I'm trying to replace Linux with Windows because my school's lockdown browser doesn't support Linux. During the Windows installation, I get the message: "We couldn't find any drivers to get a storage driver. Click Load Driver." I've spent about three hours trying to fix it. I looked for the Intel Rapid Storage Technology files for my Dell Inspiron 15 3520 and even extracted the download with 7-Zip, but I can't find the required .inf or F6 driver files. Is the installation media itself the problem, or is there another way to get Windows installed?
2 Answers
Ventoy is usually the simplest option here: install Ventoy onto a USB drive, copy the Windows ISO to the drive, boot the laptop from USB, and select the ISO. If one Windows ISO doesn’t work, try another official release because some versions can have compatibility problems with certain laptops.
This error often happens when the Windows USB was created from Linux with a tool that doesn’t properly handle Windows ISOs. Instead of loading an IRST driver, recreate the installer using Ventoy from Linux, then copy the Windows ISO onto the Ventoy drive and boot from it. You can also create the USB from a working Windows computer using Microsoft’s official media-creation tool.
BalenaEtcher is a common recommendation, but it doesn’t reliably create bootable Windows installation media. Ventoy or WoeUSB are better choices when making the USB from Linux.