Error Message "No Drives Were Found"!

[AbisZ]

Hey everybody

A few days ago a friend of mine gave me a notebook, he had no use for anymore. It is a "Fujitsu Siemens AMILO Xi 2528" and he had Windows XP on it. So he gave it to me and I wanted to install Windows 7 on it. When I came to the part of the installation when the system asks to choose a drive to install the OS, there was an error message:

"No drives were found. Click load driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation."
(Or something similar)

It asked me to look for drivers on a floppy disk or to browse on the computer. Anyways I dont have any Floppy disk, nor any CD that came with the notebook (Like a driver CD)
. Is there any way to fix this problem and install W7? Has anyone had the same problem?
Please Help I dont know what to do...

PS: Details under System Specs

AbisZ

 

[Bill2]

Download Gparted, burn it to CD, then boot from the CD, format the disk and create partitions. Then try to install win7. This tutorial may help you.

Formatting With GParted - Set Partition

 

[AbisZ]

Okay thanks I ll give it a try... However, there are already two partions or volumes... C and D, one is 100GB and the othe one is 475GB... Is that a problem? Can I join them?

 

[Bill2]

You can delete both partitions after backing up all your user data, format the disk, then create a single or multiple partitions as per choice.

 

[TVeblen]

Most often you get this message if you need to load chipset drivers for the installation to recognize the hard drives.

If so, you would download the chipset drivers (from manufacturer's website for your laptop model), put them on a USB stick (following any instructions), install the stick before starting the install, then when asked, point the installer to the drivers.

Also: a quick web search shows that laptop has 2 HDDs. For a desktop it is best practice to disconnect the second drive before a clean install. I don't know if that is an easy task for that laptop, or if it would make any difference for your particular problem, just a best practice for SATA drives to avoid loading the OS on the wrong drive.

 

[AbisZ]

Okay thanks for your help...

I tried GParted but it didnt change anything :S

Currently there are no drivers for my laptop with OS W7 out :S... But am I still able to instaLL Vista?

I found the drivers for Vista on the Fujitsu Website (Downloads - Support - Fujitsu)

How shall I proceed? Put the drivers on USB, then run the installation and browse for the drivers on the USB?

Greez
AbsiZ

 

[TVeblen]

First, decide whether you are going to install 32 bit or 64 bit W7. Download the 32 bit Vista drivers if you are going to install 32 bit W7.

Then go to the Fujitsu website and enter your serial number and product ID. Only download the drivers for your specific model.

When you find the chipset driver (use the most current one for you laptop) download it to a folder on your computer. Many times these files are in zip format, so you would then need to expand the file. Copy the expanded folders to a USB stick.

There may be specific instructions on installing the chipset drivers on the website - be sure to read these.

Then, plug the USB stick into the computer, start up with the W7 DVD in the drive, and when you get to the [FONT=&quot]“Where do you want to install Windows?” [/FONT]screen, choose the "Drive Options (Advanced)" option, then choose the "Load Drivers" option at the bottom, browse to the folder on the USB stick with the chipset drivers.

You may need to know the version number of your chipset to complete this task. If the download from fujistu contain drivers for many chipsets they all will be listed and you will have to pick your chipset from the list. You can use a free program like CPU-Z to get that info, but you need an operating system on that laptop to install it.

Also decide whether you need to install IDE drivers or AHCI. Most likely AHCI.

So for example you would browse and scroll to find something like "AHCI for ICH10R 32 bit driver" (with your chipset instead of ICH10R).

W7 should take it from there.
Good Luck!