Windows 7 installation doesn't recognize HDD

Hi,

This never happened to me before and its driving me insane.

I'm trying to do a clean install of windows 7 (by booting the computer into the CD) but no drives show up. This usually happens to me so no big deal. The problem is.. recently I got a "new" computer, made out of old parts of other computers. SO i have no drivers CD.. So i have no SATA drivers...

I tried to download about 30 so far with no luck. Simply because I have no idea what I should download.

If anyone can help me, or at least tell me what sata drivers I need, that would be extremely helpful. I simply don't know if sata drivers come from the HDD i have, from the motherboard, from the chip of the motherboard.. i have no clue.


Here's my computer info you may need:






I've seen posts saying to in the bios change from whatever I have to IDE or to something else, but I have no clue what that does so i would rather avoid it if possible. If there's no other solution, what does it actually do if i change from SATA to something else? (if its even SATA what I have).

Thank you for the time you wasted reading this

And thank you for your help.


Lkcynric.

This isn't XP - the drivers are all in the Win7 DVD.

Are you receiving any errors? An error prompting for DVD drivers is almost always a bad installer. Download the ISO for your licensed version and burn to DVD or write to flash stick from Steps 1 and 2 of Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which also has tips to assure a perfect install.

If DVD fails again try the flash stick method.

If no error then try pre-partioning the HD with a NTFS Primary partition marked Active using free Free download Magic Partition Manager Software, partition magic alternative, free partition magic, partition magic Windows 7 and server partition software - Partition Wizard Online bootable CD.
How to Create Partition with partition manager? Partition Wizard Create Partition Video Help
How to Set Active/Inactive partition with partition magic? Partition Wizard Video Help.

If this fails with the PW CD test the HD and file system: Video help on how to perform partition surface test with Partition Wizard.
How to Check File System? Partition Wizard Video Help.
If it has problems use the manufacturer's Hard Drive Diagnostic Procedure.

Try another HD.

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

I always had this problem. My HDD were never recognized in windows 7 installation. I usual put my driver disk in he gets the SATA drivers from it, and I have no problem.

There is no error with the cd. All is working fine. The only thing is I dont seam to have SATA drivers installed on my computer. (If in windows i go to device managers, there's a "unknown device" which is usually RAID). Sadly I have no other disk. So I am stuck with this problem.

I can change the bios from "auto" to SATA or to "IDE"... But I have no clue what that does.. can that be harmful?

I've not seen any SATA drivers which are not provided in the Win7 installer. Perhaps it's a much older IDE driver needed which might possibly be missing in installer.

What is the SATA controller setting in BIOS? Toggle it to another. AHCI is preferred on modern hardware, but you may need IDE to resolve the driver problem.

Right now is set to "auto" which basicly is SATA. It also had SATA + something else starting with a P. I don't have AHCI. I can set it to IDE though.

But as i said, i dont know what that does. What does it actually do? Will it mess with the disk? Will I be able to enter windows normally after changing it? (if i cant format and do a new install).

Edit: This is a old computer.
P4 still.
3 GBs ram (only using 2 because i read somewhere having 3 could mess the new instalation)
and the rest is shown on the images.

What is the Make & Model of MOBO.?

03/14/2005-Grantsdale-6A79DBK9C-00
Albatron PM915G/PX915G Series

If your SATA controller is part of the Intel chipset then this is the cleanest download link I find for it: I915p i915g - Drivers Download

There are dozens of links searching "i915P/i915g windows 7 drivers download" so if the F6 drivers Theog provided don't work or the download above then you'll need to sort through them to try to find it.

If you try IDE install you can always change the SATA controller back to the current setting if you need to boot back into your current install.

But if you were able to install in SATA mode before, what is different now?

In the future save a Win7 backup image so you can reimage the HD or its replacement in 20 minutes.

Thank you.

I will update if it works.