I am not having fun installing Vista on my new computer.

I am not having fun installing Vista on my new computer.

At first, I did not touch any of the BIOS settings.

The Install program recognized my hardware but said it was 698.6 GB which is a bit too small. There was a warning that said, "This computer's hardware may not support booting to this hard disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu".

I ignored this message and I clicked on this item in the list that showed my hard drive. There are little icon buttons at the bottom of the window. Few are enabled. One that is enabled is one that showed the "new" option. I clicked on that and an error appeared: "Failed to create a new partition on the selected used space. [Error: 0x80042453]". So I guess "new" is not the option to click on.
I went into the BIOS settings.

There were two things I noticed to change. One was SATA AHC MODE which I switched to [AHCI]. The other was "SATA PORT 0-1 Native Mode" which I switched to [ENABLED].

Then I ran through the Vista Setup again. This time, when I got to the display for my hard drive, the list box was empty. It did not recognize that I even had a hard drive.
Maybe it needs a driver.

I have a Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

This is what comes up on Western Digital's Website:


I downloaded a few zip files that I thought were applicable. But none of the readme files mentioned Vista. Are XP drivers the same as VISTA?

Sorry your having so much trouble xarzua.

Welcome.

Your Bios need to be put right. Not knowing what MB you have makes it difficult to tell you how to set them, but they are your problem.

Your best off by setting the Bios back to Default settings and see what happens. If its a Vista compatible MB that should be enough to get you going. I suggest looking through the stickys here and you will find complete instructions for setting up Vista from scratch.

It really is easy and fun, as well as faster then any other Windows OS I have ever installed.

The problem you are having comes from having the wrong mode set for the hard drive you have.

And I almost forgot...no XP drivers are NOT the same as Vista drivers. I never use a driver that is not spesified as Vista certified. Signed drivers are a must for X64 Vista. X86...not so much.

Good luck.

joel406 said:

Sorry your having so much trouble xarzua.

Welcome.

Your Bios need to be put right. Not knowing what MB you have makes it difficult to tell you how to set them, but they are your problem.

Your best off by setting the Bios back to Default settings and see what happens. If its a Vista compatible MB that should be enough to get you going. I suggest looking through the stickys here and you will find complete instructions for setting up Vista from scratch.

It really is easy and fun, as well as faster then any other Windows OS I have ever installed.

The problem you are having comes from having the wrong mode set for the hard drive you have.

And I almost forgot...no XP drivers are NOT the same as Vista drivers. I never use a driver that is not spesified as Vista certified. Signed drivers are a must for X64 Vista. X86...not so much.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

I set things back to their defaults. I figured I should make just one small change: "SATA PORT 0-1 Native Mode" which I switched to [ENABLED]. I think that this is important.

I might be right because I seemed to get further and things looked better.

I still got stuck. So I might take your advice for setting up Vista from scratch.

First of all, here is what I have:
Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 2.4GHz LGA 775 65W Processor
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard
CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Western Digital Caviar SE16 750GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320-P2-N811-AR Video Card
ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Business for System Builders Single Pack DVD
Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails
Antec Nine Hundred Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window

I am having a little problem completing the installation of the operating system. I get to the point where the installation asks me where I want to install WINDOWS. There is only one option and I am glad that the installation program recognizes it. I select it. Then I select the option to "Load Driver" and I go to a procedure where the installation program searches the CD or DVD that I provide. I have three options. The Vista CD intself does not have the driver. I have a DVD that I have made myself that has drives that I have downloaded from Western Digital's website. This does not work. The Vistal installation program says that this DVD does not contain the proper driver. I have the CD that came with the motherboard that has drivers on it. The documentation that comes with the motherboard says that I should first install the Operating System before I install the drivers anyway. But I try this and it does not work as well.

And so I am stuck at the point in the installation of Vista where it is asking me for drivers for my hard drive and none of the cd/dvd's I have tried have the right ones.

I dont know why you feel you need to load a driver for your HD....you dont. When you get to that point in the instalation just click the options and if no partition is already present on the HD click new to create one. Then I always select format after that.

Dont worry formating only takes a few seconds then click next to proceed with the install.

Thats all you need, and Vista should install.

You usually only need to load a driver if your running a RAID and with just a single HD you are definitly not running a RAID.

joel406 said:

I dont know why you feel you need to load a driver for your HD....you dont. When you get to that point in the instalation just click the options and if no partition is already present on the HD click new to create one. Then I always select format after that.

Dont worry formating only takes a few seconds then click next to proceed with the install.

Thats all you need, and Vista should install.

You usually only need to load a driver if your running a RAID and with just a single HD you are definitly not running a RAID.

Click to expand...

There are only three options to choose from. "Load Driver" (and we know where that leads to); "Refresh" (which I am sure will not do anything since the one and only hard drive is displayed); and "Driver Options".

