Michael Perlman : I am looking for the driver for the hard disk or hard disk controller in my Pavilion a1010y desktop. This driver will be used for System Restore in the Repair Your Computer section on the Windows Vista DVD.
[An agent will be with you shortly.]
[You are now chatting with Anthony A .]
Anthony A : Welcome to HP Total Care for HP Desktops. My name is Anthony A. Please give me a few moments while I review your problem description.
Anthony A : Michael, there are no specific drivers for Hard Disk. When the Hard Disk is connected to the computer, it will be detected by the computer.
Michael Perlman : After I click the Repair YOur Computer option in the Windows Vista DVD, there is a dialog that appears which asks for a partition to run repair tasks on. No disks appear in that list.
Michael Perlman : I have consulted sources on the Internet which say that the repair tool doesn't have a driver for the hard disk or the controller, and I should obtain the driver and load it by clicking the "Load Driver" button in that dialog
Michael Perlman : I am looking for a .inf file for that driver.
Anthony A : Are you trying to install Vista in this computer from a retail CD?
Michael Perlman : I already have Vista installed, and I am trying to run System Restore from the Vista install DVD (full version) to fix an issue.
Michael Perlman : System Restore will not run because the hard disk can't be found.
Michael Perlman : You can read about my problem on
https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic117461.html
Anthony A : Thank you for the detailed information.
Michael Perlman : You're welcome.
Anthony A : Michael, are using the Vista DVD to run the system restore at startup ?
Michael Perlman : Yes, that is correct.
Michael Perlman : I booted the computer from the DVD
Anthony A : Alright.
Anthony A : Have you checked in BIOS if the Hard Disk is detected?
Michael Perlman : I know it is detected by the BIOS, because I can boot from the drive (but then once Windows Vista boots I'll get into the problems that I need to fix with System Restore).
Anthony A : Michael, in this case I suggest you to reinstall the operating system from the Vista DVDs.
Michael Perlman : Short of doing that, could you try to find the driver? I already have a restore point on the partition that I am sure I can use.
Anthony A : Michael, I regret to inform you that there is no drivers for Hard Disk, as it will detected by the computer once its connected.
Anthony A : The drivers for the Hard Disk wont be even available in manufacturers site.
Michael Perlman : Is the hard disk *controller* any different?
Anthony A : When you are using a SATA or RAID Hard Disk, the Hard Disk controller is required. However, vista will install only of the Hard Disk controllers are available.
Anthony A : In this case, there is no requirment to install Hard Disk controller in the computer as vista is installed
Michael Perlman : But the repair tools on the DVD apparently can't find drivers for the hard disk controller, which are required to find a partition to run System Restore on.
Anthony A : Okay.
Anthony A : Are you using SATA Hard Disk?
Michael Perlman : Yes.
Anthony A : let me check if the Hard Disk controller for the computer are availbel.
Michael Perlman : Okay, thank you.
Anthony A : Which version of vista is installed in the computer?
Michael Perlman : Vista Ultimate (with servie pack 1)
Anthony A : Michael, checking the specifications for the computer, it shows that the computer is shipped with XP, and the computer is released in 2005. I regret to inform you that the Hard Disk controller for this computer is not available for Vista.
Michael Perlman : Could you provide me with the driver for XP? That might work.
Michael Perlman : I'm looking for one that has an INF file. That is the type of file that the file open dialog for pickign the driver will accept.
Anthony A : You can download the same from the URL below :
Anthony A :
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/16026/a08/infinst_autol.zip
Michael Perlman : Which INF file in the zip is for the HD controller?
Michael Perlman : Would it be ich8ide.inf?
Anthony A : I am not sure Michael. As you are using an retail version of operating system, I suggest you to contact Microsoft as they will be able to help you with this regard
Michael Perlman : Okay. Thank you for your help.
Anthony A : Thank you for spending your valuable time with us. It’s been a pleasure assisting you today. Have a Great Day Ahead!
Michael Perlman : Have a nice day.