell stands out for bombproof reliability, and excellent value for dollar. I'm not a fanboy, just a satisfied customer.

Just an update. I used your Driver pack listed in the first post here but it didn't include the video drivers but I found them on another site for Windows XP: http://rapidshare.com/files/61817744/Intel943GML-GW-ML6230.exe

Everything is good now. Running Windows XP on my Gateway 6230 Laptop with all drivers working. I'm very happy now because I was running Rosetta Stone English learning software and there's so many issues in Vista and when you have a learning application like that not work right, it really is a horrible thing.

The BIOS settings are pretty crappy in the ML6230 but make sure when you burn the new integrated Windows XP with the sata drivers on it that the CDROM is the first boot device.

Well, you can use a legal copy but that one has the latest service packs and everything. You can use it with your legal cdkey like I did; I just wanted everything integrated and didn't want to do all the work.

Hi, I tried installing XP with no success and had to reload Vista; in fact, I lost some device drivers along the way. Now I can't find my drivers & application disk. Any chance you ML6230 owner out there can burn me a copy? Thanks.

Alright guys here is the fix download the zip and have fun its all the drivers it took me a while but I got it down this is for the Best Buy 299 deal on that Gateway machine I bought it as a christmas present and it turned into a nightmare lol so I uninstalled vista and found all the drivers for XP don't worry its not a virus lol I'm a good hacker not a bad one HERE ARE THE DRIVERS FOR THE ML6230 TO RUN ON XP

IF THAT DIDN'T WORK:
http://www.splat880.com/ms/ml6230forxpdrivers.zip

Your welcome,
splat880

Nemesys said:So far, I'm unable to load Windows XP on the Gateway $299/$349 notebook from the BestBuy deal a few weeks ago. Here's what I've tried: I downloaded the handy XP Drivers Bundle). I found the XP SATA drivers on the Gateway support site, and wrote them to a USB floppy drive. I booted up a real Microsoft CD of Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 2, and loaded the SATA drivers via the "F6" option. After XP Pro boots from the CD, the installer isn't seeing the SATA hard drive in the Gateway. It sees USB drives just fine (I checked). I've tried everything I can think of. I verified that the XP Pro installer is working by installing it on another notebook with a SATA drive. I checked the Gateway's BIOS settings. Everything looks fine.

Has anybody managed to get XP loaded onto one of these Gateway ML6230's? Vista is worse than I could have imagined possible. I *need* XP, and I don't know why this is so difficult (given that Gateway even provides a set of XP drivers.)

Thanks for any help.

Nemesys

pyee01 said:HP is nice too, great cust support

my friend bought that Gateway. nutin but headaches. he told me hed never buy the brand again. he was upset he had to stick with vista. xp install was impossible. he said the only option was to trade it for an older xp lappie or sell it to help get $ for macbook

I can believe that because Gateway has been giving some people the Vista Ultimate option if you want XP.

Honestly what a freakin scam. Either buy another OS so you can upgrade to XP or spend the money on extra memory for a bloated sloth of an OS that is the more buggy than Win 95, the original version.

Nemesys said:UPDATE:

SUCCESS! From the links that nirv provided, I used nLite to add Intel ICH7M SATA/RAID (text mode, not PNP) drivers to an OEM Windows XP Pro SP2 installer (from original Microsoft CD, not pirated). This should work for other versions of XP as well (possibly including Media Center Edition 2005; but I haven't tried it).

So how do you add the drivers to your XP install? Here's how:

Download nLite, the Gateway XP SATA drivers (see links above in nirv's post).

Install nLite.

Unzip the Gateway ML6230 drivers ZIP file somewhere.

Put your XP installer CD in the drive.

Fire up nLite, browse to your CD drive. Select it and hit "Next".

Browse to the location where you'll store the modified XP installer (make a new folder for it if needed). Hit "Next".

In the list of nLite options, click on "Make Bootable ISO" and "Load Additional Drivers".

When asked to add drivers in nLite, select the "Single Driver" button and browse to the folder with the Gateway SATA drivers (from nirv's link, above).
Select the x86 F6 floppy folder, and then select the iastor.inf file
From the text mode driver list, select the ICH7M SATA/RAID drivers, and nothing else.
Hit "Next" and when you get to the end, either create an .ISO or burn a CD for the modified XP installer.

Use the modified XP installer to boot your Gateway ML6230, and you should see the C: drive listed as an install target. Install XP as you would normally.

Hope this works for you as well as it did for me. Thanks to nirv for giving me the "nirv" to try this again.

BTW: The Gateway ML6230 runs *much* faster under Windows XP. You will notice the difference immediately. I'm still having a bit of trouble with the Sigmatel audio and Intel video; but hoping to sort that out.

Nemesys

Nice solution!