Trying to install Windows 7: A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing

Hi everyone,

I have googled this problem and see that I am not the only one experiencing this. My hard drive recently died on me, and I got it replaced. Now I have a blank hard disk and a windows 7 DVD. When I try to set everything up, after I click install, it tells me that I am missing a required CD/DVD device driver.

I have read solutions online, and they simply do not work. Again, keep in mind that I have nothing on this drive, so I cannot go back to vista or anything. If it helps, this is an HP touchsmart tx2 1020ca.

Thank you all in advance.

 

Sounds like a sata controller problem. You probably have to install the sata drivers during the installation process. Download them from HP and look for the option to load driver during the install process. Load from a USB drive or floppy. Then continue the installation.

 

I had this happen once when I was reloading using a usb optical drive from my W7 rtm disk
I believe that the media did not contain the drivers needed for the optical drive
The workaround was to use a different W7 dvd

 

Tried that already, didn't work. I don't have a windows vista disc to use either (so I could install vista and then upgrade to 7).

I went on HPs website and could not find any SATA or DVD drive drivers. There simply aren't any. And even if there are, I have no idea which ones to look for.

I am absolutely steaming. I just waited like 4 weeks for this drive to come back. I upgraded to windows 7 perfectly with the old hard drive, now it's not letting me. I am furious.

 

I just loaded a bunch of drivers on my USB and tried to use them during the installation. It just says no device drivers were found.

 

I just looked on their site. The AHCI drivers located in the Operating System Enhancements and QFE are the ones you need.
AMD AHCI Driver HP TouchSmart tx2-1020ca Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

However, it is an executable and I'm not sure that will work with the Windows setup. Driver files are usually .sys files and don't install themselves like .exe. Might have to call HP to find out how to load the driver. You can try the .exe to see if it works. But I doubt it will. Worst case scenario, you have to get the driver files directly from AMD which looks to be your chipset maker.

 

Did you try a different DVD drive?

 

No you're right, I wasn't able to use the .exe file. I am trying to look on AMD's website, but I haven't been able to find any of the drivers. They're all catalyst stuff and some software. I'm ready to throw this laptop off the golden gate.

I really appreciate your help tho, really I do. Any idea where/how I can find the .sys file?

 

Astrogiblet, I only have one DVD drive on my laptop, so no, I am not able to use a different DVD drive.

 

Ah, I forgot we are talking about laptops, for some reason. -_-

You could always try an external drive. That may or may not solve your problem. I've seen where I've encountered weird errors because the DVD drive was not able to properly read the Windows DVD. I've also seen memory errors cause weird install problems too.

 

Looking into how to extract an exe. I know a few programs that might work. hang on.

 

Unfortunately I don't have an external. I've never used one, so I'm not sure if it would read it properly since there are no drivers for it (as there is no OS on the hard disk). I'm not really interested in going out and buying one and returning it for this purpose. And I only have a 1 GB usb drive, so I can't write the files and boot up/install from that. I have a severe infection in my ears and thus I have an extremely painful headache right now; all I want is for this damn disc to work properly, as it did BEFORE I replaced the hard drive! Argh!!!

 

I was looking for some as well, but haven't been able to find any. Grr...

 

OK. Looks like Winrar will do it. It is free and is a trusted zip extractor program. Install Winrar if you don't already have it. Then download the HP AMD AHCI file. Open it with Winrar. Extract the entire .exe to any folder (your desktop is fine). Browse to Packages\Drivers\SBDRV\SB7xx\AHCI\WIN7 for 32 bit OS and W764A for 64bit OS. Copy those files to your USB thumb drive. Try using them to load prior to install. That really should work. Let me know.

 

If Windows installation asks you which of the files to load, if there is an .inf file, try that. If not try any of the sys files. It may prepoluate it for you.

 

You do know that 4GB usb drives can be had for like $5 right? Try getting one and installing from that, and see if that'll work.

if to keep you from pulling hairs at least.

 

I used universal extractor. Found the files you were talking about, put it on my USB, and when I searched for the driver on the setup, it found amdsata.inf. I click on it and click next, and after some time, it says "no new devices could be found. make sure the driver files are correct and located on the driver installation media"

Sighh.

 

He still might run into the same problem. The issue is not with the drive itself, but with the SATA controller that handles the DVD and HD. Controller drivers often have to be updated prior to installing W7. I had to do it with my old AW M17 when I upgraded to W7.

 

Are you sure you got the correct bit? 32 or 64? Aside from that, you might have to try loading from a USB thumb. It would be easier to load your drivers after the installation has completed. But if it was the DVD drive, it seems odd you would get into the installation phase without a BSOD.

Do you have support with HP? Did you get the replacement drive from them? Even if you don't have support, if you got the drive from them, they should be obligated to help you install it.

 

USB drives are more like 20 bucks. It looks like that might be the only solution here.

I don't have any support from HP, my laptop is 2 years old and the drive was not the OEM one that came with it. I bought it from samsung and they are the ones who replaced it.

I am certain I copied the files from the 64 bit folder. But I will try it again. In fact, I'll copy the whole exe file (extracted) onto my usb and will try that and let you all know how it goes.

 

Is you BIOS set to AHCI or ATA? If ATA, try switching to AHCI. Then loading the AHCI drivers again. If AHCI, try switching to ATA...you might not need the drivers at this point.

Also, are there drivers that came with your HD?

 

Nope, still didn't work. Found the driver .inf files, but they were apparently the wrong ones. I'm gonna go take more tylenol and go eat something. If you guys can think of anything, let me know. If not, I'll just head out and buy a usb drive. Though I still don't know why this isn't working. If the dvd drive had no drivers, then how did it boot up from the dvd and get into the installation phase like ghost said?

