Missing drivers error when installing Windows 8 on a new computer

[jadedlithium]

Hello everyone,

I recently built my own computer and was helping a friend do the same yesterday. I got everything hooked up and was able to get to the BIOS screen. However, I ran into problems when installing his Windows 8 OS. After starting the installation, I would always receive the error message "No signed device drivers were found. Make sure installation media contains the correct drivers." Right now I can only assume it is not recognizing the hard drive and need help resolving the issue.

I've tried switching between IDE and ACHI and neither work. I'm pretty sure the computer is recognizing that a hard drive is plugged in because I can switch the boot order between the disk reader and another device I assume has to be the hard drive. I have also switched the SATA cables between the disk reader and the hard drive, and the disk reader has worked every time.

I also installed Windows 8 on my computer, but I never had this problem. Are there really drivers that I need to install from a USB or is the hard drive just bad?

I was thinking of installing his new hard drive on my computer to see if I can get it to work there. However, I'm worried that I might write information to it by doing so and we wouldn't be able to use it on his. Is there a format option during installation if that were to happen?

 

[Tcinator]

Windows has a large database of drivers in the install media to allow it to see many pieces of hardware with no other drivers needed. Sometimes, it wont have a driver for a specific device at all. So, in your case, the SATA controller needs a driver on install of windows. Basically what you need to do is download the SATA drivers from the support page of your motherboard online, (sometimes they have an "F6" version of the drivers, this is preferred). Download the file and extract the .zip or what have you, to a flash drive, you should see a few .sys files and at least one .inf file.

Go to install windows, when you get to the hard drive selection screen, there is a button to "add drivers" select that, browse to your usb, and select the .inf. it will show a list of drivers to install. you should be able to click on the top one, let that install and your drive will magically appear once it is done installing.

Here is a visual reference: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9573-sata-driver-load-windows-8-setup.html

Oh and make sure you are on AHCI operation mode.

 

[jadedlithium]

Windows has a large database of drivers in the install media to allow it to see many pieces of hardware with no other drivers needed. Sometimes, it wont have a driver for a specific device at all. So, in your case, the SATA controller needs a driver on install of windows. Basically what you need to do is download the SATA drivers from the support page of your motherboard online, (sometimes they have an "F6" version of the drivers, this is preferred). Download the file and extract the .zip or what have you, to a flash drive, you should see a few .sys files and at least one .inf file.

Go to install windows, when you get to the hard drive selection screen, there is a button to "add drivers" select that, browse to your usb, and select the .inf. it will show a list of drivers to install. you should be able to click on the top one, let that install and your drive will magically appear once it is done installing.

Here is a visual reference: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9573-sata-driver-load-windows-8-setup.html

Oh and make sure you are on AHCI operation mode.

I tried out your solution. Unfortunately after installing the drivers from the website, it still can't find the hard drive.

The motherboard my friend has is a GA-H81.AMP-UP, and this is the website I went to in order to get the necessary drivers http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4485#dl

The driver I downloaded was the Intel SATA Preinstall driver but maybe that isn't the right one. Do I have to do something different to get the right driver or is there something else that is wrong?

 

[supasieu]

I would locate the Motherboard brand/model, Hard drive brand/model and download the latest drivers from their website.

 

[jadedlithium]

I would locate the Motherboard brand/model, Hard drive brand/model and download the latest drivers from their website.

I just checked the hard drive manufacturer website for drivers. They don't seem to have the exact model number of the one my friend is using and selecting just about any model turns up zero results for drivers anyway. I don't think they have any for their products that would solve this problem.

The hard drive is a Seagate brand by the way.

 

[jadedlithium]

I'm still trying to resolve this issue. I'm hoping there is another suggestion because unfortunately those that have been posted have not worked for me. I do have an old hard drive lying around. I was thinking of hooking it up just to see if Windows 8 recognizes it or not. Would this be a good idea considering that it still has information on it? I don't want to actually put the OS on there, I just want to see if it can find it or not.