Setup Did not Find any Hard Disk Drives Installed [Fix]

We’ve seen this question posted in our forum many times, so thought we should write an article on this problem. When users try to install Windows XP, they encounter the problem of not being able to find any hard disk drives installed as if they weren’t connected. The hard drive is detected with no problem in the BIOS and also on start up POST, able to boot up Linux Live CDs but the hard drive is just not being detected in Windows setup. Here is the exact error message.

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.

Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.

Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3.

Setup did not find any hard disk drives

This problem is quite a common one and is simply due to the fact that when Windows XP was created, the SATA chipset itself and SATA hard drives weren’t available to the masses, so support for it wasn’t included in the XP setup process. As most computers within the last decade or so have some form of SATA controller, if you try to install Windows onto a SATA drive, XP won’t recognize it because the drivers aren’t present on the installation disc, so they need to be loaded manually for the drive to be picked up.

Thankfully there are a few ways to get around this problem and enable Windows XP to be installed onto a SATA hard drive so you can enjoy the extra performance and other functions like hotplug/AHCI etc.

Setting the BIOS Correctly

The first and mos obvious method is to change the SATA Mode to IDE in the system BIOS. Most BIOS’s for several years have included a fallback mode to enable a SATA drive to behave like an IDE drive, and therefore makes it visible to XP during setup. The problem with this setting is it comes under several different names and can be found in different sections within the BIOS. It depends entirely on the computer or motherboard’s make, model and manufacturer to know which setting you have and where it is. If you have a manual, it’s certainly worth reading.

Install Windows XP on SATA

The most obvious thing to look for is a setting which can change the SATA controller to IDE or PATA mode, with options such as AHCI -> IDE or SATA/RAID -> IDE etc. Basically any option you come across to reduce the SATA/RAID mode to IDE/PATA should be the correct one. Don’t confuse this option with a similar one which will disable the SATA controller completely. Here’s some names we found it could be under in a few motherboard manuals we looked at:

Integrated Peripherals > SATA Devices Configuration > SATA Mode > [IDE]
Integrated Peripherals > Serial ATA Function > Base
Storage Configuration > SATA Mode Selection > Emulated PATA Mode
SATA Configuration > SATA Configuration [Enhanced] > Configure SATA as > IDE
Integrated Peripherals > South OnChip PCI Device > SATA Controller > IDE Mode


Using a Floppy Disk

If you’re unable to change RAID mode to IDE or disable SATA in the BIOS, then the next option would be to download SATA/RAID drivers from your motherboard manufacturer’s website, extract the drivers to a floppy disk and then insert the floppy into your computer during Windows XP installation. This method obviously gets around the problem of XP not having the drivers on the install CD by you providing them manually.

Windows XP setup won’t recognize USB flash drives, so you need to have an internal floppy drive available, many USB floppy drives will also work though. As you can see in the image below, it clearly states that the SATA RAID driver is for use on floppy drives. You need to make sure any drivers you download are explicitly designed for putting onto a floppy and not a generic driver, usually the file will be around 1MB or lower which is a good sign it’s likely to be the correct driver.

Download SATA drivers

Insert the Windows XP CD and boot it up. You should see a message that says “Press any key to boot from CD…” Simply hit any key and it’ll start to boot from CD. Pay attention to the next blue colored windows setup screen. When you see a message that says “Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver…” at the bottom, immediately hit the F6 key.

Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver

After loading some files, you will come to a screen that says the following:

Setup could not determine the type of one or more mass storage devices installed in your system, or you have chosen to manually specify an adapter. Currently, Setup will load support for the following mass storage devices(s):

< none >

* To specify additional SCSI adapters, CD-ROM drives, or special disk controllers for use with Windows, including those for which you have a device support disk from a mass storage device manufacturer, press S.

* If you do not have any device support disks from a mass storage device manufacturer, or do not want to specify additional mass storage devices for use with Windows, press ENTER.

Press S to specify additional SATA RAID drivers

Make sure the driver floppy is inserted and press S. It will present a list of drivers which it read from the disk earlier. Select the appropriate driver and continue the Windows XP installation. The setup will continue and this time it will recognize the SATA hard disk drive in your PC. This problem is quite common when trying to install Windows XP on newer computers because most if not all are using SATA hard drives. After installing Windows XP, you can easily and automatically install all required device drivers using the DriverPack Solution disc.

