[SOLVED] My last resort - Windows refuses to install in new motherboard

[Panino Manino]

beware bad engrish

You this forum can't help me, I'll give up.

The motherboard is a ASRock FM2A55M-HD+ R2.0, the HDD is a Samsung HM250HI (S20TJ9BB504357).
I wanted to install Windows 7 there but the setup gives this error: "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer’s hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure the disk’s controller is enabled in the computers BIOS menu."

Believe me, I asked and tried everything.
I tried formatting the pendrive (because I don't have a optical disk) with Rufus using MBR and UEFI-CSM, UEFI, GPT, no changes.
I tried getting some random ISO from the internets, no changes.
I tried installing Windows 10, didn't worked.
I tried changing all the options available in the BIOS and every combination, options for USB, SATA, BOOT, everything that was there, nothing worked.

Windows setup initialize, I get at the part where I have to point where to install the system, e every time this happens, "This computer’s hardware may not support booting to this disk.". How this "hardware" may not support booting using this HD? Where exactly is the problem here?
This only happens with Windows, because Linux? No problems, I'm in Ubuntu now. I had no problems installing Linux in this very same motherboard and HDD, so why Windows refuses?

I found plenty of people with the same problem digging in forums, they managed to fix this changing some option on the motherboard or converting the disk using diskpart. But for me nothing worked, the same problem every time.

As I said, this forum is my last resort.
Unfortunately Linux is not ideal for the needs in my house, for now I'm getting by with Wine, but I really need Windows here.

If you have read all this, thanks.
If you can help, please...

 

[Elixer]

What is the drive you are installing to, and is it GPT or MBR, and how many partitions do you have on said drive?
Do you have bootblock protection on in the BIOS?

 

[XavierMace]

Windows 7 would need drivers added into it to work. But 10 shouldn't have any issue.

 

[mikeymikec]

Switch off UEFI boot in the BIOS (legacy only), delete all partitions on the disk (if there are, do you have your data backed up?), try again?

Do you have bootblock protection on in the BIOS?

I've never actually seen this happen, but it makes sense. The BIOS might also refer to it as virus protection or something similar.

 

[Panino Manino]

Despite having said that I "tried everything", of course I have to have let something pass by.

Whats the bast way to make the bootable pendrive?
I use Rufus, next time I thinking in choosing GPT mode only and disable all legacy options on the mobo.
Must be some configurations that are more fail proof.

What is the drive you are installing to, and is it GPT or MBR, and how many partitions do you have on said drive?

I formatted and reformatted the disk again and again, converting it to MBR and GPT and changing BIOS options every time.

Maybe I could say that I tried more to make this work in a legacy style.

Do you have bootblock protection on in the BIOS?

I see nothing like this (secure boot?).[/QUOTE]

 

[C1]

Hard Disk not Detected During Windows Installation
https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/hard-disk-not-detected.html

 

[Ketchup]

If you are still stuck, tell us what your BIOS options on the storage configuration screen look like.

 

[Panino Manino]

If you are still stuck, tell us what your BIOS options on the storage configuration screen look like.

Manual - http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/Manual/FM2A55M-HD+ R2.0.pdf

 

[Ketchup]

Yes. I looked at the manual. My question was, what options are you chooising.

Apologies for not making that more clear.

 

[mikeymikec]

And when I mentioned "UEFI boot", I was referring to Secure Boot.

 

[mxnerd]

Disable secure boot.

 

[Panino Manino]

Secure boot was never enabled.

I changed SATA to IDE and AHCI mode in storage options, enabled and disabled legacy options in USB and inside BOOT options, enabling and disabling Legacy and UEFI in CSM menu, etc.
I made the bootable pendrive in Rufus using MBR and UEFI-CSM, only UEFI, only GPT, etc.
I converted the disk to MBR and GPT.
Always the same error.
I also tried changing the SATA connector, nothing.

All "obvious" solutions were tested, that's why I came here.
It's a mistery.

 

[mxnerd]

Do you happen to have any USB flash drive, MicroSD card , or removable drive plugged in? Remove them if there is any and retry.

