Needing help! Vista cannot find HDD during new installation

[Scram]

Hi there all.. I just recently bought parts for a computer and assembled it today.. I have it put together but now when I go to install the OS (Vista 32bit) it will not find the HDD. The BIOS can find the HDD with out a problem.. It's connected by SATA..

Here are my specs from the build:

Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119104)
Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059)
8800GT Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318)
Power Supply/Fan (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703011)
2.4ghz Quad Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115018)
CPU Fan (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134)
2gb RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098)
Floppy Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16821103203)
500 GB Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288)
Sony DVD+-R Lightscribe Optical Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118004)
Vista 32-bit Home (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116202)

Here are some photos of the current BIOS settings..
Click here (http://thebreakroom.org/see/help/bios/)

And here are the photos of the Vista setup that goes wrong
See me (http://thebreakroom.org/see/help/vista/)


I have already tried plugging in the SATA to different spots on the Motherboard (there is a total of 4) and it still hasn't worked.. The HDD is OEM and did not come with any drivers or CDs, and the manufacturer's website says there is none.

An interesting message comes up if I hit C:\ when in the Vista instillation where it asks me to browse to the driver and click okay.. see photos below:
picture 1 (http://thebreakroom.org/see/help/vista/DSCF4192.JPG)
picture 2 (http://thebreakroom.org/see/help/vista/DSCF4193.JPG)

Anyone have any idea what is going on, or how I can fix this? I really need help!

Thanks a ton for any replies!
-Scram :toast:

[Dop3KinG]

hi you need sata drivers from your motherboard makers website or from the motherboard instalation cd.just put them on a floppy or flashdrive and install them in vista setup
just click on load driver in vista setup and browse to wher you have the drivers eg floppy or flash drive

[tofu]

There should not be a need to install drivers for your motherboard in order to recognize your hard drives unless you are installing on a RAID partition. Since your running on a single hard drive, my bet would be either that your hard drive is a dud or theres some conflict between the two SATA devices (your hard drive and your dvd).

[beyond_amusia]

Try XP or 2000 to see if they pick it up.

[candle_86]

no its an intel chipset, you need to put the SATA drivers on a floopy, this isnt IDE anymore kids

[Creatre]

There should not be a need to install drivers for your motherboard in order to recognize your hard drives unless you are installing on a RAID partition. Since your running on a single hard drive, my bet would be either that your hard drive is a dud or theres some conflict between the two SATA devices (your hard drive and your dvd).

I'm thinking it is one of these two things as well. I'm sort of leaning towards the hard drive not working correctly though. Hopefully my new seagate 320gb won't have this problem, cause I just RMA'd my mobo and have to wait for that. Good luck.

[Scram]

If the HDD is bad, wouldn't the BIOS not be able to recognize it? Because it is reading it fine, with 500gigs free..

Any idea why Vista would display "You need to format the disk in drive C: before you can use it .. Do you want to format it?" and if I hit Format it says "Windows can't format C:\ ..Check to see that the disk and drive are connected properly, make sure that the disk is not read-only, and then try again. For more information, search Help for read-only files and how to change them."

That happens when I try searching C: for any drivers when Vista tries to install..

[AphexDreamer]

I know I had to load RAID Drivers to Vista would recognize my RAID 0 Array, but never for single HD. If anything you should have the drivers on a CD you MB came with or something, then you just have to load the Driver from the CD.

[Scram]

There's no specific spot for the drivers on the CD.. I have tried almost every file I could find off the CD and still nothing..

[AphexDreamer]

There's no specific spot for the drivers on the CD.. I have tried almost every file I could find off the CD and still nothing..

hmmm it should be there.... If not try searching the web for it.

[Creatre]

There's no specific spot for the drivers on the CD.. I have tried almost every file I could find off the CD and still nothing..

That seems like a very odd problem. I have no idea why it would show you having a hard drive in the BIOS but then for the vista install it won't show it to you. Anything that appears in the bios should appear at this step. Anyway you can try a different hard drive, or is that the only one you have around?

[Scram]

It's the only one..

I have my laptop, and the old computer that failed.. but that has no good parts that I could use on this..

What should I be searching the web for? I tried this at the gigabyte website
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/Driver_Model.aspx?ProductID=2629
But there are no SATA drivers

The HDD's mfr website says I need a controller device driver for the Motherboard in it's FAQs.. What the heck is that and where do I get it?

[Scram]

I have noticed a beeping noise at startup and found in the manual where it talks about the beeps.. This could be apart of the problem..

When I start up it gives a long beep with a short beep in the middle...

This is what the manual lists..
1 short: system boots successfully
2 short: CMOS setting error
1 long, 1 short: Memory or motherboard error
1 long, 2 short: Monitor or graphics card error
1 long, 3 short: Keyboard error
1 long, 9 short: BIOS ROM error
Continuous long beeps" Graphics card not inserted properly
Continuous short beeps" Power Error

So.. could it be a Memory or Motherboard error?.. What could the motherboard error be? Because the memory is fine and it reads that it is all there..

[Creatre]

I have noticed a beeping noise at startup and found in the manual where it talks about the beeps.. This could be apart of the problem..

When I start up it gives a long beep with a short beep in the middle...