If you thought it wasn’t possible to use a USB flash drive instead of a floppy drive to load the drivers during the F6 phase, we have a solution that could help on page 2.

337 Comments - Write a Comment

  1. dominic perodeau 5 years ago
  2. Pat A 5 years ago
  3. Derek 5 years ago
  4. BEM T. 7 years ago
  5. Bro 8 years ago
  6. mahde 8 years ago
  7. noor 8 years ago
  8. mario 8 years ago
    • noor 8 years ago
  9. Hendry 8 years ago
  10. noor 8 years ago
  11. Pope 9 years ago
  12. Mo 9 years ago
  13. DD 9 years ago
  14. Hadi 9 years ago
  15. vishal 9 years ago
  16. Martin 9 years ago
    • Martin 9 years ago
  17. Ranjith R 9 years ago
  18. Åbom 9 years ago
  19. Vin 9 years ago
  20. rob 10 years ago
  21. mohannad 10 years ago
  22. Paul 10 years ago
  23. Nanjunda Patil 10 years ago
  24. Rutwij 10 years ago
  25. HK 10 years ago
  26. The Toe Cutter 10 years ago
  27. afrozeahmed 10 years ago
  28. sendhil kumaar 10 years ago
  29. im1304 10 years ago
  30. rafay 10 years ago
  31. omid 10 years ago
  32. majid 10 years ago
  33. jameel khan tareen 10 years ago
  34. Carlos 11 years ago
  35. Mike 11 years ago
  36. Brad 11 years ago
  37. wolf 11 years ago
    • HAL9000 11 years ago
  38. wolf 11 years ago
  39. Henrik 11 years ago
  40. WILLIAM 11 years ago
  41. charansak 11 years ago
  42. Chandra Yerrabothula 11 years ago
  43. Chis 11 years ago
  44. Sam 11 years ago
  45. vinay kumar 12 years ago
  46. JHudson 12 years ago
  47. TAYAB RAZA 12 years ago
  48. ganesh 12 years ago
  49. Ralph 12 years ago
  50. Noel 12 years ago
  51. SonyVaioVistaXp 12 years ago
  52. Drychron Red 12 years ago
  53. Niket Trivedi 12 years ago
  54. ics 12 years ago
  55. john 12 years ago
  56. OLADAPO 12 years ago
  57. pars 12 years ago
  58. wendy 12 years ago
  59. Bruno 12 years ago
    • Japhy 12 years ago
  60. Rajesh 12 years ago
  61. sajid 12 years ago
  62. Sísmi 12 years ago
  63. Saiful anuar 12 years ago
  64. Logic 12 years ago
  65. Morné 12 years ago
  66. Dunk 12 years ago
  67. Daniel 12 years ago
  68. mujahid 12 years ago
  69. teo 12 years ago
  70. satya 12 years ago
  71. Drassx15 12 years ago
  72. chris 12 years ago
  73. tim 12 years ago
  74. RG 12 years ago
  75. Confidance 12 years ago
  76. Nick 13 years ago
  77. vaya 13 years ago
  78. Prashant 13 years ago
  79. bart k 13 years ago
  80. Jimp 13 years ago
  81. Gene 13 years ago
  82. abhi 13 years ago
  83. Marcus/FrozzCreep 13 years ago
  84. Genius 13 years ago
  85. Cyber 13 years ago
  86. Marc 13 years ago
  87. Jazz Douglas 13 years ago
  88. xcpo 13 years ago
  89. Bmcduffy 13 years ago
  90. fie 13 years ago
  91. Cleo Lee 13 years ago
  92. David 13 years ago
  93. tillu 13 years ago
  94. bug 13 years ago
  95. Roi 13 years ago
  96. Charlie Shaaby 13 years ago
  97. josh 14 years ago
  98. Bleso 14 years ago
  99. Leo 14 years ago
  100. mtl 14 years ago
  101. Kaewes 14 years ago
  102. Noize 14 years ago
  103. Takong 14 years ago
  104. robe 14 years ago
  105. Drew 14 years ago
  106. hudo 14 years ago
  107. john rodriges 14 years ago
  108. Matty032 14 years ago
  109. dutt 14 years ago
  110. Fajri 14 years ago
  111. siraj 14 years ago
  112. Gee 14 years ago
