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Windows 8 installation "Missing media driver" problem

Tags:
  • Windows 8
  • USB3
Last response: in Windows 8
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July 22, 2013 12:54:08 AM

I used Rufus to create a bootable USB flash drive (Sandisk Extreme USB 3) (I tried GPT and MBR formats), but I get thrown this message when installing Windows 8 from a USB 3 port:

A media driver your computer needs is missing. This could be a DVD, USB or Hard disk driver. If you have a CD, DVD, or USB flash drive with the driver on it, please insert it now.

Note: If the installation media for Windows is in the DVD drive or on a USB drive, you can safely remove it for this step.

I read that this happens if you inatall from a USB 3 port, so I tried changing to a USB 2 port - same thing.

I also reformatted and recreated the flash drive to ensure it wasn't a case of data corruption.

Then I tried not using Rufus, and using Disk Management instead. Create new volume, NTFS, then mark as active, and copy the ISO file contents over. This time, it worked - even though I'm installing from a USB 3 port.

So what exactly caused the problem in the first place? From the above it seems like formatting and creating a bootable flash drive using Rufus is the cause. Yet this does not correspond to the error message which implies that Windows has problems reading the data from the drive.

And isn't it supposed to be impossible to install via a USB 3 without loading the drivers? So how come I was able to do so?

More about : windows installation missing media driver problem

a b * Windows 8
July 22, 2013 11:38:58 AM

The Windows 8 installation media includes USB 3.0 drivers. USB installation media created using alternative utilities, including the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, produce a boot configuration which is incompatible with USB 3.0.

Media produced using the Install Windows 8 button on the page Upgrade to Windows 8 with only a product key will also work with USB 3.0, as will media created with the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) using Windows PE 4.0 or newer.
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August 3, 2013 11:33:50 PM

WinOutreach2 said:
The Windows 8 installation media includes USB 3.0 drivers. USB installation media created using alternative utilities, including the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, produce a boot configuration which is incompatible with USB 3.0.

Media produced using the Install Windows 8 button on the page Upgrade to Windows 8 with only a product key will also work with USB 3.0, as will media created with the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) using Windows PE 4.0 or newer.


Is there a way to install the drivers during an installation using a USB created with the Windows 8 USB/DVD Download Tool?

I am also guessing that installing via a DVD circumvents this issue?
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Related resources
August 8, 2013 5:03:05 AM

Start by unplugging un-needed hardware, expansion cards/card readers/DVD drives. I had the same problem and I unplugged a SATA II card and it worked great afte that (my optical drive was plugged into it, I just moved the optical drive to the MB).
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a b * Windows 8
August 8, 2013 6:14:09 AM

Jay Doughty said:
Is there a way to install the drivers during an installation using a USB created with the Windows 8 USB/DVD Download Tool?

I am also guessing that installing via a DVD circumvents this issue?

If you are asking whether the Install Windows 8 button here on the Upgrade to Windows 8 with only a product key page creates media compatible with USB 3.0, the answer is yes.

There is no Windows 8 USB/DVD Download Tool, only one for Windows 7, and the media it creates does not support boot from USB 3.0.

Another alternative is to manually create the media, follow the steps listed in Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive to create an active partition, then manually copy and paste the files from the ISO into this partition. Because this uses the ISO native files to boot, it is identical to using the DVD, which yes, also supports USB 3.0 during installation.

For reference, the commands are:

  1. diskpart
  2. list disk
  3. select disk <x>
  4. clean
  5. create part pri
  6. select part 1
  7. format fs=ntfs quick
  8. active
  9. exit

List disk lists your system's current disks to allow you to discover the drive number or letter of your flash drive. This number or letter should be used in place of <x> in the following step. UEFI systems require a disk formatted in FAT32, so in the format step use fs=fat32 rather than NTFS if your system is UEFI.
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December 20, 2013 5:17:07 AM

fterh said:
I used Rufus to create a bootable USB flash drive (Sandisk Extreme USB 3) (I tried GPT and MBR formats), but I get thrown this message when installing Windows 8 from a USB 3 port:

A media driver your computer needs is missing. This could be a DVD, USB or Hard disk driver. If you have a CD, DVD, or USB flash drive with the driver on it, please insert it now.

Note: If the installation media for Windows is in the DVD drive or on a USB drive, you can safely remove it for this step.

I read that this happens if you inatall from a USB 3 port, so I tried changing to a USB 2 port - same thing.

I also reformatted and recreated the flash drive to ensure it wasn't a case of data corruption.

Then I tried not using Rufus, and using Disk Management instead. Create new volume, NTFS, then mark as active, and copy the ISO file contents over. This time, it worked - even though I'm installing from a USB 3 port.

So what exactly caused the problem in the first place? From the above it seems like formatting and creating a bootable flash drive using Rufus is the cause. Yet this does not correspond to the error message which implies that Windows has problems reading the data from the drive.

And isn't it supposed to be impossible to install via a USB 3 without loading the drivers? So how come I was able to do so?


Hi,

can you explain better what you really did? You say that you simply copied the iso file to the usb pen? Did it works?

Thanks
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a b * Windows 8
December 20, 2013 6:04:36 AM

He essentially does the same steps as the instructions that I outlined here:

WinOutreach2 said:
Another alternative is to manually create the media, follow the steps listed in Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive to create an active partition, then manually copy and paste the files from the ISO into this partition. Because this uses the ISO native files to boot, it is identical to using the DVD, which yes, also supports USB 3.0 during installation.

For reference, the commands are:

  1. diskpart
  2. list disk
  3. select disk <x>
  4. clean
  5. create part pri
  6. select part 1
  7. format fs=ntfs quick
  8. active
  9. exit


List disk lists your system's current disks to allow you to discover the drive number or letter of your flash drive. This number or letter should be used in place of <x> in the following step. UEFI systems require a disk formatted in FAT32, so in the format step use fs=fat32 rather than NTFS if your system is UEFI.

Only he did these steps with the Disk Management console. He removed all partitions from the disk, created a single partition formatted NTFS, marked it as active, then copied the entire contents of the ISO to that partition.
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March 13, 2014 3:57:53 PM

All you have to do is go into the BIOS and enable Legacy Mode
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July 18, 2014 4:56:05 AM

ie Enable CSM
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October 17, 2014 3:37:23 AM

Atek got it right for me. All I did was enable the Legacy Mode in the UEFI or BIOS and was good to go. Thanks so very much.
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!