Installing 7, SATA Drivers? Hard Drive problems... HELP!

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  1. Posts : 13
    Windows 7
       #1

    So here's the lowdown.

    I have an Asus x86v thats a few years old and it bluescreened on me a ways back, and since I no longer had the recovery disks (originally vista), I decided to just load linux onto my machine, and I did and it was fine.

    I got tired of linux and decided to upgrade to windows 7. After trying to install windows 7 using a legit DVD, I noticed my Hard Drive wasn't being recognized. Did some reading, and someone said to just completely wipe the hard drive and then it would be easier. So I did.

    Well the same thing is happening now, once I try to install, I can get to a point, but I get the error "no drives were found" blah blah blah.

    After reading more, I figured I probably needed to load the SATA Controller drivers, and luckily I still have my Driver/Utility disc. I copied all the drivers off the disc and put them on a USB and there are literally 200 or so, and I can't figure out which one to select. I've tried selecting them all and hitting next but it cycles through them and nothing happened.

    I'm running in compatibility mode and I don't think I have RAID or whatever. I've tried literally everything I could find online and nothing has worked. I'm at a loss here. Any help would be awesome.

    zzzzzzz

    Forgot to add that the Hardrive does come up on BIOS, just not when I try to install. Also, I did go in and partition/format the Hard Drive. And by chance, or who knows, it popped up once, but wouldn't let me continue.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       #2

    Hello Gorogon, welcome to Seven Forums!



    Have a look through Method Two and the other information in this tutorial at the link below for some additional ideas and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.


    SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

       Note

    The clean all is also very useful before starting the Windows installation process to correct for disk format errors of many kinds, to include over-writing the Linux / Grub boot loader, that is known to cause serious issues when installing Windows to a HDD / SSD that has had Grub as a loader in the past;
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  3.    #3

    Where did you get Win7? How do you plan to activate it?

    Did you burn the DVD yourself? The prompt for drivers almost always means a bad installer. Confirm the ISO and burn another DVD with ImgBurn at 4x speed.

    Check in BIOS setup to see if your HD registers there. If so set the SATA controller to AHCI to try install. If not check the cables, reinstall it until it registers in BIOS. You may need to replace the HD.

    If HD registers and it fails try wiping the HD from installer with Diskpart Clean Command.

    If it fails again in AHCI mode, try IDE mode.
    Last edited by gregrocker; 28 Aug 2012 at 23:22.
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  4. Posts : 13
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #4

    I can't clean the disk using that command because when I type "list disk" in the command prompt, it returns with "there are no fixed disks to show".

    I know it isn't the DVD because it is a legitimate Windows 7 Home Premium disc. Additionally, I have tried installing windows xp and get the same sort of "no hard drive detected" message. My hard drives show up perfectly fine in the BIOS so I am pretty confused.

    Should I try and wipe the disk again? Feels slightly useless because I was getting these errors before I ever wiped it in the first place, when I still had linux installed.
    Last edited by Gorogon; 28 Aug 2012 at 19:27.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 13
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Willing to pay someone $10 via paypal if they can help me get this working! I'm wiping the drive again because I think Dban said there were some nonfatal errors last wipe.

    We'll see what happens.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 4,751
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32-Bit - Build 7600 SP1
       #6

    Since this has happened twice in the last month on here, I will ask. Do all of your hard drive partitions have a letter assigned to them? If there is no letter, they won't show up in Computer. == If you can post your expanded Disk Management, that would help. I am not sure if you said you could access it or not.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 13
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #7

    It's wiping and will be done in about 30 minutes. I'll post results after I double check. I'm not sure if they were. If that's all it was, I'm going to punch myself in the face and send you $10 good sir.

    I'm using Gpartition or something like that, which I created a boot disk. I'll post results in a few minutes.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 13
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Ok, so I can't assign a letter to the partitions. From reading around a little, it looks like I have to already have windows loaded to be able to assign it? In the MiniTool Partition Wizard I'm using, the "assign letter" option is blocked so I don't know what to do.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 13
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Here's a screenshot of what it looks like when I'm trying to create a partition with a letter.

    http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/f...to08282129.jpg
      My Computer

  10.    #10

    PW CD doesn't use drive letters at all. It is irrelevant because Win7 does what it wants with them during install anyway. If you wiped the HD try now to Clean Install Windows 7.

    If it fails boot into isntaller Command Line to run Diskpart Clean command and then create an NTFS Primary partition marked Active as shown in Step 2.2 here: SSD - HDD Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

    If that fails reset your BIOS to defaults, set SATA controller to AHCI mode to try install. Report back.
      My Computer


 
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