Windows cannot be installed to this disk...

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 8, 2014

I just recently built a new computer and when i went to install windows 7 this message appeared "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. "This computers hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disks controller is enabled in the computers BIOs menu."
im a new builder so i have no clue what to do. i need help guys! I have aAsus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard with aWestern Digital WD10EZEX 1TB HDD SATA3 3.5" Desktop Hard Drive

dustinhunt78 · Apr 8, 2014

Alvaro Gonzalez :

Sounds like you may have a driver issue. Make sure that you have the proper drivers installed, particularly the hard drive and the optical drive that you are using to run the Windows disk. While you are at it, double check that you have ALL drivers installed and that the latest versions are the ones that you are using.

UPDATE: Also, format the drive that you are attempting to install Windows on to. Just make sure to back up all data (if there is any on the disk) BEFORE formatting, as formatting will erase all data on the disk. This alone may solve your problem.

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 8, 2014

i dont know what you mean by drivers for the hard drive and the OD, i pretty much built the computer then i proceeded on trying to install windows i have not tried installing anything else. where would i find these drivers?

dustinhunt78 · Apr 8, 2014

Alvaro Gonzalez :

Your components should have come with a disk that contains drivers/software that support them. Run each disk that came with your each individual components. A "driver" is what tells your computer how to operate a specific component. Here is a link that describes in detail what a "driver" is.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwindows.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fwindows%2Fwhat-is-driver&ei=AY5EU9LzMsry0gH47oHYCA&usg=AFQjCNEeOvOvmxV9o8BufgJQEtCz8Hs2Jg&bvm=bv.64367178,d.dmQ

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 8, 2014

dustinhunt78 :

i did not recieve anything else other than the actual part for both the OD or the HD, also ive seen some other threads saying it has something to do with SATA stuff and ive tried but have not succeeded.

dustinhunt78 · Apr 8, 2014

Alvaro Gonzalez :

dustinhunt78 :

i did not recieve anything else other than the actual part for both the OD or the HD, also ive seen some other threads saying it has something to do with SATA stuff and ive tried but have not succeeded.

Have you already attempted to format the HD? If you haven't, that's the first thing I would do. But as I mentioned above, formatting will erase EVERYTHING on the disk, so if you have any data at all that you want to keep, back the disk up first.

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 8, 2014

dustinhunt78 :

Alvaro Gonzalez :

Have you already attempted to format the HD? If you haven't, that's the first thing I would do. But as I mentioned above, formatting will erase EVERYTHING on the disk, so if you have any data at all that you want to keep, back the disk up first.

if you could go into formatting it a bit more that would be great, also there is nothing on the disk so no worries on that part

dustinhunt78 · Apr 8, 2014

I just did a bit of research into formatting the drive before installing Windows 7. It claims that its not necessary. From there I went on to trying to find a solution to the problem itself......so here are a couple of links that I found from people who had your identical problem. There is an instruction list for you to follow here. Try these solutions and see if it helps. Either way, let me know the result.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/b8fbf1de-0d93-47ae-8ea8-70534f1816ba/install-failure-windows-cannot-be-installed-to-disk-0-partition-1?forum=w7itproinstall

This is a "video solution" on Youtube:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC4QtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DDQf9YqbD8WI&ei=EpNEU6DmDcmM0AHRm4BA&usg=AFQjCNEmluy0utU8SlCFU96-ukvqdofibg&bvm=bv.64367178,d.dmQ

This third one addresses the "SATA" issue that you mentioned above:

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1200895

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 8, 2014

Ok so i looked at the first two links you gave me and i was not receiving the same messages they were, the third link however was talking about my problem but i could not follow the instructions they were giving because they all knew about it unlike me. what i have tried to do is i went into the bios, changed the boot order so my OD is first, then i went to the advanced settings and set them all to AHCI, when i get to the windows install screen i get the message i put in my first post and also it wont let me partition the disk.

dustinhunt78 · Apr 8, 2014

Alvaro Gonzalez :

You would definitely want the first boot priority to be the OD, because there isn't anything to boot FROM on the HD because there isn't an OS. Your computer should automatically detect that and move on along to other components anyway, but I have had issues with that feature not working correctly. I had to do as you did and go into BIOS and change the boot priority to OD first.

