[Fix] Windows 10/11 Setup can’t Find Hard Disk Drive in Asus or Other Devices

If you are trying to install Windows 10 or Windows 11 in your Asus or any other brand computer and you are getting “We couldn’t find any drives” error message during setup, this article will help you in fixing the issue and successfully installing Windows operating system in your device.

Although the instructions provided in this article are specifically written for Asus laptops but the solution should work in all popular brands PCs and laptops such as Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, etc.

Recently I purchased a new Asus Zenbook which came with Windows 11 Home edition preinstalled. I decided to perform a clean installation of Windows 11 Pro in the device to remove all bundled bloatware apps.

I created a bootable USB drive using Rufus and when I booted using USB drive, the setup displayed following error message during initial stage:

Following screenshot shows the error message appearing during Windows 11 setup process:

Many people might face this annoying problem while installing Windows 10 or Windows 11 in their devices. This error message appears when Windows setup doesn’t contain required drivers for the hard disk drive present in user’s device.

To fix this issue, the user is required to manually download the driver files for the hard disk from the manufacturer website or Microsoft website. Once the drivers are downloaded, you can click on “Load driver” link given on Windows setup screen and select the driver files using Browse window. If the drivers are correct, Windows successfully detects the hard disk and allows the user to select a partition to install Windows operating system.

But sometimes it might be difficult for the user to find the correct model name and number of the computer and hard disk and then search for the drivers on the Internet. The user might not have a working Internet connection.

If you don’t want to download drivers but want to force Windows to detect your hard disk drive and install the OS in your device, here is another 100% working method.

You can try to change the hard disk controller mode/type to SATA/IDE/AHCI/NVMe/RAID/Standard/Compatibility from the existing selected mode using BIOS/UEFI settings and it’ll allow Windows setup to detect the hard disk successfully.

In my Asus laptop, the problem occurred due to Intel Volume Management Device (VMD) technology that is used by new Intel CPUs to optimize data processing and reduce power consumption. Windows setup doesn’t contain required drivers for these CPUs, so it fails to detect the hard disk drive. Users are required to manually download drivers for Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST).

If you don’t want to download the IRST drivers, you can manually disable or turn off VMD controller mode in BIOS settings and the setup will be able to find the hard disk drive.

Following steps will help you in accessing BIOS settings and disabling VMD option to force Windows 10/11 setup to successfully find your hard disk drive:

STEP 1: When the setup displays error message, click on Close button and restart your device. When your computer restarts, keep pressing F2 key to open BIOS/UEFI settings screen. Different brand computers require different key press to access BIOS setup. In most of the brands, F2 key is used. If it doesn’t work, you can try pressing Delete key.

Related: How to Enter BIOS Settings on Your Windows PC?

STEP 2: When the BIOS/UEFI setup screen appears, click on Advanced Settings or similar option and continue. You can also press F7 key to direct access advanced settings screen.

STEP 3: Now click on Advanced tab or section. Scroll down to bottom and click on VMD Setup Menu option as shown in following image:

STEP 4: Now set Enable VMD Controller option to Disabled using the drop-down box.

Your system will show a warning message that switching VMD mode can cause issues for the system to boot into Windows, click on OK button.

STEP 5: Now press F10 key to save and exit from BIOS settings screen.

Now try to install Windows again in your device and it’ll successfully detect your hard disk drive.

So basically, you need to change the HDD controller mode/type in BIOS settings and Windows setup will be able to detect and use the hard disk drive present in your computer system.

Also Check:

[Tip] How to Complete Windows 11 Setup Without Internet Connection

[Tip] Create Unattended Windows 11 Setup with All Requirements Checks Disabled