Again, thank you all so much.

 

Ghost, I'm not sure how to change that setting :S I've looked thru the bios and haven't been able to find anything. All I see is MAIN (nothing there) SECURITY (only password stuff there) DIAGNOSTICS (only mem/hdd test there) SYSTEM CONFIG (only fan/virtualization there) though there is a boot options, and when i go there, it only allows me to choose the boot order and whether or not i allow certain types of booting.

 

Required cd/dvd drive device driver is missing ....

Your problem sounds a lot like the problem in this post. Maybe after the Sata controller loads, it needs hard drive drivers. Which I haven't seen before, but is possible. Definitely check the BIOS settings and try switching and repeating the process to see if that works. There may also be a firmware update for your HD. You might also try testing the HD to make sure it is good.

 

I would think it would be under system config. Somewhere it should give you the option to change SATA mode. It may say SATA or IDE. SATA or ATA. RAID options. Anything like that? It would be relating to hard drives. I'm not familiar with your BIOS so I can't give you a clear area to look.

Is your installation media a Microsoft disk? Is it a downloaded ISO that you burned to a disk? I did read some posts about bad ISO's throwing the same error message.

 

Thats what I was thinking , I had that issue once as the disk did not contain the drivers needed
The same error message came up
The resolution was to download a W7 iso as per this thread

http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

 

What I'm not really understanding is how I install drivers when I don't have an operating system. That, and I can't search through the trillions of drivers that are out there that windows is asking for.

Anyways, I went out and got a USB drive, copied all the files from the DVD onto the USB, and when I boot from the USB, it says "missing operating system".

The file is an iso that I burned to a DVD. The ISO has worked before; I successfully installed windows 7 on this very same computer before. I am willing to bet anything that the new hard drive is not the issue.

I am extremely frustrated as to why this is not working, despite my constant efforts.

 

Hi,
I'm no expert, hope you don't mind if I chime in.

When you say USB drive, I'm not sure if you mean USB harddrive or USB flash memory stick. If it's a flash memory stick did you prepare it to be a boot drive before you copied the Win7 files onto it?
Here's the instructions:
Installing Windows 7 using usb thumb drive - AVIRAJ AJGEKAR'S BLOG... - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

 

Oh, and I looked at the legal windows 7 downloads, and the ENGLISH x64 did not work. Downloaded all three files, opened the exe, and it told me that it is missing required files. Sigh.

 

I wasn't aware that you had to somehow make the USB drive bootable. I am going through the steps now...but it's still a little confusing.

 

Just follow the instructions.
If I can do it anyone can do it

 

This may sound like a stupid question, but how do I change the command prompt directory to just C:\

 

Nevermind, I got it.

 

I did not bother with those
If you look further down you will see the ISO, thats what I used

 

Nope, didn't work. Same old story "could not find drivers" blah blah blah.

Funny how this ISO worked before. So now I have to download another ISO.

And what if that doesn't work guys? What happens then? Throw it off the golden gate?

Thanks again for all your help.

 

So you are getting that message, "could not find required CD/DVD device driver" even thought you are booting from the USB drive? hmmm

Did you go into BIOS and tell it to boot from the USB drive before the harddrive? I suspect you are still booting from the harddrive.

 

But there's nothing on the hard drive. And yes I'm booting from the USB drive. There is nothing in the DVD drive, hard drive, or anything else it could possibly be booting from.

 

Hmmm, well I've been googling around. There are lots of forum posts but few answers. Why not just remove the cd/dvd drive from the notebook. and try installing windows7 64bit from the USB flash key again.
Page40 of maintenance manual

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01655860.pdf

Other than that, might as well take another look at the BIOS settings and see if you can find those AHCI, ATA settings.

 

The problem is with the SATA drivers/BIOS settings. This is why installing from a USB ISO won't work either. Would it be possible to install Vista and use the W7 compatability check to see if your hardware is ocmpatible? I'm sure it probably is, but perhaps it will identify a required driver that is missing. You could also try installing Vista and trying an in place upgrade to W7. With Vista drivers installed properly, W7 should upgrade no problem. I don't know....I'm running out of suggestions.

Post your BIOS manufacturer and version. Maybe we can search online for a configuration solution.

 

Okay guys, so it's all working now. What I did was I downloaded the iso that tomcat posted earlier. I used the microsoft USB windows 7 tool thingy to write the files onto the USB drive and made it bootable. Plugged it in, and it worked fine. I guess the problem was with the DVD. The iso tomcat gave me was only home premium (though it said all versions), so after THAT installation, I used MY DVD (to upgrade) and I kept getting the error "windows installer has stopped working" every time. So I went back and mounted the ORIGINAL iso that I downloaded and used that for my windows 7 ultimate installation, and it worked fine.

So, all in all, the DVD was probably the cause of the problem. When I used the USB drive, the files I put onto it were directly from the DVD, not from the original iso. So in the process of burning the iso to the DVD, something must have gone wrong. I wish error messages were a little more specific!

Thank you everyone for all of your help, I really appreciate it!

 

In your rush you missed this small detail in that thread

Anyways it's resolved now

 

Glad to see you got it working. Guess it was the drive afterall...Sorry I lead you on a wild goose chase.

 

Lol, actually tomcat, I saw that. I removed the ei.cfg file. I downloaded and executed the file and it said that the ei.cfg file was removed successfully. But thanks again for the iso link.

Nah ghost, you helped a lot. Thanks again for your help!

Thanks everyone!!!

 

Awesome. Glad its resolved.

Sounds like its either your DVD or your DVD drive.