windows cannot be installed to this disk

[guy36]

Hello, i just put a brand new kingston sata ssd in my computer. Now im trying to install windows 7 64bit to this pc but get error "windows cannot be installed to this disk'. When i click on this i get message "windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controlleris enabled in the computer's BIOS menu". I checked the BIOS but there is no option for AHCI, only IDE and RAID. Forgot to mention earlier i had windows 7 32bit installed on this pc with a 2TB hdd and my inbuilt VGA port was not working, so i installed a VGA card in it which was auto-detected. Now, i removed the HDD and put a brand new SSD and want to install windows 7 64 bit on it but getting this error. Someone help?

[savvy2]

2007 year PC the typical limit on w10 64bit my limit is 2005, on an old dell core 2 but has latest intel stepping that works

the old core 2 do not. at all run 64bit now, so there is that.  (w10, w7 64 bit is far far less strict )!!!

if 64bit fails  32bit sure will work. (expect sound and igpu and nic chips to fail under w10  this old ! I then upgrade those !!!

w7 no media told by you, of 1000s by all OEM and he few from MS real, and never Torrent versions.

why fool with w7? not good that. now.

'

the coin cell battery 13 years old is no good and if not replace now the BIOS goes nuts, "choas" for  sure

that SSD works great as do all there,  even back to 30GB long ago work there and new 1TB works there 2.5"

the installer tells you that error for only 2 or 3 reasons

BIOS SATA ports off, or BIOS RAID turn off or  set wrong, not to AHCI mode, if seen there.

or SSD both cables connected correctly and secure.

or the SSD is not new , some sold by top sellers lie and are rejects from last customer, if the NEW SSD is not bagged and tap sealed it is NOT NEW. so I erase them on a 2nd PC, and now works. great.  all techs know this?

if the SSD fails I have box full of used HDD here, all good and  all  erased and i then test it, if that works

and the SSD fails  send back the  SSD to the seller.

but do erase it first.

learn this about MS installers

if it sees any kind of alien format there, it will show the disk missing, by DESIGN. (prevents data loss is why)

or the format is corrupted, there. show on hdd /ssd there;

or the disks is GPT formatted as secure boot and again, snows the disk as missing, or locked, w10 does that.

MS documents all this if you need links I can send them......... nothing new here.....

good luck to you on any 13 year old PC, I have Z600 here that screams , two xeons, with GTX1650 in it.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @guy36 

I have a dc7800, and if you update the BIOS to v1.35, you will get a new drive controller option of AHCI along with the existing settings of IDE and RAID.

I also had no issues installing a Sandisk SSD Plus 240 GB SSD in my dc7800 with the drive controller set to RAID.

I later changed the drive controller setting to AHCI after I discovered the new AHCI drive controller setting was added by BIOS update v1.35, which I found out from some other forum member.

[guy36]

Can you provide me with the BIOS update file and instruct me how to update my BIOS without an operating system on my pc?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Here is the link to the v1.35 BIOS update exe file.

v01.35   Nov 27, 2015

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp73501-74000/sp73582.exe

Download and save the file on another Windows PC.

Install the free 7-zip file utility from the link below--32 or 64 bit file at the top of the page, as applicable.

7-Zip (7-zip.org)

After you install 7-Zip, right click on the BIOS file you saved.

Select 7-Zip from the list of items on the menu.

Have 7-zip extract to:  and let it extract the file into its folder name (sp73582).

Once that is done, you should see a set of folders and files in the folder that 7-zip created...continues below the picture.

 

Get a USB flash drive.

Format it with the FAT32 file system.

Open the DOS Flash folder you see in the folder that 7-Zip created.

Copy the file contents of that folder to your USB flash drive.  Just the files, not the folder.

Plug the flash drive into your dc7800.

Turn it on, and tap the F10 key to get access to the BIOS.

Select the File tab>Flash System ROM command.

Select the USB flash drive.

The PC should see the BIOS update file on the flash drive.

Follow the on screen instructions to update the BIOS.

[guy36]

Will try tomorrow and post results...thanks a bunch though

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

If you still get the error in AHCI mode, try cleaning the disk during the W7 installation routine.

Watch this video...after you run the clean command, exit out of the command prompt, and try the installation again.

Do not convert the disk to GPT as shown as the last step in the video, as booting from a GPT disk is not supported in the dc7800.

Fix Windows Cannot be Installed To This Disk - YouTube

[guy36]

Thanks a bunch, upgraded the BIOS bow installing windows 7

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

One other thing...You posted in your first post that you installed a VGA card.

If you installed a PCIe x16 graphics adapter that has a display or HDMI port, it has disabled the onboard audio.

So, if you use the internal or a set of external speakers in the audio out jack you will notice that you have no sound.

The fix is simple...go into the BIOS>Advanced tab>Device Options menu.

Find the onboard Audio setting.  It will be on disabled.

Change the setting from disabled to enabled.  Save the setting there and again when you exit the BIOS.

After you restart the PC, the onboard sound will be working again.

If you ever change the CMOS battery or reset the CMOS, the onboard audio will be disabled again, so you will have to enable it again.

This happens because the PC is old and HDMI was a relatively new thing back in the day.

There is an audio chip on the video card so that you get sound out of the HDMI port, and the BIOS thinks not only did you install a video card, that you installed an audio card as well, so it dutifully disabled both the onboard video and onboard audio.

[guy36]

Thanks, already knew about the audio fix because of a video card. I set it now getting audio