CD/DVD driver is missing. I cannot proceed with the installation

gregrocker said:

Have you tried with the newly written installer as that plug wiping the HD will normally suffice.

There is not always a SATA controller setting in older BIOS'.

I cant use Universal USB installer because it formats in FAT, and I managed to clean and reformat the WD400eb from the command prompt, the issue however still persists

If it helps, the HD is connected to the same ribbon cable that one may connect a CD drive to because it is a PATA drive and has no SATA ports

What about UltraISO? The prompt for drivers always means a bad installer.

How did you wipe and format the HD? I would define an Active partition as shown in Step 2.2 of SSD - HDD Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

gregrocker said:

What about UltraISO? The prompt for drivers always means a bad installer.

How did you wipe and format the HD? I would define an Active partition as shown in Step 2.2 of SSD - HDD Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

1. I see the error in the desktop
2. I shutdown the computer
3. I remove the USB stick
4. Plug into my laptop
5. Format as FAT for 3.7 gb
6. Open UltraISO
7. Open the iso X17-24395 (The official Windows 7 Instillation from here
8. Write image file... Success
9. Insert into desktop
10. Power on
11. Make any necessary BIOS changes or ensure settings are correct
12. Begin at step 1 again

I think it's worth trying the UltraISO format button. NTFS or FAT32 formats may actually work with a correctly-written installer.

Ok so I managed to get fat32 and Ntfs to work but I still get the error either way. Is there some sort of place holder driver I can put on so I don't have to find a way to bypass this step in instillation

Just a quick update:
I may get a blank SATA drive and see how that works soon

Have you wiped the HD? If the installer will not boot to Command Line you can use Partition Wizard CD to Wipe Disk - Video Help or DBAN which will boot themselves.

I did follow your advice, the installer has been replaced and the hard drive has been wiped and reformatted as ntfs

Did you mark the target partition Active?

Have you tried to inject the mobo's IDE controller drivers?

If it still wont' install I think I"d move the HD to install it alone on another PC, move the HD to the problem PC and run Paragon Adaptive Restore CD which P2P adjusts an OS to boot on any other hardware, and will prompt for the storage driver if it is needed.