If you do feel the need for a USB FDD at WinXP F6 install time, only some
models are supported .... see KB916196.

I bought a supported IBM (TEAC) USB FDD cheaply and quickly via eBay. This
device worked fine at F6 time when installing WinXP onto a SATA drive (with
AHCI specified), but a BSOD a few minutes later in the "WinXP Setup" process
stopped me. The BSOD was resolved by then using a customized WinXP install
CD with SP2 slipstreamed in. "nLite" http://www.nliteos.com/index.html
easily and correctly produced this CD for an inexperienced me.

--- Frank
>
> "Gary R." <roberthouse@geocities.com> napisao u poruci diskusione
> grupe:egH7wePaIHA.4880@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> I have a new notebook that came with Vista, and have entertained the idea
>> of backing up the complete system, formatting, and then installing XP,
>> with the thought that I'll probably get a considerable performance boost,
>> not to mention losing the small irritations and nags that are constant
>> with Vista. (I'm not a Vista hater, just don't really need the glitz or
>> the "do you really want to..." screens, besides the occasional software
>> that doesn't work with it). Plus, I think a 2 GB machine with this
>> processor should fly with XP, and it's only so-so with Vista. If I
>> change my mind, I'll have the disk imaged so I can go back to Vista.
>>
>> But the hard drive is SATA, and there is no floppy drive. As far as I
>> remember, the floppy is the only possibility for adding the SATA drivers
>> during XP setup, and I'm not even sure if it would recognize a USB floppy
>> if I were to buy one specifically for that purpose. Any suggestions,
>> workarounds, etc. would be appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Gary
>>