Error Message: Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your system

Thank you tyleryoungblood

tyleryoungblood thank you very much. May God Bless you i was suffering for three days and try to dig out but not working properly thank you all This is a such nice forum I've ever seen thank you all


Great wort Techspot
 
Hey there is this hp desktop computer that i'm trying to fix but i keep having this problem with the formatting everytime i keep trying to format the computer i keep getting the error message "setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in you system" i followed the steps that was provided in the last post from everybody and it still doesn't work please can somebody help me with this i tried everything from taking the computer apart and from searching all available options through google. i tried the last thing posted on here about going to the SATA Operation options and i couldn't find it in my system setup maybe it's different from dell to hp. please help Thank You
 
tyleryoungblood you are not a man

I completely feel your pain. I have the same system and just fixed the same problem. Here's what I did. And by the way, 2 hours of tech support with Dell did nothing for me other than give me practice understanding Pakistan accents. I eventually stumbled on the solution myself w/o dell's help.

Reboot your system and hit F2 as soon as you see the Dell startup screen (the options are F2 for setup, F12 for boot sequence).

In the System Setup screen, do these steps.

Select Drives:
Make sure your Diskette Drive (3.5 floppy) is set properly (Usually set to Internal)
Make sure that "Drive 0: SATA-0" drive is set to "ON"

Go to "SATA Operation":

Your system proabaly came set to "RAID Autodetect / AHCI" - THIS SETTING CAUSES YOUR SYSTEM TO GO INTO AN IDE LOOP AND DOESN'T ALLOW IT TO FIND YOUR FACTORY INSTALLED SATA DRIVE.

CHANGE THE SATA OPERATION SETTING TO "COMBINATION"

Reboot - make sure that the boot sequence is set to CD rom before HD and make sure that the reinstall CD is in the drive. Setup will load, hit enter to reinstall XP. Your HD should now be detected and you should see the licensing agreement.

If you have your files backed up I reccommend deleting the partition and reformatting prior to installing XP, it will give you that option after the license agreement.

Once you have successfully reinstalled the OS, Dell reccommends that you change the SATA Operation setting back to RAID AUTODETECT / AHCI (or back to whatever your factory setting was) to avoid any problems with other IDE devices installed on your system.

Hope that helps!

Good luck!


....but a Superman!!

I was almost sending my laptop back home to India to fix since it costs a ton in London... at such times of credit crunch. But luckily came to your reply and made my Sunday..registered to say thank you. How could you know this secret of universe?
 
ok, so i have a problem with a sony vaio, model VGN-FZ220E, and i had already formatted my computer and installed windows xp, not knowing that i would get the "no hard drive found" message (of doom). i proceeded to by a full copy of windows 98 (not second edition) so i could boot into that and install xp from there. my problem has now become twofold and i need some serious help. the windows 98 boot screen appears, then dumps out to a screen that reports:

"Insufficient memory to initialize windows. Quit one or more memory-resident programs or remove unnecessary utilities from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files, and restart your computer."

my issue is this: if i cant get into windows 98 to change the memory limit to 512 MB and if i cant change my BIOS settings to anything other than what sony had set it to, what are my options in either DOS mode or what can i do to at least get my PC working again? The last thing that i want to consider is having to wait for an XP setup CD from Sony, and having to fill it up with their crap again. Thanks in advance for any information that might help me out :)
 
I messed with this for so long!! I even went out and bought a cheap sata ePCI card and used that as a work around but following your instructions and BAM! It worked!! Thanks so much!!
 
I had the exact same problem and I did everything Tyler said and it worked except when I went back to the BIOS and changed the SATA Operation setting back to RAID AUTODETECT / AHCI my computer would not work again. If I leave it on combination, it would not detect my second SATA hard drive. Please help.
 
i have the same issue but with SCSI can anyone help with that im trying to install windows on a server i bought :/ please help its an IntelSE7501WV2SCSI
 
Thank You

Thank you very much! I have had this problem once before..I got so sick and tired of having to install vista over windows xp (since the vista install would actually find my hard drive and windows xp couldn't). I almost ordered a new hard drive because I thought the one I had was corrupt. I'm happy I stumbled upon this site! Thank you now XP is running my virtual world!
 
Hi All,

I have this Dimension 9150 and encountered this same issue. After I have tried TylerY method, I now encountered different error. I get this blue screen that says, "A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. If this is the first time......follow these steps: Disable or uninstall any anti-virus.... Technical information: *** STOP: stop: 0x00000024 (0x001902FE, 0xF79026dc,m 0xF79023D8, 0xF70BFF73). ***ntfs.sys - ...." It doesn't allow me to pass this screen. Thank you all for helping.

FYI: I do not have floppy drive on this PC.
 
Hey TylerY (or anyone else with advice to share),

Can you (or anyone else) solve my problem.

