Loading Drivers when Installing Windows 7

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JT-9

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Hi there,

I need some help installing Windows. I just got a new motherboard (Biostar G41D3+) and I'm trying to install Win 7 on a WD Caviar Black 1TB SATA hard drive. When I run the installation, there are no partitions to choose from and it tells me to load some drivers. Does anyone have a clue how to do that?
 
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Dereck47

Dereck47

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Replace the Win 7 installation cd with the cd that came with your motherboard.
Click "Load Drivers" to install the chipset drivers that are on the cd.
When that is done swap back in the Win 7 cd and click "Next" to resume installation.
 
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J

JT-9

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thats what I did but even after installing the drivers, no hard drives showed up, I installed all the chipset drivers available and it didn't work
 
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Paperdoc

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No, you cannot install drivers with no Operating System running. The OS Install comes first.

You don't say so, but I'm assuming the HDD is brand new and blank, right? If no - if it contains old data in an old Partition (or more than one) - you will need to use the options in the Win 7 Install routines to find that HDD and Delete all existing Partitions before proceeding.

Check in your BIOS Setup screens for 3 things:
1. Make sure the SATA ports are Enabled.
2. Does the BIOS recognize that HDD on a SATA port? If not, the HDD may be faulty.
3. Near there, check how the SATA Port Mode is set. It should be AHCI - not IDE Emulation and not RAID. Win 7 should be able to detect and use an AHCI device.

If that does not work, can you try the HDD in another machine? It should show up in the BIOS on a SATA port, but an empty new HDD will NOT show up in My Computer. If you can't find it in the BIOS on two machines, the HDD is VERY likely bad.
 
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Dereck47

Dereck47

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Sorry, but you're wrong. Windows allows you to pre-install drivers (Chipset, RAID, AHCI) before installation begins.

That way you're able to use your motherboard's drivers instead of the default drivers that come with Windows for improved performance.
 
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Dereck47

Dereck47

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Only other thing I can suggest is to clear your cmos (page 15 of your motherboard manual) and try the installation again.

Make sure no other drives or USBs are connected. Just the optical drive containing Win7 and the Caviar Black.
 
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JT-9

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I also have 2 IDE drives that I tried to connect but neither of them are recognized by BIOS, and I dont know where to find drivers for IDE on the CD for this mother board. If I post a list of folders on the CD, will you be able to tell me which drivers are for the IDE?
 
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Dereck47

Dereck47

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There are no special drivers for IDE on your motherboard's CD. Win 7 has the best drivers for that.

If your BIOS doesn't see your IDE drives there's a problem with your motherboard or your drives.

Clearing your CMOS Header will reset your BIOS. Did you try that yet?
 
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JT-9

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I didn't try that yet, but before I do that I have one more question. None of the hard drives I mentioned are brand new. They have all been used before. The SATA drive still has the old Windows on it. Could that be a problem?
 
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Dereck47

Dereck47

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Shouldn't be a problem. When you install Windows from scratch it will ask you where you want to install the new version. Just select the partition where the old version is. It should give you a warning that it will delete all of the data on the old partition. Just select "ok" and continue with the installation.
 
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Paperdoc

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Dereck47, I see how I misunderstood your post. I thought you were saying to load drivers before ever starting the Install. But I guess you meant, during the Install when you press F6 to install drivers from an external resource, the driver CD that came with the mobo is the place to get them. This is unlike earlier Windows that could only load such drivers from floppies.

I am a little surprised, though, that this should become necessary. I understood that the Win 7 Install CD had all the common SATA (i.e., AHCI) drivers it needed and could install to such a HDD without the F6 routine. But now I see that OP cannot seem to get any HDD recognized in BIOS - neither SATA not IDE. Points to a significant mobo problem. Just to be sure, OP, you did connect BOTH power supply lines from the PSU AND data cables from the mobo SATA (or IDE) ports to your HDD's, right?

Also to check: OP, you say when you tried IDE drives, they were not detected in BIOS. There are a few things that have to be done right with IDE drives, but let's not get side-tracked here - the aim is to work with SATA drives. Does the BIOS detect your SATA drive? If that HDD is detected correctly and the SATA Port Mode is set to AHCI, it certainly should work. If it's not even detected in BIOS you have other problems.
 
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JT-9

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Of course I connected both cables. I'm not that stupid. The SATA drive is not recognized in BIOS. I think I already figured out what the problem is. That SATA drive used to work and was recognized in BIOS until I started installing Windows on it and suddenly my Air Conditioner turned on, causing my monitor screen to go blank. I was forced to restart the computer which probably damaged the hard drive permanently.
 
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Paperdoc

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Didn't mean to imply stupidity - just simple oversight. I've made some dumb mistakes in the past the SHOULD have been obvious to me, but I missed them!

If you're suspicious of the SATA drive, can you try mounting it in another machine to see if it is detected properly there? I'm wondering whether the problem is in the HDD, or in the mobo. You have tried other drives with this mobo and they also did not work. So, verifying that the drives do work in another machine would point the finger at the mobo.
 
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Hawkeye22

Hawkeye22

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I don't know your budget, so expensive is a relative term. AT the very least, just get a plain old line conditioner like this one :

http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=LE600

or

http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=LE1200

If you want a batter backup in addition to line conditioning, get something like this: (the pro versions have built in line conditioning)

http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR700G&total_watts=200&tab=models

I usually stick with APC products, but there are other out there for less, Tripp-Lite comes to mind.
 
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s3v3ndeuce

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I encountered the same problem with my Agility 3, I finally got it to work.

I cleared the MBR as stated earlier (may have not done anything)

Then I downloaded all the driver files from my mobo website (msi z68 G65 B3)

I was installing from a USB and was able to put the driver files in a folder called Drivers, I'm sure you could install from a CD/DVD and use a USB drive for the drivers when the prompt to load drivers pops up, since I was using the same USB stick to install, the prompt never even came up and it seems the drivers were automatically loaded.
 
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jahin

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I'm having the save problem while installing windows 7....now there's a Load Driver window....and I don't have the CD that came with my motherboard (g41mt-s2pt)
 
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