FixIDE is a utility to force-install standard IDE controller drivers on a ‘offline’ Windows XP installation.
Current Version: 1.0
Purpose: To save you from a repair-install of Windows after a motherboard swap!
When you swap motherboards, sometimes the system blue screens (I forget the exact error) while trying to load Windows on your new hardware. This is due to not having the right IDE controller drivers for the new motherboard. Unfortunately, Windows isn’t smart enough to catch this issue and load it’s standard drivers (if they were never installed on the system to begin with.)
Most people are ready to repair-install Windows, not me. I’d rather do a 2 minute fix and be on my way! That’s where FixIDE comes in.
Q&A:
Q: Yes but, can’t I just install the standard IDE drivers from the device manager before swapping the motherboard?
A: Sure! If you thought about it ahead of time, and this is of course assuming your motherboard isn’t BAD. I’m a technician. Usually I’m not upgrading someone’s motherboard, I’m replacing BAD boards where a system won’t load Windows in the first place. So yeah, FixIDE is pretty handy.
Q: Will it work on SATA as well as PATA drives?
A: Maybe. Rule of thumb: If you can install Windows on it without using specialized hard disk controller drivers, then yes it should work. Some SATA controllers don’t need specialized drivers and some do. This can also depend on whether your SATA controller is configured in the BIOS for running in IDE, AHCI, or RAID mode. If it’s AHCI or RAID mode, then no it won’t work, else it may depend on the specific controller. No, I don’t have a list of supported controllers, or any further details, and no it won’t work on SCSI at all. Refer to the rule of thumb.
Q: Will it do any damage if it doesn’t work?
A: The process of force-installing generic IDE drivers (which is the FixIDE goal) will not do any damage even if it cannot help you in your situation due to a controller incompatibility. Regardless, your mileage may vary depending on other factors, (bad hard drive, corrupted file system, corrupted registry, etc.) but if you’re that bad off to begin with, where’s the harm?
System Requirements:
FixIDE is only designed to fix WINDOWS XP, any version. It may also work on Windows 2003 but don’t quote me on that (and your server should be using RAID anyway so shame on you for wondering.) Although it wasn’t designed for it, I’m told it works on Vista quite well.
FixIDE was designed to run on Windows XP or Windows PE 1.0, but should be able to run from any version of Windows with sufficient security permissions to query and edit a Windows NT based registry, has NTFS write permission and capability (assuming the WinXP install you are fixing is on NTFS,) and requires REGEDIT.EXE to be in the path for importing of the .REG files.
In addition to the FixIDE package you are about to download, it requires these files from your Windows XP CD: (I don’t think I can distribute them, so it’s up to you) ATAPI.SYS, INTELIDE.SYS, PCIIDE.SYS, PCIIDEX.SYS
INSTALLATION (RECOMMEND SETUP FILE METHOD):
- Download the setup file and install OR download the App-only package for portable use (like on your WinPE CD if your system won’t boot.)
- OPTIONAL: for portable use you need to copy the application directory to your flash drive, Tech Bench Computer, or WinPE CD, making sure you have the appropriate VB6SP6 redist files in the path (see system requirements above.)
- Obtain the driver files (ATAPI.SYS, INTELIDE.SYS, PCIIDE.SYS, PCIIDEX.SYS) from your Windows XP CD. As I recall, they are in i386 but even if they are in CAB files, a simple search will find them. Put them in the “FixIDE_Required_Files” sub-directory (this directory should be pretty much right beside FixIDE.exe wherever you extracted the package.)
USAGE INSTRUCTIONS:
- [using a bootable WinPE CD] – Boot to your WinPE CD.
OR
- [using another computer] – Attach the hard drive to a known good system that loads Windows (i.e. your Tech Bench Computer)
AND
- Run FixIDE.exe from wherever you put it, on the CD or your flash drive.
- Click BROWSE to choose the Windows folder of the system partition you wish to fix (usually with a WinPE disk, that’s on C: drive)
That’s it. Nothing more to do. Really. Now see if it loads Windows. If not, prepare for a repair!
License:
- This software completely FREE for personal and commercial use under the terms of this license.
We’re glad you wish to make a donation to our team, and even more so that whatever we’ve done for you was worth it!
Thank you for supporting our team, from the entire crew at d7xTech, Inc!
($5 minimum - do not use a $ in the price field!)
Download the Setup Installer (Recommended!)
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