I am trying to boot my computer off of a Boot CD (to install DreamPackPL since I lost my password) but I get the same error message about hardrives not being detected. I wanted to follow your steps to change my Sata operation from Raid Autodetect/AHCI to Combination but I am afraid I will need to reinstall the operating system and thus lose all my files!

I have a Dell Dimension 9100. Do you know if it is required to reinstall the OS if you change your SATA Operation as you outlined?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

K.
 
I completely feel your pain. I have the same system and just fixed the same problem. Here's what I did. And by the way, 2 hours of tech support with Dell did nothing for me other than give me practice understanding Pakistan accents. I eventually stumbled on the solution myself w/o dell's help.

Reboot your system and hit F2 as soon as you see the Dell startup screen (the options are F2 for setup, F12 for boot sequence).

In the System Setup screen, do these steps.

Select Drives:
Make sure your Diskette Drive (3.5 floppy) is set properly (Usually set to Internal)
Make sure that "Drive 0: SATA-0" drive is set to "ON"

Go to "SATA Operation":

Your system proabaly came set to "RAID Autodetect / AHCI" - THIS SETTING CAUSES YOUR SYSTEM TO GO INTO AN IDE LOOP AND DOESN'T ALLOW IT TO FIND YOUR FACTORY INSTALLED SATA DRIVE.

CHANGE THE SATA OPERATION SETTING TO "COMBINATION"

Reboot - make sure that the boot sequence is set to CD rom before HD and make sure that the reinstall CD is in the drive. Setup will load, hit enter to reinstall XP. Your HD should now be detected and you should see the licensing agreement.

If you have your files backed up I reccommend deleting the partition and reformatting prior to installing XP, it will give you that option after the license agreement.

Once you have successfully reinstalled the OS, Dell reccommends that you change the SATA Operation setting back to RAID AUTODETECT / AHCI (or back to whatever your factory setting was) to avoid any problems with other IDE devices installed on your system.

Hope that helps!

Good luck!


Hey man i have this exact same problem since i've been trying to repair my OS due to some random Blue screen of death error.

I tried restarting my PC but the BSOD just comes back up, i can't even go into safe mode or anything like that. So i put in my OS CD to try and repair and i get the error message "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your system" and so on. It comes up as soon as the CD loads and i'm asked what i would like to do ( Enter=continue R=Repair etc.). I even tried burning the drives along with my OS using this program called Nlite onto another CD and it keeps failing.

So i find your solution and i get up to the step where i have to go to "SATA Operation" and change the AHCI setting to "Combination". But that's the thing my PC doesn't allow me to change to "Combination", the only other option is something called ACL or ACI i'm not completely sure, never the less "Combination" is not an option.

I'm running a Dell XPS 210 with 1 gig of ram and Windows XP media center edition.
And i don't have a floppy disk drive :[
 
There is really no need to fall back to the SATA mode in the BIOS. You can keep full AHCI and Flash Cache hardware functionality by simply adding the Intel driver to the XP install CD.

You don't need a floppy disk drive (the F6 method never worked for me anyway). What you need is a CD burner and good burning software to create a bootable XP install disk that has the SATA drivers slipstreamed. Paragon Easy CD Recorded is good for making bootable CDs as is Nero and Roxio as well as many other fine products..

You also need the following:

1) the Intel storage manager driver for your dell laptop (download from support dell com)

2) nlite (download from www nliteos com)

3) Your XP install CD.

Follow these steps to create an updated XP CD.

Create a folder named C:\XPCD and copy the contents of your XP CD to the new folder. Make sure you have hidden files set to visible in Folder Options under Tools in My Computer.

Download the Intel SATA driver (storage manager) and double-click the file to expand it. Be sure to remember where you expanded it (default is a folder under C:\dell\drivers\<downloaded file name without the extension>).

Download and install nlite.

(Optional) If your XP CD is not on the latest service pack now would be a good time to slipstream it in. Download sp3 network install and use: "<service pack file name> /s:C:\XPCD" to integrate sp3.

Start nlite and follow these steps:

1. Use the browse buttin to point to C:\XPCD (nlite should detect the install files).
2. Click next until you get to the Task Selection page.
3. Click the Drivers button.
4. Click next to advance to the Drivers page.
5. Click Insert then Single Driver.
6. Browse to the folder that you extracted the Intel SATA drivers to. (the ones you downloaded from the Dell support site)
7. Select either of the two INF files and click Open.
8. Select the line that matches the SATA hardware installed on your Laptop. This is critical -- if you pick the wrong one it's not going to work. My Inspiron 1720 has the 82801 HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controler (Mobile ICH8M-E/M).
8. Click Next then Yes to start the process.

When nlite has finished you can burn the updated XP CD.

Use the guide at:
old bink nu/xpbootcd/
to create a bootable XP CD.