I'm unclear as to the results when attempting to install the OS after you made the changes. Does it continue to give you the same message as it first did?

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 8, 2014

yes i still receive the message, pretty much everything i have done has not affected it at all, im stuck.

dustinhunt78 · Apr 8, 2014

Here is a link to "Installing Windows" on Microsoft's site:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/installing-reinstalling-windows#1TC=windows-7

If this doesn't help you, I would resort to contacting Microsoft support and let the support team earn their paycheck. LOL Being a new product, it will be free. Here is the link to contact Microsoft by either chat, phone, or email. I suggest chat or phone because you will get an immediate answer.

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ln=en-us

Please do let me know if you get this solved. It's gonna drive me nuts until we get this done! LOL

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 8, 2014

so i was looking through some of my specifications and i saw that my OD has a connection for a sata3gb/s and my motherboard has 6 sata 6gb/s connections, could that be a problem...

dustinhunt78 · Apr 8, 2014

Alvaro Gonzalez :

No, because SATA III is backwards compatible with SATA and SATA II. Your motherboard would just recognize the OD as SATA II and operate it at it's max 3GB/s.

How did contacting support go?

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 8, 2014

i contacted them and they said they could not help me because the windows 7 i bought was oem so i should contact whoever i bought it from -_-

dustinhunt78 · Apr 8, 2014

Alvaro Gonzalez :

That's crap. I didn't think about it, but you had to have bought the OEM version because Microsoft doesn't even offer the System Builder in anything but OEM. Things like this is what makes me dislike Microsoft. If you ask me, their customer service is horrible. They get away with it because of lack of competition. Mac's are so dang expensive, but I'm beginning to think that they're worth the added cost every time I hear about a situation like this.

I'm not going to give up on this. Check back in tomorrow and I'll keep digging. SOMEWHERE you or I one will find an answer that helps you. It's killing me because I know that it's something simple that we just aren't seeing. We'll get an answer though.

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 8, 2014

thanks so much for helping me out i will keep looking as well, im positive well find a way

dustinhunt78 · Apr 8, 2014

I have a couple of more links that may just help you out. Both of these links are guides to first starting up a homebuilt computer. Perhaps they will cover something that we're missing. Look over these and see if it gives any info that will help.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kitchentablecomputers.com%2Fassemble19.php&ei=z7pEU-GuJqrUsATOioHwBg&usg=AFQjCNFihcRY91ZrWlJIMhhTRQjEiAdApQ&bvm=bv.64507335,d.cWc

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC4QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.howtogeek.com%2Fhowto%2Fthe-geek-blog%2Fbuilding-a-new-computer-part-3-setting-it-up%2F&ei=z7pEU-GuJqrUsATOioHwBg&usg=AFQjCNEQWsW80Xvryb9BSXBSn2j1UfJCEA&bvm=bv.64507335,d.cWc

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 9, 2014

been looking all day and still nothing those links you gave me didnt help either

Alvaro Gonzalez · Apr 9, 2014

been looking all day and still nothing those links you gave me didnt help either

Richman_32 · May 4, 2014

dustinhunt78 :

It is common knowledge that MS does not support OEM Windows installs and the support falls on the OEM. If a person buys and builds his own machine using OEM disk that he purchased, then he himself is his own OEM as he is considered a small OEM even if he only build his own machine and that is the only one he built. Simply by using OEM version instead of the retail version, both of which can be found at most retail outlets ...... the OEM being a bit cheaper he become his own OEM. But that is what you get when you save a couple buck on the OEM version ..... NO support. That is really the main difference aside from some slightly different licensing terms.

Consequently, is you are trying to install Windows when getting this message, it could be your DVD/USB boot mode being EFI/UEFI . If you see the words "Click any key to continue booting from DVD" or something similar, and the words disappear for a second or two and reappear again, try clicking a key when you see them appear the second time. This this double flashing is simply the system switching modes. It works for me when installing Windows on new builds.

Windows cannot be installed to this disk...

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