Forum Discussion
New hard drives not found when installing window 11. Tried everything!
I have a computer that has no hard drives in it. So i bought a new Kingston NVMe M.2 disk. Installed it and I found the disk in BIOS.
I have a bootable USB made with the mediacreator from microsoft that i know works because i used it two days ago on my son's new computer.
I boot up with the windows 11 usb and when i come to select disk there is no disks.
I read that i need to disable VMD in the bios and i do. Still no disks. It say i need to load drivers for Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST). I found it from the manufacturer's drivers page. I press load drivers and I can't find anything. Nothing shows up in the list. No drivers!
I read that i need to download SetupRST.exe from Intel and extract the files with powershell. I need to add the .inf, .cat, .sys files on the windows usb. I do, and nothing shows up when load drivers. And disks don't show up.
I tried installing a second Intel ssd drive with sata. I see both the disks in BIOS but not with the windows 11 installer.
I have no idea what to do now. It's an older computer from 2023 so I can't take it back to the shop for free help.
I have installed windows hundreds of times and never run into this many problems. Its so strange
Sorry for my bad English, but I hope i described my problem correctly
Specs
Acer Predator Orio 3000
Intel Core i5 - 13400F
PO3-650
Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 500GB
3 Replies
The core of the problem is that the driver installer you downloaded (SetupRST.exe) is a standard Windows program that the installation environment cannot run.
You mentioned extracting the driver from SetupRST.exe and copying the .inf, .cat, and .sys files to the USB, but nothing shows up when you click "Load Driver".
Because both drives appear in BIOS but neither appears in Windows Setup, the likely problem is the storage-controller mode or its preinstallation driver, not either disk. From Acer, download the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver for the PO3-650 and extract it completely to another USB drive. In Setup, choose Load driver and browse to the folder containing the matching x64 .inf file, not SetupRST.exe. If no compatible driver appears, do not force another package; confirm the hardware ID and BIOS storage mode with Acer. Disabling VMD without changing the controller consistently can cause a driver mismatch. Restore BIOS defaults, update BIOS if Acer recommends it, then use either Acer’s documented VMD/RST configuration with its driver or AHCI mode, if supported. Disconnect the second disk during installation. If Setup still detects neither drive, contact Acer because Microsoft installation media cannot supply an OEM-specific controller driver that Acer has not packaged correctly.