====

It could be partition table somehow being messed up. I used to have same problem once since I installed VMware ESXi on that disk. I forgot how I fixed that, unfortunately.

====

Have you tried Diskpart erase or clean?

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/005929en

 

[bruceb]

Most likely your hard drive is defective or you have a bad cable (power or sata cable) going to the drive. Do you see the Hard Drive in the BIOS ? See all the information listed below. This can be fixed, if you follow the steps correctly.

Hard Disk Not Detected During Windows Installation: Here Are 6 Solutions

Tip: this error could be caused by lots of factors so that it is not easy for most people to find the exact one. Naturally, it is not easy to pick out an effective solution in a short time, and users may need to try some or all of our solutions one by one.



Solution 1.Check whether the hard disk is recognized by BIOS.

If there is no error message shown, we suggest trying this method at first. Of course, even if error messages are given, you can also try this solution prior to doing any operation. Please start computer, press a specified key for several times to enter BIOS, and then look for your hard drive. If it is missing or invisible from BIOS (shown as None or Not detected), here are 4 possible reasons as well as countermeasures:

• The channel for this hard drive is forbidden in BIOS, which happens especially after you add a second hard drive to system. To fix this issue, we need to turn it on or enable it.
• Data cable or power cable of the drive is damaged or isn’t plugged firmly. Try connecting both cables again or change other cables.
• BIOS is out of date and can’t recognize your hard disk. Try updating BIOS or driver of BIOS to the latest version.
• The hard drive may be physically damaged. Download a disk testing tool to test the drive. If it is not detected by the tool or errors are found, you may need to contact your hard disk provider.

After you are doing these attempts, the hard disk might be detected by BIOS, and then you can go on installing Windows. But if the disk is still invisible, you may need to contact your hard disk manufacturer for help.

Actually, in most situations, the hard disk is visible in BIOS and only Windows Install can’t detect it. At this time, you need to try the following solutions.

Before making attempts below, we highly suggest creating a backup for this disk if it saves important files. But it is a brand new disk, please skip this step.

 

[EXCellR8]

Install the OS with a different board and clone the boot drive with Acronis Universal Restore.

This is what I ended up having to do in a few odd scenarios

 

[Puffnstuff]

Make sure that your drives are plugged into the intel sata connector or it will never allow you to install windows.

 

[Panino Manino]

Make sure that your drives are plugged into the intel sata connector or it will never allow you to install windows.

"intel sata connector"?
Whats that?!

Yes, the drives are connected, using new cables, I tried two, and I also tried plug-in in another channel.

Honestly, I'm really tired of this.
I remember when years ago UEFI was announced and the tech world almost went into flames, accusing Microsoft off caging the PC, that it was afraid of Linux, etc. Look at where we are now? I can install the linux distro I want with no problems but I can't install Windows! It's ridiculous and revolting.

Again, I'll prepare my pendrive Windows 7 with Partition Scheme in GPT, then I'll try make it work disabling all legacy options using another USB plug.
Who knows if it decides to work.

 

[bruceb]

Use the SATA 1 Port on the Motherboard. I suggest you take the hard drive and test it in another computer to see if you can read or access it. If you can and it has nothing important on it, then do a full reformat to NTFS file type. Reinstall it and try to install windows again. In my opinion, Secure Boot and UEFI was the biggest bondoogle of all time. You only need UEFI file structure if the hard drive is over 3GB in size

Also follow the steps here to create the proper bootable installation media.

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-10-media-creation-tool-create-installation-media-upgrade

 

[vailr]

Suggestion: try again with Windows 10, because the Windows 7 installer may not include support for the AMD motherboard. The motherboard seems to be localized to Brazil, so details (in English) on the SATA port controllers is lacking.
Note: motherboard specific drivers may also be added during the Windows installation process, if required to enable the hard drive's appearance as an installation target drive option.
Download the official Windows 10 .iso file directly from Microsoft, then use the latest version of Rufus to create a bootable USB thumb drive, selecting the "pure UEFI" format for the USB thumb drive. Check for any bios updates and flash install it. Otherwise, re-set the CMOS to factory default settings. Then check that the "pure UEFI" bios setting is selected. Boot from the USB thumb drive, delete all existing hard drive partitions using the Windows installer, then let Windows create fresh partitions.
Note: I'm simply assuming that this AMD chipset board does have a "pure UEFI" mode setting, which all modern Intel chipset boards do have. And that AMD's "pure UEFI" mode functions similar to Intel's "pure UEFI" mode.

