Windows 7: Inability to complete windows 7 upgrade installation

Despite having made several attempts, I've been unable to complete a Windows 7 installation.

At my first attempt the compatibility check reported several issues all but one of which I was able to fix, but this last one refuses to go away. The report says I have an out-of-date driver for the AMD AHCI Compatible RAID Controller. I have run windows update several times and each time been told that the driver is up to date, so I am at a loss as to what to do next.

I am using a Dell Inspiron 1721 running Vista Home Premium, and a Windows 7 Upgrade CD.

Any help you could give would be much appreciated

Not real familiar with laptops, but this worked for me on desktop. Go into bios F2 turn Sata Raid OFF, turn primary Sata drive ON, then you don't need to install that AHCI driver, OS should install then. Worth a try

Smitty

First, "Welcome to the Seven Forums."
Try going into Bios/CMOS and turn off the Raid controller. A laptop with a Raid controller???

Hi, Smitty and Lee,

Thanks for your tips.

When I f2 on the laptop the options for SATA are:

RAID on [default] = SATA is configured for RAID on every boot, and
RAID Autodetect/ATA = RAID if signed drives, otherwise ATA
There is no option for turning RAID off

As the first hadn't worked, I tried the second, but the result was the same - for the installation to succeed I would have to update the driver.

I'm not a techie and must confess to being very much out of my depth with this stuff.

Do you have any other suggestions?

Kind regards,

Art Leat

Hi arthruleat

You were in the right place, when you saw Raid on (default) highlite that entry and click enter, use arrow keys to turn off, after you turn off you will see sata primary, highlite it, press enter, arrow to auto esc, esc to save changes and you should be ready to install.

Smitty

Thanks 1Bowtie, you beat me to the punch. Good info.

Thanks Lee

Thanks again, Smitty and Lee.

I tried what you said, Smitty, but again it didn't work.

Since I mailed last, I visited MicrosoftAnwers website, where the story of the true extent of the horrors of Windows 7 installation really unfolds. I'm too old for this kind of struggle, and am sending the CD back to Amazon for a refund. I'll stick with Vista until Microsoft fixes the bugs.

I appreciate your efforts,

Kind regards,

Art

Don't give up yet, just need to find a driver.

OEMs including Dell don't let you play with much in BIOS.
I noticed a performance increase when I switched mine to AHCI/RAID, I'd recommend leaving it there.

Go to Dell Technical Support, they have a good driver support page.
Drivers & Downloads for Inspiron 1721
They list an ATI Serial ATA Storage/RAID, should be the one.

If that doesn't work look up your SATA/RAID driver version in Device manager, and go to AMD/ATI website and look for a newer one and try it. If it doesn't work your can roll it back.

Type 'Device Manager' in the box at the start button. click it, expand 'Storage Controllers', should say something like ICH8R or similar Right click that, click 'properties', Click the 'Drivers" tab, Look for 'Driver Version' and date.
This is what you will need to check at the Dell site, if it's newer try it.

The solution you suggest, Dave, looks promising, but sadly I'd already returned the CD to Amazon before I got your email.

Thanks, anyway for your trouble