GA-790XTA-UD4 can't find hard drive disk during win7 installation

[spookster]

Specifications:
motherboard: GA-790XTA-UD4
CPU:  AMD Phenom II X4 965 3,4 Ghz
GPU: SAPPHIRE Radeon hd4890-1024 vapor-x
Hard drive disk: Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400 AADS 3"5 640 Go

My hard drive disk is found in the BIOS but not in the OS installation even after loading the drivers myself

Driver: AMD SATA RAID Driver (Preinstall driver, press F6 during Windows* setup to read from floppy)
Version 3.1.1540.127
Downloaded from:  http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/Driver_Model.aspx?ProductID=3263&ost=windows+7+64bit#anchor_os

I tried to set the HDD in IDE native and in AHCI in the BIOS but windows was never able to detect it in both case.

Does somebody have any clue about what to do in order to install Windows seven 64x please???
I'm starting to be really DESPERATE!!! 

[absic]

Hi,

This could be due to a couple of things.

The first one that springs to mind is your HDD, for some reason Windows 7 can really struggle with certain "Green" or "Energy Efficient" Drives. If possible try another HDD.

The second can be due to using a copy of Windows 7 rather than the original disk. If you are using a copied (even from original disk) or downloaded version, I would recommend burning the disk at the slowest possible speed.

You shouldn't need to install drivers during install as you are not setting up a RAID array. Re-set your BIOS to optimised defaults then set the HDD for Native IDE.

[spookster]

Thanks for your reply,

I also tried with two 2"5 from seagate,
one is 5400 rpm for 120Go (this one is detected)
the other is 7200 rpm for 250 Go (this one isn't found by windows).

I will install windows in the 120Go at last resort but due to its low performance I would rather use one of my others HDD for the OS.

If the problem is coming from seven; should I try to install vista first and then upgrade to seven?

[absic]

Hi,

should I try to install vista first and then upgrade to seven?

If Vista is seeing your HDD's OK then this might be a simple solution for you.

[spookster]

for some reason Windows 7 can really struggle with certain "Green" or "Energy Efficient" Drives. If possible try another HDD.

It seems that you were right, I finally bought a new HDD ( http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?DriveID=298 ) and everything worked perfectly in IDE Native (haven't tried in AHCI).

Thanks again 

[absic]

Hi spookster,

Thanks for the reply and I'm pleased your problem is sorted.

If you are planning on switching to AHCI, however, you could run into problems and it is often better to install the OS in AHCI mode rather than trying to alter it afterwards.

If you now want to change to AHCI mode without re-installing Windows, check through this thread http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,1629.msg7422.html#msg7422 as you might find it helpful.

ATB