Unfortunatly, "Driver Options" also leads to a dead end. When I click on this, the option, "new" appears. This is the only option that is enabled. When I select this, it shows the size of the hard drive and an option to "apply" or "cancel". I click on Apply and an error comes up:
"Failed to create a new partition on the selected used space. [Error: 0x80042453]".

Xarzu, clear the CMOS, ignore installing drivers, and do not use AHCI mode in the BIOS. Set it to "native IDE". I don`t have the same motherboard as you, but I do have a Gigabyte board which has some of the same BIOS settings you`re speaking of. You likely won`t be able to run AHCI until the OS is 100% installed, and a registry tweak is applied (info can be found on this site). Hope this helps.

Jello man said:

Xarzu, clear the CMOS, ignore installing drivers, and do not use AHCI mode in the BIOS. Set it to "native IDE". I don`t have the same motherboard as you, but I do have a Gigabyte board which has some of the same BIOS settings you`re speaking of. You likely won`t be able to run AHCI until the OS is 100% installed, and a registry tweak is applied (info can be found on this site). Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

I did as you asked. I disabled AHCI mode. I set the SATA to Native IDE mode. I reran the installation.

I got to the window where it shows my hard drive.

The only options I have are "Refresh" "Load Driver", "new" and the "Next" button. When I click on "Next", the message at the bottom of the window says "Windows is unable to find a system volume that meets its criteria for installation"

Xarzu, did you try the "new" button? I was faced with this after I had to re-install x64 Home Premium, and essentially what you`re doing is writing over anything that may already be written to the hard drive. Please try it and post back.
Also, what type of optical drive are you using, SATA or IDE? If using a SATA, which channels are the hard drive and optical drive on (EXAMPLE: SATA0, SATA1, etc.)

Jello man said:

Xarzu, did you try the "new" button? I was faced with this after I had to re-install x64 Home Premium, and essentially what you`re doing is writing over anything that may already be written to the hard drive. Please try it and post back.
Also, what type of optical drive are you using, SATA or IDE? If using a SATA, which channels are the hard drive and optical drive on (EXAMPLE: SATA0, SATA1, etc.)

Click to expand...

SATA0 is the Hard Drive.

SATA1 is the Optical Drive.

Yes, I tried the "new" button.

It seems like I am dealing with at least two issues here. I need to get the SATA drivers from the motherboard manufacturer. I have the CD that came with the motherboard but when I try it, the installation program says that "No device drivers were found. Make sure that the installation media contains the correct drivers, and then click OK". So I am off to check out what the motherboard company's web site has to say.

The second thing I am dealing with is the size of the hard drive and the fact that Vista may not install because it is so big and I need to make a partition. Well, using the installation and setup that I currently have, I do find something that looks like some sort of partition option. After clicking on the advanced options feature in the "Where do you want to install Windows?" I see a "New" icon that is enabled which leads me to an input item where I can type a number of MB's and click on "Apply". When I put in 25 gigs (25404 MB) and click on Apply, an error window comes up and says "Failed to create a new partition on the selected unused space. [Error 0x80042453]".

Hi Xarzu,

I have exactly the same problem as you. I have a Gigabyte P35... mobo so it's similar to yours. I have tried several hard disks and can not get Vista to install. I either doesn't recognize the disk full stop (for drive A) or it wants to repartition (for drive B) which I don't want to. I previously had XP Pro on it...set to a dynamic disk with 4 partitions one containing my data (most of which is backed up). I have experimented with all the disk settings in cmos I can think of including the default.

I'm thinking a new disk might be worth giving a shot.

Let me know how you are going.

Cheers,
Nicholas

Let me fill you in on what has just gone down. I complained about my problem to a support page hosted by the motherboard manufacturer and their response was to check the physical cable connections to the hard drive as well as the hard drive itself.

This led me to go out and buy a new hard drive and try installing it as a replacement.

This worked. Once I installed a new Seagate hard drive, the Vista installation went smoothly, flawlessly and seemed to also occur more quickly.

But the drama continues. Once I got my new computer finally working I updated the software. This happened so quickly I do not remember if I clicked on an option to do it or what. But I found it interesting that the update came from Intel:


So I am wondering now if I can still install the Western Digital hard drive as a slave. And if now I have the right software to do this.

Fixed it by using Disk Probe to 'remove' the volume and make it a normal partition. Follow the instructions at The Lazy Admin : Converting Dynamic Disks Back to Basic Disks and the drive should become readable again.

Cheers,
Nicholas

I set things back to their defaults. I figured I should make just one small change: "SATA PORT 0-1 Native Mode" which I switched to [ENABLED]. I think that this is important.

Click to expand...

Just because you think it's important doesn't mean that it is.

That setting is very likely the cause of your problem.

Next time you reset your bios to default to try and solve an issue; try leaving it alone and actually using the default settings before breaking it again.