The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Can't fresh install Windows 8 from USB, lots of partition related problems (Acer Aspire S5-391)

    Discussion in 'Acer' started by Reacto, Aug 1, 2013.

  1. Reacto

    Reacto Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Since my new Acer S5-391 was completely filled with bloatware I decided to do a clean Windows 8 install, made a boot USB since it has no DVD drive and booted from it. Since the USB wouldn't boot in UEFI mode (I realized later that I had to turn off security boot, but at this stage I selected Legacy mode instead and went with that as I was unaware of the other option). When I got to the part where you select what partition/HDD you want to install Windows on I deleted all the different partitions except for the partition that was dedicated to the battery reset switch (simulates taking the battery in and out). Unfortunately, I then couldn't install Windows 8 on the harddrive, with various different error messages (some having to do with GPT). I don't know too much about partitions, but I've tried booting GParted on a live usb, but it didn't work either (won't boot in UEFI, but works in Legacy, can't do any partition/HDD changes though). In the end I decided to make an Ubuntu Live DVD, as they come with GParted. I was now able to access the disks, and it seems like the 128 GB SSD is actually two smaller SSDs in Raid (at least it seems like that through GParted). One of the drives had a damaged partition table, so I created a new one (MS DOS), and I'm now trying to install Win8. However, when I get to the point where I should be able to choose what to install it on it says "We couldn't find any drives. To get a storage driver, click Load driver".

    What do I do? Do I need to create a GPT partition table instead of MSDOS? Really didn't think it'd be this hard to get rid of all the bloatware.

    Thanks for any advice, kind of stuck.

    EDIT: I was able to install Windows 8 through Legacy Mode after creating a GBT table in GParted through Ubuntu, but now I can't get Raid 1 to work. If I try to install Win8 in UEFI mode it can't find any storage drivers.
    EDIT2: Fixed it by formatting the USB, then copying the files over instead of using an ISO to USB tool. Then I installed it in UEFI mode by setting the SSDs to AHCI mode. Still have some questions regarding that though: http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/727233-aspire-s5-391-ssd-setup-questions.html#post9313265
     
    Reacto, Aug 1, 2013
    #1
  2. dvin3

    dvin3 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hey there buddy,

    I worked around this by downloading the SATA AHCI Driver from the Acer website. I just used 7-zip to extract the package to get the driver onto my usb uefi boot media.

    1) Extract AHCI_Intel_v12.6.0.1033_W8x64_A,zip with 7-zip.
    2) Extract SetupRST.exe with 7-zip.
    3) Extract RST_x64 with 7-zip.
    4) Extract drivers.cab with 7-zip.
    5) Copied the files from the x64 folder to my flash media and browsed for the drivers during the windows 8 installation.

    Done.

    Hope that helps if you are still using the AHCI mode instead of RAID! :)

     
    dvin3, Aug 13, 2013
    #2