Windows 7 Installer will not recognize SSD

Anonymous

I have just built a new computer and I want to install 64-bit Windows 7 Professional on an Intel X-25M 80GB SSD. I am doing a clean install on a new drive. When I get to the point in the Windows 7 installation that asks which drive I want to install the OS on, it does not show the Intel X-25M. It will show my other drives, however. If I unplug the other drives, it just shows a blank window instead of showing the Intel X-25M. I get a message saying it could not find a valid signed driver. I bought the retail version of the SSD, not an OEM.

I am using a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 motherboard and an Intel i920 CPU. The motherboard BIOS has no problem detecting and identifying the X-25M. I have the X-25M configured as an IDE. I updated the firmware of the SSD, but it did not help.

Windows 7 compatibility page shows no compatibility problems with the X-25M, but it apparently needs a signed driver, and I do not know how to get one.

Any suggestions?

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Anonymous

Does it show the SSD at all? I would check to see that it's indeed being picked up by the BIOS and if not, check the cables.

Occasionally, Windows setup can chuck a fit when it discovers a drive with an invalid MBR/boot sector and won't install to it. To fix this, you could try the following

1.Boot up Windows 7 disc.

2.When the welcome screen comes up on Windows Setup, press Shift + F10, which will display a command prompt.

3.Type "diskpart" (no quotes) and press enter.

4.Type "list disk" and press enter.

5.Hopefully you can see your SSD in the list. You should see a number identifying it. Now type "select disk X" (where X is the number identifying your SSD) and press enter.

6.Type "clean" and press enter. This will write a blank MBR, YOU WILL LOSE ANY DATA ON THE SSD if you did have anything on it.

Hopefully one of these tips helps :

)

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72 additional answers

Anonymous

2013-06-02T19:44:05+00:00

I have found a solution for my problem.

My ssd was not detected in the win7 installer, what I did to solve this is the following:

Opened he cd that came with my motherboard and there were the raid drivers.

Next thing I copied this file to an usb-stick and in the win7 installation there is a "load drivers" button.

Nice and easy I clicked, loaded the drivers and they showed up.
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Anonymous

2013-06-02T22:08:15+00:00

Loaded drives (tried both IDE & AHCI), in Bios of ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe motherboard. SSD didn't show. Manually loaded RAID drivers during WIN 7 setup, still didn't show SSD. I'm stuck!
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Anonymous

2013-06-06T10:42:34+00:00
The procedure i followed in order to fix this issue with my Samsung SSD, was
1. connected the disk to a docking station on another machine,
2. initialized the disk
3. format the disk
4. connect to the new machine and follow the procedure with the "diskpart" command
I'm currently at the stage of file expansion.... after 2 days of troubleshooting.

Thank you technocrate for your help.
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Anonymous

2013-07-01T16:05:11+00:00

Does it show the SSD at all? I would check to see that it's indeed being picked up by the BIOS and if not, check the cables.

Occasionally, Windows setup can chuck a fit when it discovers a drive with an invalid MBR/boot sector and won't install to it. To fix this, you could try the following

1.Boot up Windows 7 disc.

2.When the welcome screen comes up on Windows Setup, press Shift + F10, which will display a command prompt.

3.Type "diskpart" (no quotes) and press enter.

4.Type "list disk" and press enter.

5.Hopefully you can see your SSD in the list. You should see a number identifying it. Now type "select disk X" (where X is the number identifying your SSD) and press enter.

6.Type "clean" and press enter. This will write a blank MBR, YOU WILL LOSE ANY DATA ON THE SSD if you did have anything on it.

Hopefully one of these tips helps :

)

This was it. I had a lot of different thoughts on what it could be and I tried re-formatting the drive but it didn't resolve it yet and it turned out to be the lacking MBR! Thanks!
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