New Windows 11 clean install issue
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I've run into this with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and 11. The problem is Microsoft doesn't update the setup program but once in a blue moon while new hardware is released frequently. Dell and Microsoft Surface both happen to be very easy to get the drivers ahead of time.
I NEVER bother to download drivers, except with the very latest installers where you have to supply SSD drivers. In all other cases I install Windows with the installer that has suitable default drivers. Then I run update and Windows searches automatically for all the latest drivers that it needs. Afterwards I check the drivers installed for all devices and rarely do I need to instruct Windows to update a specific device's driver. Then all my drivers are the latest available. Let Windows do the hard work to locate suitable drivers. It has never failed me.
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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If you happen to try a Windows 11 clean install with the latest installer, you may run into an issue: The installer will report that you have no drives suitable to accept the new Windows system. The cause of this issue is that the installers used to be equipped with default drivers for SSD drives (both SATA SSDs and NVMe SSds.) Because of issues caused by these default drivers, Microsoft stopped including them with the installer. No drivers means that the installer cannot see any SSDs in your system. The installer will offer a link to browse for the drivers - But where are they, what are they called? You get no hint how to find them. It took me a lot of research to figure out how to proceed: You need to download the Intel-Rapid-Storage-Driver****** for your particular machine from the manufacturer's website and run it. It will offer you the option to install or extract the drivers. Select the option to extract the drivers and select a folder where they can be saved. Assume you select the folder: "F:\Driver\", you will find the SSD drivers in the VMD folder. The full path will be created as: "F:\Driver\production\Windows10-x64\15063\Drivers\VMD". Note that these comments apply to my Dell XPS machine. On a different manufacturer's machine the path may be different. Point the Windows installer to this VMD folder and it will find the SSD drivers and the installation will proceed. Note: I recommend you install the VMD folder on the flash drive that holds the installer. It just makes it easier to point the installer to the drivers.
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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This isn't a new issue with the Windows Setup programs. Before I image any new machine I go to the manufacture's support site and download and extract the hard drive drivers. Since you mentioned Dell, also download the current version of Dell Command Update and install it first. Then run the option to install all the Dell drivers. Do this before doing any Windows Updates.
obermd wrote:
This isn't a new issue with the Windows Setup programs
Correct, it sounds an awful lot like the procedure I had to follow back in the NT4 days (!) to get some SCSI disk going. I hadn't run across that sort of thing again until a few years ago, when a buddy of mine bought a laptop that came with an NVMe drive.
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If you happen to try a Windows 11 clean install with the latest installer, you may run into an issue: The installer will report that you have no drives suitable to accept the new Windows system. The cause of this issue is that the installers used to be equipped with default drivers for SSD drives (both SATA SSDs and NVMe SSds.) Because of issues caused by these default drivers, Microsoft stopped including them with the installer. No drivers means that the installer cannot see any SSDs in your system. The installer will offer a link to browse for the drivers - But where are they, what are they called? You get no hint how to find them. It took me a lot of research to figure out how to proceed: You need to download the Intel-Rapid-Storage-Driver****** for your particular machine from the manufacturer's website and run it. It will offer you the option to install or extract the drivers. Select the option to extract the drivers and select a folder where they can be saved. Assume you select the folder: "F:\Driver\", you will find the SSD drivers in the VMD folder. The full path will be created as: "F:\Driver\production\Windows10-x64\15063\Drivers\VMD". Note that these comments apply to my Dell XPS machine. On a different manufacturer's machine the path may be different. Point the Windows installer to this VMD folder and it will find the SSD drivers and the installation will proceed. Note: I recommend you install the VMD folder on the flash drive that holds the installer. It just makes it easier to point the installer to the drivers.
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
This isn't new. It's been this way for years in Windows 10, Windows 7, Vista, XP. If you have an unrecognized AHCI/SATA/RAID controller, you need to load the "F6 driver" This term itself goes back at least twenty years. Dell has frequently over the years shipped computers with drive controllers that weren't recognized by the basic driver set included on the Windows installation media. Also, Dell changed (many times) the default bios settings. Sometimes they come set to IDE (which will always work with default drivers). Other times, they have the controller set to AHCI or RAID mode (which will typically require a driver).
