Upgrade from Vista on Lenovo 3000 - Clean Install Can't Find HD

[dnspade]

Have tried to upgrade - the "traditional" upgrade path was failing because "not enough storage for temp files" (even though I had 60GB avl and it supposedly needs 16GB). Then tried a "clean" install and the software couldn't "locate drive to install". Existing computer and Vista install works "ok" but am not a big fan of Vista hence the upgrade. MS Windows 7 Compatibility assessment of the computer is clean.

The details: Lenovo 3000 J115 model 7387, WinVista x32, WD2500JS 250GB HD with 60GB free, (one of the problems) nVidia 430/410 integrated chipset with SATA/IDE drivers (as well as Ethernet etc.)

When the search for the drive fails, I have it browse the nVidia driver section, and it sees the driver but after I tell it to load it, it comes back without finding "the disk". Not sure if I'm stubborn or stupid, but I think it should work and I really don't want the hassle of disposing another computer.

Update: After spending some time with MS help desk, concluded that HD is not showing up in Computer Management/Disk Management even though it does in Device Manager and is completely operational with existing system. He suggested renaming the drive, but could not assure that it would reboot. Have read wyomingknott's great thread, but not sure it applies where the drive actually works.

Has anyone successfully upgraded Vista-to-Win7 on these models with integrated chipset drivers? Ideas where to look next? Thank you.

 

[dnspade]

For posterity in case anyone else encounters a similar situation.

My strong advice would be just do a clean install from the CD by booting from it. You may have to go into the BIOS to switch the booting order.

I endured three days of elapsed time and about 12 hours of personal time trying to get the install to work from the "normal" install with multiple calls to MS. My conclusion is the software really isn't set up to "tolerate" this type of setup that has an integrated driver. I ended up spending about three times as much time trying to fix the problem than it did to just back up the data and reinstall the programs I really wanted. The resulting performance on Win7 was well worth the effort.

Interesting concept - self-service forum.....