  113. akash 14 years ago
  114. Blink 14 years ago
  115. Amila Pallegedara 14 years ago
  116. Amila Pallegedara 14 years ago
  117. Ad 14 years ago
  118. Yafet Gettiye 14 years ago
  119. trust 14 years ago
  120. Jalal 14 years ago
  121. john 14 years ago
  122. Neil 14 years ago
  123. abaabab 14 years ago
  124. Doc 14 years ago
  125. Ladi 14 years ago
  126. Manish Khurana 14 years ago
  127. Xay 14 years ago
  128. Tom 14 years ago
  129. zaid 14 years ago
  130. Jami 14 years ago
  131. Lou G 14 years ago
  132. shael kumar 14 years ago
  133. unnie 14 years ago
  134. Temps 14 years ago
  135. kamal 14 years ago
  136. Rahul Sharma 14 years ago
  137. Steven Jacques 14 years ago
  138. Stefano Aguiar 14 years ago
  139. Mustapha 14 years ago
  140. jaybird 14 years ago
  141. Chris 14 years ago
  142. ben 14 years ago
  143. Pete Gee 14 years ago
  144. mario 14 years ago
  145. Aditya 14 years ago
  146. OriginalDane 14 years ago
  147. doki 14 years ago
  148. Kamarudin 14 years ago
  149. Trung Tran 14 years ago
  150. pradip 14 years ago
  151. Densel 14 years ago
  152. Jeremy 14 years ago
  153. Mohsin 14 years ago
  154. rajesh 14 years ago
  155. Vinod 14 years ago
  156. Hayden 14 years ago
  157. PhilMc 14 years ago
  158. JiTh 14 years ago
  159. Jonathan 14 years ago
  160. abhimanyu singh 14 years ago
  161. DavidFromGeorgia 14 years ago
  162. Kevin 14 years ago
  163. Sadaf 14 years ago
  164. Novice 14 years ago
  165. jerome 14 years ago
  166. Lakaz 14 years ago
  167. wes 14 years ago
  168. though i was in the doo doo 14 years ago
  169. Tiby 14 years ago
  170. david 15 years ago
  171. James 15 years ago
  172. Jerry 15 years ago
  173. qwerty 15 years ago
  174. Abdu 15 years ago
  175. Prince 15 years ago
  176. Belal 15 years ago
  177. Praveem 15 years ago
  178. satheesh 15 years ago
  179. Jess 15 years ago
  180. Phill 15 years ago
  181. Ray 15 years ago
  182. UVGomez 15 years ago
  183. foxfxx 15 years ago
  184. khaled 15 years ago
  185. Jojo 15 years ago
  186. Rich 15 years ago
  187. Qwerty 15 years ago
  188. devashish uniyal 15 years ago
  189. Tony 15 years ago
  190. JT 15 years ago
  191. Andy 15 years ago
  192. Anthony Dickinson 15 years ago
  193. Kiriyama 15 years ago
  194. Steven Chandler 15 years ago
  195. Dave 15 years ago
  196. Haami 15 years ago
  197. Babak 15 years ago
  198. Babak 15 years ago
  199. Cyph 15 years ago
  200. Spanki 15 years ago
  201. teacherdan 15 years ago
  202. Adam 15 years ago
  203. Mike 15 years ago
  204. Hardus 15 years ago
  205. thugzine 15 years ago
  206. used computers 15 years ago
  207. abiku 15 years ago
  208. Srinivas 15 years ago
  209. armando 15 years ago
  210. Yash 15 years ago
  211. jackob 15 years ago
  212. Vinodh 15 years ago
  213. Eric 15 years ago
  214. eric 15 years ago
  215. timmmy 15 years ago
  216. ray 15 years ago
  217. Nathan 15 years ago
  218. ray 15 years ago
  219. Shahir 15 years ago
  220. Chazara 15 years ago
  221. omicron 15 years ago
  222. Thor Young 15 years ago
  223. Jonathan Canales 15 years ago
  224. Raj 15 years ago
  225. alanaz7984 15 years ago
  226. tolana 15 years ago
  227. Simon de Almeida 15 years ago
