Why do I receive an INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error when I set up a Promise Ultra100 storage controller card on a Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 system?

B>A. As vendors create new types of hardware, Microsoft attempts to add the drivers into the next version of Windows. For example, Windows XP natively supports Ultra ATA-100 drivers, Win2K natively supports ATA-66 drivers, and NT 4.0 doesn't support either out of the box.

To add ATA-100 driver support to Win2K and NT 4.0, you must treat the Promise Ultra100 card as if it were a SCSI controller, even though it's an IDE card. To configure the driver, perform the following steps:

1. Go to the Tech Support section of the Promise Web site, and download the appropriate driver for the Ultra100 card.
2. Extract the downloaded zip file to a 3.5" disk, which will create a txtsetup.oem file in the 3.5" disk's root directory.
3. Start the Windows installation.
4. When the system prompts you to install a third-party RAID or SCSI controller, press F6.
5. Point the installer to the txtsetup.oem file on your 3.5" disk; the system will continue with the installation.

In general, whenever you get an INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error, always check to ensure that Windows supports your disk controller; otherwise, you'll need to install the controller driver manually.