This can happen if your installation CD does not have the SATA driver incorporated into it.  You can work around the problem by going to system setup (F2 during the self test) and setting the SATA controller to RAID Autodetect/ATA.  This puts the controller into a mode that is compatible with the IDE/ATA drivers native to the Windows XP installation CD. If you wish to use the computer in the RAID Autodetect/AHCI mode that is native to SATA drives you must find a way to install the appropriate SATA driver.  If you do not have an internal diskette drive this will require a bit of work as Windows XP setup will only accept the driver from this type of drive.  For additional information, check out this thread:  Dimension 8400 Windows XP Install.
I'm trying to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows XP on a newly purchased WD 500 Gig internal drive. I reset the BIOS to factory default settings. I have the boot sequence set to Hard Disk first, then DVD drive. Upon booting to the DVD drive, I have the Dell XP CD loaded. Windows XP setup begins copying files, then starts it's process of installing Windows. After about 30 minutes of copying files, it reboots and I immediately get a Blue Screen with the following STOP code info: 0x0000007B, 0xF7A40528, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000 I have read thru the STOP code section and have tried all the solutions listed without any success. Do I need to install a hard disk SATA driver during setup ? I have all the Dell CD's that came with the system when purchased new. I have tried installing XP with another 80 Gig SATA drive with the same results and same STOP codes. Thank you for any help you can give me.
Dell Dimension 8400 XP install BSOD $7b