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Windows installation Error: Setup does not recognize hard drive during installation

Computers Windows
#1

I’m trying to install windows 7 on my family computer, but i’m getting this error.

Setup does not recognize hard drive during installation

Any tips on how to get rid of this?

#2

Yeah i’ve seen this before, can you boot into the installation CD directly and start the installation from there? I assume you’re letting your computer start up completely and that you’re running it from within windows.

It’s important that the HDD is detected in the BIOS so make sure you double check that.
In your SATA setting (in your BIOS), what are the settings? is it AHCI or is it IDE?

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#3

You should always try to boot from the CD or the flashdrive directly, it prevents problems. It’s a good tip for the future ;).

I can confirm that sometimes your BIOS cannot detect the HDD and that causes similar problems to this. I recommend setting your SATA setting to AHCI and boot it from there. Are there any other problems or symptoms that may have came before this?

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#4

The installation was downloaded, we do not have a CD. So I can’t run it without starting up Windows, what do I do now?

#5

Ahhh I see the problem, what you do is you put the installation on a flash drive (USB) and run it like a CD.
I’ll also note that downloaded OS’s are most likely illegal, so perhaps the version you have simply isn’t fully working.

  • Make an ISO of your installation by using the program HERE.

  • Get THIS program to make a USB/DVD download out of it.

  • Run this tool, make sure you set it so that it has permission to make changes to your computer.

  • Once it’s done, you’ll have the installation on your USB ready for use. Now try the advice we gave you earlier with this drive.

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#6

Thank you Daniel! This managed to work for me, at least I think it did. I followed your instructions and am running the installation now. So far so good, It is taking a huge amount of time but I expected as much.

I did have some problems getting the USB ready but after fiddeling around a little bit I managed.
The BIOS at first didn’t accept the drive either, but after messing around I solved that too.