If you do the above steps correctly the updated XP CD will find your hard drives.
 
How do you know which drivers to burn on the CD though?
I tried nlite but it didn't work but i'll bet anything it's because i burn the wrong drivers.

I downloaded the drivers file from Dell's website but it was a list of about 10 and i just decided to burn them all in when Nlite ask...... :S

I didn't think it would matter since they where all in the same folder...
 
Sorry for taking so long to respond. You need to know which controller you have so you can be sure you are installing the right driver.

Download the "ASTRA Bootable ISO image" from www sysinfolab com. Burn it to a CD and boot it. When ASTRA is loaded press i to close the nag then press Alt + i (information). Scroll to Storage (ATA/ATAPI)... and press enter, make sure your hard drive is selected and press enter again. Find the line labled "ATA Controller Name:" and write down the data on that line.

If you have a floppy drive you can use the "ASTRA bootable floppy image" instead. That would be the fastest way, but the CD will work if you don't have a floppy drive.

Now that you know which controller you have:

1. Make sure you have downloaded and expanded the Intel Storage Manager driver from Dell.
2. Make a fresh Windows CD folder and copy the CD contents into it.
3. Slipstream sp3 (optional but highly recommended).
4. start nlite and browse to the Windows CD folder (nlite will report on the sp version, etc...)
5. Click next until you reach Task Selection.
6. Click Drivers button
7. Click Insert then click Single Driver.
8. Browse to the Storage Manager driver folder and select either file.
9. Use the info from ASTRA to select your controller. make sure you select the right one!
10. complete the nlite process to slipstream the driver into the CD folder.
11. Burn the CD.

Before you boot the install CD boot to the BIOS and make sure you have SATA set to AHCI or RAID (depending on which controler you have) and not to IDE, ATA or COMPATIBILITY mode.

The CD should now install Windows XP with no need to press F6.

Post back if you have any questions or if you have any problems -- let me know how you make out.

Roger
 
Thx man i dont have my PC at the moment so it'll probably take like 2 days before i post back with results. But when i do i will.
 
When i try to unzip ASTRA i get an error message saying File skipped unknown comprehension method and also the description doesn't say the bootable ISO will work with XP.

I'm using XP on this PC maybe that's the problem?
 
2009 Still working

Tyler it is 2009 and I had to let you know that your fix is still going strong. Saved me weeks of work. I have been trying to solve for 4 days. Tyler and google ... great combo.
 
where is SATA Operation

I completely feel your pain. I have the same system and just fixed the same problem. Here's what I did. And by the way, 2 hours of tech support with Dell did nothing for me other than give me practice understanding Pakistan accents. I eventually stumbled on the solution myself w/o dell's help.

Reboot your system and hit F2 as soon as you see the Dell startup screen (the options are F2 for setup, F12 for boot sequence).

In the System Setup screen, do these steps.

Select Drives:
Make sure your Diskette Drive (3.5 floppy) is set properly (Usually set to Internal)
Make sure that "Drive 0: SATA-0" drive is set to "ON"

Go to "SATA Operation":

Your system proabaly came set to "RAID Autodetect / AHCI" - THIS SETTING CAUSES YOUR SYSTEM TO GO INTO AN IDE LOOP AND DOESN'T ALLOW IT TO FIND YOUR FACTORY INSTALLED SATA DRIVE.

CHANGE THE SATA OPERATION SETTING TO "COMBINATION"

Reboot - make sure that the boot sequence is set to CD rom before HD and make sure that the reinstall CD is in the drive. Setup will load, hit enter to reinstall XP. Your HD should now be detected and you should see the licensing agreement.

If you have your files backed up I reccommend deleting the partition and reformatting prior to installing XP, it will give you that option after the license agreement.

Once you have successfully reinstalled the OS, Dell reccommends that you change the SATA Operation setting back to RAID AUTODETECT / AHCI (or back to whatever your factory setting was) to avoid any problems with other IDE devices installed on your system.

Hope that helps!

Good luck!

The thing is i cant find my "Sata Operation" its not there....
 
: U

I just wanted to ask about that post you made how to fix it,

I dont understand the point of the floppy disk? do i really need it or do have something on the floppy disk?

And i cant find my "SATA operation" on setup at Onboard devices : /

Can you please help me??
 
ugh

my problem is like yours, i have an acer aspire 4315 laptop running vista and recently it blue screened, not sure why. the error message is generic and says nothing specific... I can run a live cd of backtrack so i can at least internet, but i want xp. when i get to setup it tells me i need to check HDDs and whatnot for power or plugged in. obviously i cant use a floppy cuz i cant open this thing up and add one (im good, not that good) so if i need to find a newer xp disc, ok no big deal i can do that. and i cant restore to a restore point b/c it doesnt allow me to create restore points, i havent been able to fix it in months from doing this. so any help would be much appreciated.

Tobias
 
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