This is just a quick note to explain how to get the HP 6730b laptop to work with Windows XP, as it took a small amount of searching on random sites to discover it for myself.

When you first boot, press the F10 key and go to system configuration on the left hand side. In there there is a SATA mode option which, by default, is set to AHCI. You need to change this to IDE.

Now go to the topmost menu item on the left and Save and Exit.

You should be able to install as normal now.

If/when you update to Vista or Windows 7, you should switch it back, as this will improve performance.