This is what the manual lists..
1 short: system boots successfully
2 short: CMOS setting error
1 long, 1 short: Memory or motherboard error
1 long, 2 short: Monitor or graphics card error
1 long, 3 short: Keyboard error
1 long, 9 short: BIOS ROM error
Continuous long beeps" Graphics card not inserted properly
Continuous short beeps" Power Error

So.. could it be a Memory or Motherboard error?.. What could the motherboard error be? Because the memory is fine and it reads that it is all there..


Found this searching google, a little more information but still doesn't get the answer I was looking for:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=618213&pid=589192896&st=0&#entry589192896

Are you sure its a motherboard beep? There can be beeps from stuff powering up, but if you are sure its a motherboard beep then you are having a little more serious problem then Vista not finding the HDD. Most likely its just the successful powering up beep that you are supposed to hear. I just RMA'd my brand new motherboard so it wouldn't surprise me, but I don't think thats the issue here.

[Scram]

So it looks like I have to buy XP just to install Vista? What the hell?.. lol..

I will try putting the driver CD onto a flash drive and see if it works that way..

The HDD wouldn't be DOA would it? I mean the BIOS reads it still... so it's good right?

And yeah I am sure it's a motherboard beep.. The very first time I started it it beeped once, then I kept getting the long beep with a short sharper one in the middle..

I have the case open and am checking all of the connections again

[Creatre]

So it looks like I have to buy XP just to install Vista? What the hell?.. lol..

I will try putting the driver CD onto a flash drive and see if it works that way..

The HDD wouldn't be DOA would it? I mean the BIOS reads it still... so it's good right?

And yeah I am sure it's a motherboard beep.. The very first time I started it it beeped once, then I kept getting the long beep with a short sharper one in the middle..

I have the case open and am checking all of the connections again

That's a really odd situation. I'm pretty sure the HDD isn't bad since the BIOS is reading it, otherwise I would think it needs to be RMA'd. Try to get those drivers in there somehow, I'm thinking thats the way out. It's going to be a pain to RMA the hard drive if thats not neccessarily the problem. And the motherboard beep worries me, hopefully thats still just the okay beep and its trying to be a little different.

[Scram]

I am trying to use Vista's installation CD's Command Prompt to format the drive C... I am waiting for it to complete..

I know it knows it's there, because the command prompt is working on formating it .. the type of the file system is RAW and is becoming NTFS.. so hopefully this is what was causing the problem

If not, I am lost and don't know what else to do..

[Creatre]

I am trying to use Vista's installation CD's Command Prompt to format the drive C... I am waiting for it to complete..

I know it knows it's there, because the command prompt is working on formating it .. the type of the file system is RAW and is becoming NTFS.. so hopefully this is what was causing the problem

If not, I am lost and don't know what else to do..


Any update? :)

[Scram]

It's still reformating. it has another 10 or so minutes.. ahh! Hopefully it works :-\

[Wile E]

If that doesn't work, did you try the Intel chipset drivers? I've never seen them be needed at setup, but you never know.

[Scram]

it still didn't work.. good news is that it doesn't tell me I need to format C:/ .. :P

Where do I get the intel chipset drivers?..

What is going on with this! ahhh!

I've looked around the net and some people have had this issue and resolved it by installing XP and then Vista..
Problem is I don't have XP.. Anyone know where or who I can contact to get it so I can install it and then use it to boot Vista?.. I don't want to fork over money again just to get Vista installed...

[Wile E]

http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Support/Motherboard/Driver_DownloadFile.aspx?FileType=Driver&FileID=3089

Try those. That should be the mirror list for them on GB's website. Extract them to your thumb drive, and see if Vista can use anything on there.

[Scram]

K, trying this right now..

[Scram]

Still nothing.. Man this is ticking me off...

Does anyone else have any idea, or suggestions??

Which company tech support should I call? Would this be Microsoft, Seagate, or Gigabyte's issue?... =( This is really making my first build a crappy one, haha!

Thank you all for your help thus far, ;X

[Wile E]

Man, I'm stumped now. Lets do something off the wall. Check/change your SATA cable. Try a different SATA port. If those don't work, try the longshot, and put your hard drive in AHCI or RAID mode.

[Scram]

Done it.. already.. prior to this :-\ i've tried all 4 of the sata ports.. and I've even tried mixing the two cables (for the optical and the hdd..) and neither have resulted in Vista find it..
And I have also done AHCI .. RAID mode I do not know how to get into.. Is it involve a different cable other than the SATA because that is the only connection it has..

I am going to head to bed.. It's 3 am and I have to be up early. well.. in a bit :-X haha!

[beyond_amusia]

Try this; http://partedmagic.com/wiki/PartedMagic.php I've used it; it's a Linux Live CD and contains many tool for partioning, formating, testing, ect... and it's free. :) Bit of advice though; NEVER use it to re-size a Windows partion; you'll lose you data.

[Scram]

Try this; http://partedmagic.com/wiki/PartedMagic.php I've used it; it's a Linux Live CD and contains many tool for partioning, formating, testing, ect... and it's free. :) Bit of advice though; NEVER use it to re-size a Windows partion; you'll lose you data.

What would I do with this? .. Sorry but I am a bit lost with this suggestion :banghead:

[Scram]

Woo HOOO!
I got it to finally read the HDD.. This is what I did..

When installing, I went into the Vista's installation CD's Command Prompt..
Opened diskpart,
Selected the disk (0 in my case)
typed clean all and hit enter ... exited CMD and it read that my HDD was available.. restarted the computer and was able to install!

Thanks all for the replies!