  228. Parag 15 years ago
  229. petey 16 years ago
  230. Prince FsL HmD 16 years ago
  231. fudzis7 16 years ago
  232. rajwinder singh 16 years ago
  233. DW 16 years ago
  234. Harold 16 years ago
  235. erik 16 years ago
  236. SandRo 16 years ago
  237. Mohammed 16 years ago
  238. B.K. DUBEY 16 years ago
  239. Ben Shotter 16 years ago
  240. NewMacUser 16 years ago
  241. Nadav 16 years ago
  242. Foo 16 years ago
  243. Aman 16 years ago
  244. David 16 years ago
  245. David 16 years ago
  246. Bill Campbell 16 years ago
  247. Rick 16 years ago
  248. Scott 16 years ago
  249. ABDULAZIZ 16 years ago
  250. ancianoman 16 years ago
  251. miguel 16 years ago
  252. gogo 16 years ago
  253. deon mark 16 years ago
  254. Harsha 16 years ago
  255. richardt 16 years ago
  256. grethel 16 years ago
  257. John 16 years ago
  258. Dastan 16 years ago
  259. John Aaku 16 years ago
  260. ace 16 years ago
  261. Thomas Cameron 16 years ago
  262. 200hit 16 years ago
  263. tobylevel9 16 years ago
  264. Ajay pandey 16 years ago
  265. quy7 16 years ago
  266. Ravi 16 years ago
  267. Ogie 16 years ago
  268. Brett 16 years ago
  269. nabi from mongolia 16 years ago
  270. Tom 16 years ago
  271. CupChampz01 16 years ago
  272. romel 16 years ago
  273. Steve K 16 years ago
  274. Adrian Fedog 16 years ago
  275. Steve 16 years ago
  276. Pandiyan 16 years ago
  277. brandon 16 years ago
  278. mohit bansal kalanwali sirsa 16 years ago
  279. Noreenog 16 years ago
  280. ardy 16 years ago
  281. jkchavda 16 years ago
  282. happy guy 16 years ago
  283. faisal 16 years ago
  284. BASSIX 16 years ago
  285. Ocky 16 years ago
  286. dvd 16 years ago
  287. frank 16 years ago
  288. Tunç Atakan 16 years ago
  289. alitam 16 years ago
  290. Pardeep 16 years ago
  291. Amon 16 years ago
  292. DrJones 16 years ago
  293. Donal 16 years ago
  294. Dave 16 years ago
  295. Xploit 16 years ago
  296. asifali 16 years ago
  297. Joey 16 years ago
  298. Rosseloh - SDSU Residential Life 17 years ago
  299. DominicanWarrior 17 years ago
  300. pakdi 17 years ago
  301. Ed 17 years ago
  302. Sajjad/Srilanka 17 years ago
  303. Agent_DELIMAN 17 years ago
  304. Tommybhoy 17 years ago
  305. shabeer 17 years ago
  306. adriano 17 years ago
  307. viki 17 years ago
  308. Dan 17 years ago
  309. eme 17 years ago
  310. Jake 17 years ago
  311. Neon 17 years ago
  312. Ramesh 17 years ago
  313. san 17 years ago
  314. Mec 17 years ago
  315. azhar 17 years ago
  316. NODOUBT 17 years ago
  317. Another xp 8400m 17 years ago
  318. Chris Round 17 years ago
  319. Niq 17 years ago
  320. Swapnil 17 years ago
  321. xp on dell 8400 17 years ago
  322. Gavin 17 years ago
  323. gorillainthemist 17 years ago
  324. dingus 17 years ago
  325. Hank 17 years ago
  326. Cristina 17 years ago
  327. Jason 17 years ago
  328. James 17 years ago
  329. Paul 17 years ago
  330. sina 17 years ago
  331. Daniel Carroll (Lightninghawk) 17 years ago
  332. rstoplabe14 17 years ago
  333. Rahul 17 years ago

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Your comment is subject to approval. Read our Terms of Use. If you are seeking additional information on this article, please contact us directly.