I installed Windows 11 on a laptop. The installation didn’t detect the drive, so I had to load the storage driver. But, even after installation, the bootable media still didn’t detect the drive. Does this mean I need to load the driver every time I install Windows? Can’t I just have the driver permanently on the system?
You may be able to add the driver to the bootable media depending on what it is, but you can't add it to the system in a way that it will be there when you boot form bootable media.
When installing Windows on my other laptops, I don’t need to load the storage driver. So, how does the Windows installation process detect the drive on those systems?
Different driver, different drive, different drive controller. Many devices are supported by default. Some are not.
@khanyash The problem is probably not in the driver, but in something else, but there is no way to figure out what exactly causes the problem, if absolutely no data is available. But I'm more than 100% sure that it's not a driver problem. So, start with your system data and be as accurate as possible.
I loaded the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) driver for the system to detect the drive during Windows installation. It seems IRST is the problem. Should I try disabling it in the BIOS?
I disabled IRST, which enabled AHCI, but the system crashed with a BSOD on boot. I then re-enabled IRST, and the system booted up with no issues.
I have it just like that on a pc, so i have the nedeed driver on the install media and a copy of it and the download place externally. I had many pc:s before i first encountered this and was of course puzzled, but now i have experienced it several times and have learnt that that is the way it is for certain hardware systems. Why, not sure, have not dug deeper into it.
It seems IRST is the reason for the problem. I think disabling IRST, which enables AHCI, and installing Windows would solve the problem.
Why not install the os and adding the driver during the install, then you do nort need it anymore. That is what i do. But i am not sure we are talking about the same problem, your first post is a bit confusing with contradictory data.
I did that and installed Windows. (In the first post, I meant "IRST enabled doesn't allow a permanent solution to avoid adding the driver every time you install Windows." I think disabling IRST, which enables AHCI, would solve the problem, i.e., the Windows installation will detect the drive and there will be no need to load the driver. By the way, what imaging software are you using? I have another problem with IRST enabled and my imaging software, Hasleo. When I boot into HBS WinPE, it doesn’t display any backups. The system backup option under "Backup" and the select task to restore option under "Restore" are both grayed out. Is your imaging software’s WinPE working well?
Ok, keep posting about the driver issue, i am interested in how it goes. Something happened with laptop some years ago after Windows got new restore possibilities, manufacturers also changed it and how the pc entered it and bios. Before that all laptops i had experience with behaved the same, now, problems with what you mentioned or a unvisible mouse is usuall. Since 3-4 years every pc behaves differently for me. On one i do not have mouse in the restore environment for HBS, but everything else works. But if i use Image for Windows there is no problem at all. On another everything works with both but not with Macrium. All this using boot menu or WinPE. On yet another HBS do not find any disk besides C: so i can not reach my backups which are on E: and F:, this has also hapened with IFW. So nowadays i am an owner of an external mouse, something i did not need some years ago. Another thing i have experienced is, if i keep the original disk there is less problems then if i put in another that i want to have. It`s as if the hardware system do not like it so an internal communication problem occurs. So, again, keep posting about your actions and hopefully a solution.
And, randomly on different pc`s there is need for an installtion driver, but some not. Always a surprise when buying a new pc how it will behave in regard to all mentioned.
All my laptops have AHCI and have no such problems. This is the only laptop with AHCI disabled and IRST enabled. I believe disabling IRST and enabling AHCI would solve the problems mentioned. Check the BIOS of your systems for these issues. I think those systems have IRST or similar technology enabled, disabling, or replacing AHCI.
I replied in #Post7 that I got a BSOD. It seems you cannot use Windows with AHCI enabled if you installed Windows with IRST enabled, and perhaps vice versa. I'll have to reinstall Windows with AHCI enabled to use Windows with AHCI enabled.
You do not need to reinstall Windows. Just follow these steps: 1. Boot into Windows as normal (with IRST set in bios) 2. Run msconfig from the cmd line and under "boot" choose to boot into safe mode at next boot. 3. Restart your computer and go into the bios (do not let it boot into Windows safe mode yet) 4. In BIOS change IRST mode to AHCI mode 5. Save changes to bios and reboot. You will now boot into Windows safe mode as previously set 6. Once Windows is started in safe mode, reboot normally 7. Windows should now boot normally running in AHCI mode without problems
The system seems to work well after switching from IRST to AHCI using the mentioned steps. However, my PDF software became a trial, and I had to reset the license by contacting support since it is machine-id-based. I ran sfc /scannow, and it found and fixed errors, but I am unsure if the mode change caused it.
I noticed now that Windows Defender Tamper Protection is off, and it says, "This setting is managed by your administrator". It's probably best to set the BIOS to AHCI and reinstall Windows instead of just switching the mode.
That is fixable manually or with a reg.tweak. Otherwise, a repair install will fix everything visible and eventually hidden.