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This isn't new. It's been this way for years in Windows 10, Windows 7, Vista, XP. If you have an unrecognized AHCI/SATA/RAID controller, you need to load the "F6 driver" This term itself goes back at least twenty years. Dell has frequently over the years shipped computers with drive controllers that weren't recognized by the basic driver set included on the Windows installation media. Also, Dell changed (many times) the default bios settings. Sometimes they come set to IDE (which will always work with default drivers). Other times, they have the controller set to AHCI or RAID mode (which will typically require a driver).
This is interesting! My Dell XPS (where I ran into this problem) BIOS does not have an IDE option, only RAID or AHCI. If you select AHCI you better have a SATA drive attached, or the BIOS will freeze (hang). If you only have NVMe drives, you absolutely MUST select RAID or the machine will not start. From your comments I conclude that because RAID is compulsory for me, I have to provide the appropriate drivers for the installer. Thanks for your input! Edit: There's a new development. A couple of days ago, after the clean install, I upgraded the BIOS to the latest version. Now I notice that the drive config options have changed in the new BIOS: There is still no IDE option, but the options now are: - RAID - AHCI / NVMe That NVMe addition is new. Maybe the installer drivers will work if I set the BIOS to that option? Pity I don't have to repeat the setup! :)
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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If you happen to try a Windows 11 clean install with the latest installer, you may run into an issue: The installer will report that you have no drives suitable to accept the new Windows system. The cause of this issue is that the installers used to be equipped with default drivers for SSD drives (both SATA SSDs and NVMe SSds.) Because of issues caused by these default drivers, Microsoft stopped including them with the installer. No drivers means that the installer cannot see any SSDs in your system. The installer will offer a link to browse for the drivers - But where are they, what are they called? You get no hint how to find them. It took me a lot of research to figure out how to proceed: You need to download the Intel-Rapid-Storage-Driver****** for your particular machine from the manufacturer's website and run it. It will offer you the option to install or extract the drivers. Select the option to extract the drivers and select a folder where they can be saved. Assume you select the folder: "F:\Driver\", you will find the SSD drivers in the VMD folder. The full path will be created as: "F:\Driver\production\Windows10-x64\15063\Drivers\VMD". Note that these comments apply to my Dell XPS machine. On a different manufacturer's machine the path may be different. Point the Windows installer to this VMD folder and it will find the SSD drivers and the installation will proceed. Note: I recommend you install the VMD folder on the flash drive that holds the installer. It just makes it easier to point the installer to the drivers.
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
This level of difficulty and the complications of the solutions others have provided for Microsoft products are why Apple is the most successful company in the world. Mac sales are increasing because most people don’t need this extra hassle in their lives.
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If you happen to try a Windows 11 clean install with the latest installer, you may run into an issue: The installer will report that you have no drives suitable to accept the new Windows system. The cause of this issue is that the installers used to be equipped with default drivers for SSD drives (both SATA SSDs and NVMe SSds.) Because of issues caused by these default drivers, Microsoft stopped including them with the installer. No drivers means that the installer cannot see any SSDs in your system. The installer will offer a link to browse for the drivers - But where are they, what are they called? You get no hint how to find them. It took me a lot of research to figure out how to proceed: You need to download the Intel-Rapid-Storage-Driver****** for your particular machine from the manufacturer's website and run it. It will offer you the option to install or extract the drivers. Select the option to extract the drivers and select a folder where they can be saved. Assume you select the folder: "F:\Driver\", you will find the SSD drivers in the VMD folder. The full path will be created as: "F:\Driver\production\Windows10-x64\15063\Drivers\VMD". Note that these comments apply to my Dell XPS machine. On a different manufacturer's machine the path may be different. Point the Windows installer to this VMD folder and it will find the SSD drivers and the installation will proceed. Note: I recommend you install the VMD folder on the flash drive that holds the installer. It just makes it easier to point the installer to the drivers.
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
This level of difficulty and the complications of the solutions others have provided for Microsoft products are why Apple is the most successful company in the world. Mac sales are increasing because most people don’t need this extra hassle in their lives.
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This level of difficulty and the complications of the solutions others have provided for Microsoft products are why Apple is the most successful company in the world. Mac sales are increasing because most people don’t need this extra hassle in their lives.
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Apple's ridiculous prices have always put me off! :omg:
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Its like caviar and gold leaf on your ice cream, you are paying for the prestige and not the product.
More accurate would be buying Häagen-Dazs instead of Great Value brand. They are both vanilla, but one tastes vastly better.
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Apple's ridiculous prices have always put me off! :omg:
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.
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More accurate would be buying Häagen-Dazs instead of Great Value brand. They are both vanilla, but one tastes vastly better.