Failing the installation

Hi,

I attempted to install Win 7 from a USB (created using a downloaded .iso SP1 image from Microsoft website and Windows 7 USB DVD download tool).

After I selected the language settings, it gave me the error described here:

A required CDDVD device driver is missing, usb installation - Microsoft Community

I tried re-plugging the USB stick into a different port (used only USB 2.0 ports, as well as all combinations of USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports), but it didn't help the problem.

I also could proceed from the "Install Windows 7" screen to the error screen without any media inserted which to me means that it did not even attempt to re-read from a different port after I replugged the stick.

Then I created a bootable installation DVD using PowerISO, but I encountered this error:

Boot Manager Status 0xc000000f, boot selection failed. Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums

Did that happen because of the previous installation got aborted? If so, can I wipe any traces of the previous install out and start from the scratch using the DVD?

I really don't feel comfortable going the repair disk route because there should be nothing to repair and I feel like I am making no progress.

Thank you.

Gigabyte H270 Gaming 3.

Different combinations, including exclusively USB 2.0

I was able to get past that step (by having a DVD and USB stick simultaneously, but now I am not able to select SSD (Samsung EVO 850) as my Windows partition.

SATA Mode is set to AHCI as per (Install Windows on MSATA (SSD) Drive - Windows 7 Help Forums)

Partition is marked as active but it gives me "Setup was unable to create a new system partition error" when I click on Next during "Where do you want to install Windows" step.

When I try to convert to MBR from CLI (diskpart) it gives me "The specified disk is not convertible" error.