Gateway install

[Stew Schneider]

I bought a Gateway laptop with Vista on it, and tried to install Dapper 
or Edgy, don't remember which. Might have tried both. The CD was 
recognized, and started, but hung, unable to find the SATA drive. That 
annoyed me sufficiently that I gave the machine away. The recipient is 
trying to install XP on it and having the dickens of a time doing that.

What do you do if you have SATA drives? Is there a way to install?
stew