Edit: there could also be a problem if the video card is older and doesn't support UEFI mode. In that case, both the bootable USB thumb drive and the bios setup (as well as the hard drive format) would need to be switched to "Legacy" + MBR mode, instead of UEFI.

 

[Panino Manino]

OMG I'M SCARED!

I restarted just now.
I have Win10 prepared now, with Microsoft official tool.
Changed and checked some things in BIOS that I thought it could be relevant.
In Storage:
- AMD AHCI BIOS ROM | Enabled
- SATA IDE Combined mode | Disabled
BOOT:
- UEFI: Pendrive (made sure to disabled USB: Pendrive, it shows both options)
CSM:
- CSM | Enabled
- PXE OpROM Policy | Do not Launch
- Storage OpROM policy | Do not Launch (these two for to use both legacy and EUFI).

Restarted.
Win10 setup.
Choose HD... and saw an error message but... It says that I can't install in the partition, because it has Ubuntu now and is formatted to EXT4, it needs NTFS, and that the disk is formatted to MBR and to install it needs to be converted to GPT.

I think, it could work now!

But I don't want Win10, so I'm gonna put Win7 again and try my luck.

 

[vailr]

Win10 setup.
Choose HD... and saw an error message but... It says that I can't install in the partition, because it has Ubuntu now and is formatted to EXT4, it needs NTFS, and that the disk is formatted to MBR and to install it needs to be converted to GPT.

At that point in the process, simply delete each and every existing partition. Only then can Windows find the completely unformatted hard drive, and then let the Windows installer go ahead and create fresh partitions.

I have Win10 prepared now, with Microsoft official tool.

Using Rufus may be the better choice, because it allows picking between GPT vs. MBR format for the USB thumb drive.
Also: what video card is being used?
Remember: the format setting for the USB thumb drive must match both: the bios SATA controller setting UEFi + GPT vs. Legacy + MBR. If choosing UEFI bios setting, then CSM should also be disabled.

 

[Panino Manino]

At that point in the process, simply delete each and every existing partition. Only then can Windows find the completely unformatted hard drive, and then let the Windows installer go ahead and create fresh partitions.

I never get to this point, so this is a huge progress.
I know I have to clean the disk but now I can't finish this, it's my mother birthday you know, things are busy here. But I'm optimistic.

Using Rufus may be the better choice, because it allows picking between GPT vs. MBR format for the USB thumb drive.
Also: what video card is being used?
Remember: the format setting for the USB thumb drive must match both: the bios SATA controller setting UEFi + GPT vs. Legacy + MBR. If choosing UEFI bios setting, then CSM should also be disabled.

Yeah, I understand that Microsoft tool uses EUFI+GPT, then this is what I'll use and let the BIOS alone at how it is now. I don't care how it works.
Thanks in advance everybody.[/QUOTE]

 

[Panino Manino]

PRAY FOR MY SOUL!

I wanted to come here to the thanks all fo you but... but!!!!

As I suspected that configuration above worked. But I had W10 and wanted W7, so I put W7 on the pendrive and installed! It worked! BUT!
I notice that the version I had was 32bits so I was forced to go after a 64bits version and this I did.
First problem:
"bip bip bip bip"
HD threatened to fail.
Crisis averted, started installing the new W7 64bits... and the problem reappeared!
F#&%!!

I'll try creating the pendrive one more time direct from Linux, it doesn't work...!!!

EDIT: WinUSB refuses to work, Etcher not even open here... This is how technology kill people.

 

[Panino Manino]

Tomorrow...
Tomorrow I`ll put that W10 in my pendrive I hope that it works, the installation and the HD.

I have to say, I'm destroyed.
I`m no professional, but after more than two decades using and handling computers, not being able to install Windows...
Nothing and no one can console me.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Well every time I've run into this issue the boot and installation driver weren't plugged into the primary sata controller.