I built my first PC today, and everything seemed to go smoothly until I started installing Windows. The installer detects my USB drive, but when I try to continue, it reports an error while scanning for drivers. The SSD is a Samsung 990 Pro 1TB and is already visible in the BIOS. I also downloaded the motherboard drivers directly from ASUS, but that has not fixed the problem. My system uses a Sapphire 9070 XT, Ryzen 7 7800X3D, and ROG Strix B850-F Gaming WiFi 7 motherboard. Separately, three Lian Li fans spin but their lighting does not work. What should I try next?
3 Answers
Since the 990 Pro appears in the BIOS, this is probably a Windows installation-media or storage-mode issue rather than a dead SSD. Recreate the Windows USB using the official Media Creation Tool or a fresh ISO, then plug it directly into a rear motherboard USB port instead of a front-panel port or hub. Try another USB port as well. In BIOS, make sure the storage controller is set to AHCI and that RAID mode is disabled unless you intentionally configured RAID. Then restart the installer and check whether the 990 Pro appears as an available destination.
Disconnect any other storage devices while installing and leave only the Windows USB and the 990 Pro connected. Also check that the SSD is installed firmly in the recommended M.2 slot. If the installer reports a missing media driver, rebuilding the USB is often the fix—especially if the original ISO was written incorrectly or the USB port is causing a compatibility problem.
For the Lian Li fans, spinning only confirms that their fan-power connection works; the lighting uses a separate cable or controller. Check that the ARGB or lighting cable is connected to the correct Lian Li controller, that the controller has SATA power, and that its USB cable is connected to an internal USB header if the model requires it. Make sure the lighting leads are not plugged into a 12V RGB header—use a 5V 3-pin ARGB connection or the matching controller. After Windows is installed, the appropriate Lian Li control software can be used to configure the LEDs.
If the installer still asks for a driver, download the AMD chipset or RAID storage driver for this exact motherboard onto a second USB drive, choose Load driver, and point Windows Setup to the extracted driver folder. You generally should not need a driver just to see a normal single NVMe drive with RAID disabled.