Windows 7 Install / ASUS X55U / SanDisk SDSSDX240GG25 Not Recognized

[Tsu]

Issue Description: When installing Windows 7 from a USB Drive/DVD the solid state drive is not recognized as an available destination. Windows installation claims that a driver is needed to see various devices yet after trying multiple versions of the generic AHCI drivers provided by AMD (as well as the old generic AMD driver provided by ASUS' support center) the drive is still not recognized as a destination target.

The drive appears in the BIOS and the BIOS is updated to the latest version, the drive also appears in the diskpart utility during installation. Notably, when trying to install the AHCI driver, Windows installation reports that it fails to install, yet trying to install the driver a second time does not yield the error report (but still does not lead to the drive being shown as a destination for installation).

Windows 8/8.1 lists the drive as a target for installation. I have tried using my original, legitimate copy of Windows 7 as well as an updated image burned to a USB drive. I figure I might be able to use the drivers from 8/8.1 yet am not sure where or how to acquire them or if they will install correctly.

I have also tried setting IDE mode in the BIOS, changing boot orders and so on.

[FONT="Lucida Console"][B][U]System Information[/U][/B]

[B]MODEL[/B]   ASUS X55U
[B]MOBO[/B]    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. X55U (P0)
[B]SSD[/B]     223GB SanDisk SDSSDX240GG25 (SSD)
[B]OD[/B]      PIONEER DVD-RW DVRTD11RS[/FONT]

I am a fairly competent user and do not run into problems often, but I am at my wits end with this one. Any help would be greatly appreciated and I will be sure to contribute back to the community and help resolve issues if I'm able to get a hand with this.

 

[gregrocker]

The error almost always means a bad installer. Try a fresh ISO using tool to burn to DVD or flash stick provided in Troubleshoot Windows 7 Installation Failures - Windows 7 Help Forums