Windows 7 installation

[Noman]

Hi all, I am trying to install windows 7 on my pc, which has 1.5 GB. RAM 80 GB hard disk. Every time i start it end up showing a message "no drives were found,click load driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation". I have tried for over 50 times now for past 10 to 15 days, still no luck. I have discoonect and reconnect cables in cpu multiple times but it is showing same message. What I need to do now, need some help. TIA

[DaveLembke]

SATA Controller Driver might be missing at start up or Hard Drive is bad.

Are you sure the drive is healthy?

If you know the make/model of the computer or motherboard you can determine what chipset it has for SATA controller and then be able to load the necessary driver to mount the hard drive for installation.

[Noman]

Thanks for your rply Dave. I dont know model of computer, how can i find the model. And after knowing the model how can i load the necessary driver to mount hard drive.
I don't know hard drive is healthy or not but pc was running very slow, so i decided to reinstall windows, but had this problem continuosly. Plz guide how to check my pc or mother board model. Thanks

[Ajfer03]

Are you using a Microsoft manufactured install CD? If not that may be the problem. Try switching your SATA port from your HD to motherboard. Try using a different HD. Feel the HD to see if there is any vibration when you turn your PC on. Ensure all cables are connected properly.  Let me know what happens. Thanks.

[Noman]

I am using microsodt manufactured cd bcz i have already installed windows from this cd many times in last 6 months. When the problem was not going, i actually bought another cd thinking that old cd might creating some problem, but new cd was also unabke to install windows.
If i use another HD is there any possibility that all my data on this HD will be deleted? Bcz i have some important data on it and i don't want to lost it.Thats why i want to to install windows myself and avoiding to take pc to technician. I cant feel any vibration on HD when my oc turns on

[spankBot]

A couple of things. Are you using a SATA drive or IDE. That is to say,does it connect with a broad ribbon or thinner (usually red) SATA cable? The reason I am asking is because 80GB is rather small and HDDs under 100GB were common place during the IDE/Windows XP era. Also keep in mind that when a drive breaches 1/2 capacity performance degradation is expected.
A slow computer is definitely a symptom of a failing drive. I would back up that drive immediately. 

Using another drive wont effect data on an entirely different drive and what do you mean you disconnected cables to CPU? Anywayz,doing a clean install of windows over an existing drive will delete data,there are options to retain user data in a windows.old file but not much else. Replace the drive,install windows,if you can,then transfer the files using the PC or an enclosure.

[Geek-9pm]

Noman,
You should give a full description of the PC you are using.
Otherwise members have to guess at the problem.
What you can do:
A. Remove the hard drive and use another hard drive. The will verify that the PC is OK or not. The old hard drive might have an issue Windows 7 can not fix.
B. You can always recover your old drive data later. Just leave it alone untll yhou have perfect install of Windows 7 on the new drive.

[Noman]

Thanks spankbot for ur kind reply. Hard drive connects with a ribbon and it is red, i think its IDE. I wish i had backup data when pc was creating problems. Nothing can be done now. I have my friend's hard drive i am connecting that HDD to my pc. Just let me know how can I transfer those files from old HDD to my new one, if i have to buy a new one. Can i do it on my own or have to spend money to recover data?
Thanks again for ur help.

[spankBot]

You will have to acquire either a hard drive enclosure that supports IDE or a USB Hard Drive dock,either of these will effectively turn the hard drive into an external hard drive. The hard drive enclosure is your cheapest option. On IDE drives there is a "Jumper" or little plastic cap on the drive which slides into the pins. You may have to position this from ''master'' to "slave".

[Geek-9pm]

SATA cables are often red.
The old IDE is also called PATA. Ur has more wires
IDE ribbon cable is grey, wide and the ridges show.
Most modem PCs and laptops have SATA
A Universal external USA adapter can be found on Amazon or Walmart.
Here is a video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dDSfee32PU
Wheat says is true. You can not know for sure if you can recover everything.
If the HDD is not in bad shape, you can use this to recover your data, but not all programs. Most programs have to be installed again. 


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[patio]

If it's a ribbon cable that means it's an IDE HDD...

That also means it's likely dead as it's over 8 years old...

[spankBot]

Platter drives hang in there pretty well. Though when they are idle for too long badness can happen,but I have more confidence in modern platter drives that I do in SSDs. I have a 200GB Maxtor IDE drive that to this day runs very well,I do take very good care of my tech keeping things clean and such which helps. If he hears the drive doin its thang when it is plugged in he should be good to go. 

[patio]

His is an 80G...waay older than the 1 you have...

[Geek-9pm]

For what it is worth, data for drive failure stops after five years.
See this:
life cycle of very old hard drives
Too much information!

[spankBot]

How do you know how old my drive is compared to his drive??   80GB Drives were common place in home xp OEM machines. 2001. The Maxtor was for my PS2 2000. And it is irrelevant anyway. Is this some new guy hazing? Should I just delete my account?? Like I need to be educated on IDE ribbons and drive longevity.