It seems that the BIOS reverts to its defaults values on certain situations (loss of battery power, BSOD, etc).
One setting is the SATA native mode : AHCI mode instead of IDE.
Because XP was installed with BIOS set to IDE, this keeps Windows from loading, resulting in a BSOD.
Also, using AHCI should improve battery life and HDD response.
So here is how you install SATA drivers after you have installed XP with AHCI mode set to IDE (SATA native mode disabled). First, download Intel Matrix Storage Manager from Lenovo website or from here.
The downloaded file is called IN1SRM02WW1.exe in my case. Extract it with 7Zip or something similar. Go to the extracted files and use the command : setup.exe -A -P C:\SATA
C:\SATA is the folder where we need the files from the package to be extracted again. Next, navigate to C:\SATA\winall\Driver (Driver64 for XP64 bit). Make sure these files are present : iaahci.cat, iaahci.inf, iastor.cat, iastor.inf, iastor.sys, TXTSSETUP.OEM
Or, you can get all the files from here:
Now go to Device Manager, under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers you should see something like : Intel (R) ICH9M-E/M Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller.
Right-Click on that and select Update Driver.
Say no to connecting to Windows Update to search, hit Next.
Select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced), hit Next.
Select “Don’t search. I will choose the driver to install”, hit Next.
Select Have Disk.
Browse to the C:\SATA\winall\Driver folder and highlight the iastor.inf file, hit Open.
Select OK.
Now you should have a list of controllers. **WARNING** Selecting the wrong controller for your computer will prevent it to boot, causing BSOD. Make sure you select the right controller for your particular computer ! See this thread on HP forums for the controller inside some laptops: http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-HP-ProBook-Compaq-Slate/Enabling-SATA-Native-Mode-after-XP-Install/m-p/695231/highlight/true#M104270
Choose INTEL ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller from the list.
You’ll get warned that installing the device driver is not recommended, click Yes to continue installing.
Click Finish.
Click Yes to restart your computer.
When your computer boots up, you need to to enter the BIOS. Change SATA Native Mode to Enabled, save changes and exit.
After you log into Windows, your computer will find the “new” hardware. Wait until you get the popup message to restart your computer, say Yes to restart one last time.