I'm having trouble with a couple of laptops I bought for my kids. I wanted to wipe the existing OS and install a fresh version of Windows using either the media creation tool or a bootable USB with Rufus. I usually delete all partitions and then start the Windows installation, but now the disks aren't showing up at all. I got an error saying Windows can't be used on MBR and needs GPT instead. After deleting the partitions and formatting to NTFS using GParted, Windows still can't see the disk. Interestingly, I booted into Ubuntu and everything works fine there. I tried using Diskpart from a command prompt with Shift+F10, but still no luck. Both laptops are experiencing the same issue. Any ideas on how to get the Windows installation to recognize the hard drive?
4 Answers
Haha, I know that Windows Installer struggle all too well—it's like a game of hide-and-seek! But seriously, sometimes it’s just those pesky BIOS settings. If you’ve checked everything else, you might want to look into disabling features like Intel Volume Management Device (VMD) in BIOS, if it's enabled.
You're definitely onto something with the BIOS settings! I faced a similar situation a while back, and it turned out to be an odd setting in the BIOS that I didn’t even consider. Just keep tinkering; you'll figure it out!
First off, check your BIOS settings. Sometimes the disk might be configured as RAID, which can cause issues when installing Windows. You might also need to download drivers for your storage controller. You can usually find these on the laptop manufacturer's website. When you're on the Windows installation screen, look for an option to load drivers and point it to the flash drive you used for installation—they might need to be loaded specifically.
Try clearing the TPM and resetting your UEFI to default settings. Make sure your drive is set as the default boot disk and then give it another shot. It's good advice in general, but in this case, you might need to boot from USB for installation.
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