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Windows 7 install error: "A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing" #

While attempting to install Windows 7 on a Dell Optiplex 3040 Micro, the following error appeared:

A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now.

Note: If the Windows installation media is in the CD/DVD drive, you can safely remove it for this step.

Browse | OK | Cancel

(As it turns out, the problem is caused by a missing USB 3.0 driver, so installing via USB floppy, CD/DVD, flash drive, etc was not possible.)

Browsing for a driver on the virtual X: drive returned:

No device drivers were found. Make sure that the installation media contains the correct drivers, and then click OK.

Reports online did not sound promising, e.g.: 'No device drivers were found' error when installing windows 7 on new computer "FINAL EDIT - If you're here for answers, while nothing here worked for me, that doesn't mean it won't work for you, so I suggest you try everything here if you can. What I ended up doing is giving up on windows 7 and instead installed windows 10.").

Coming up with a working solution took more time than anyone else should ever have to invest in this issue again. Here's what worked for me:

1. Format a USB drive as NTFS. If necessary, use diskpart.exe:

   1. list disk

   2. select disk x, where x is the number assigned to your USB drive

   3. clean

   4. create partition primary

   5. select partition 1

   6. active

   7. format fs=ntfs quick

   8. assign

   9. exit

2. Copy files and folders from Windows 7 ISO or DVD to USB drive

3. Download Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver and extract contents

4. Download, install, and run NTLite

5. Click "Add" > "Image folder" > select drive letter of USB drive (E: in the example that follows) > click "Select Folder"

6. Under "Operating systems | install.wim", right click the version of Windows that corresponds to your license and then click "Load":

   

7. Once loading has completed, click "Drivers" in the left-hand column:

   

8. Click "Add" > "Folder with multiple drivers" > browse to the folder containing extracted driver(s) > click "Select Folder"

9. Click "Apply" in left-hand column > click green "Process" button at top left > "Yes"

10. When processing is complete, click "Source" in the left-hand column to return to the main window

11. Repeat steps 6 through 10 for the two entries under "Boot/Setup | boot.wim" (in the screenshots above, they are "Microsoft Windows PE (x86)" and "Windows 7 Setup")

12. If desired, make an ISO image of the USB drive (for burning to DVD-R, etc) by right clicking E: under "Image history" and then clicking "Create ISO"

13. The USB drive or ISO image can now be used to install Windows 7 on the affected computer (see below for a list of all affected Dell models)

Notes

• Dell explains the cause here: Dell systems with the Intel Skylake or Braswell Chipset cannot boot to Dell Windows 7 media due to no USB 2.0 but the NTLite directions are incomplete (as of August 21, 2016) to the point of being virtually useless. In an update to their post, Dell recommends using instead:

• Intel's Windows 7 USB 3.0 Creator Utility ("This utility automates the process to create a Windows 7 installation image to include USB 3.0 drivers. The new installation image can then be used to install Windows 7 on Intel® NUC products that have only USB 3.0 ports."). However, it would crash towards the end of the process and the image it created did not include the necessary USB 3.0 driver. Also, it only runs under Windows 8.1 or higher (?!) and (according to the instructions) requires Windows USB/DVD Download Tool (which Microsoft inexplicably hosts at http://wudt.codeplex.com/ and last updated in 2009), which requires Microsoft .NET Framework v2 and Microsoft Image Mastering API v2! Since v2 does not run under Windows 8.1, 3.5 was tried, but ultimately the Download Tool did not work out (nor did Rufus), though this could have been caused by running in a virtual machine (which worked fine for the process outlined above).

• Fiddling with the scant USB and virtualization options in the BIOS did not avail.

• Old timers will note the similarity between this issue and the Windows XP / SATA install problem from yesteryear.

• Before piecing together the above procedure, used this old workaround:

  1. Remove SATA HDD from Optiplex 3040 and install into generic PC.

  2. Install Windows 7 normally

  3. Shutdown at initial welcome screen (Shift+F10, shutdown -t 1 -s)

  4. Boot generic PC once more from Windows 7 installer and use regedit to switch from IDE to AHCI mode if necessary:

     1. Shift+F10 > regedit.exe

     2. Load \windows\system32\config\system (which corresponds to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\)

     3. Navigate to ControlSet001\services\msahci and change "Start" DWORD value from 3 to 0.

     4. Repeat step c for ControlSet002\services\msahci

     5. Copy missing drivers to SATA HDD

  5. Reinstall SATA HDD into Optiplex 3040 - Windows boots normally. Install missing drivers.

• Here is the current list of affected Dell computers: Latitude E7270, Latitude E7470, Latitude 3470, Latitude 3570, Latitude E5270, Latitude E5470, Latitude E5570, Latitude 7370, Latitude 7414 Rugged, Latitude 7214 Rugged, Latitude 5414 Rugged, Optiplex 7440 AIO, Optiplex 3240 AIO, Optiplex 7040, Optiplex 5040, Optiplex 3040, Precision Tower 3620, Precision Tower 3420, Precision MPWS 7510, Precision MPWS 7710, Precision MPWS 3510, XPS 9550, XPS XPS 13 9350, XPS 8900, Inspiron NB 7559, Inspiron NB 3452/3552, Inspiron NB 3459/3559, Vostro NB 5459, Inspiron DT 3059, Inspiron DT 3459, Inspiron DT 5459, Inspiron DT 3650, Inspiron DT 3250, Vostro DT 3650, Vostro DT 3653, Vostro DT 3250, Vostro DT 5450

Updates

• Latest Intel, AMD chips will only run Windows 10 ... and Linux, BSD, OS X - "One example of Microsoft holding back support is the xHCI USB controller in sixth-generation Skylake and seventh-generation Kaby Lake: Windows 7 doesn't support that USB hardware, so installing the operating system from a USB stick using those chips is tricky. Intel provides xHCI drivers for Windows 7 once it's up and running."

• How to Install Windows 7 with only USB 3.0 Ports outlines a similar process using dism, but assumes a preexisting USB-based Windows 7 installer.

• Microsoft made 'em do it: The latest Kaby Lake, Zen chips will support only Windows 10 - ". . . the company tried to shorten its support lifecycle for Intel Skylake PCs running Windows 7 and 8, a policy the company subsequently abandoned after much outcry. But Microsoft's statements have also consistently included a critical caveat: The latest generations of silicon—specifically Intel's Kaby Lake chip, Qualcomm’s 8996, and AMD’s Bristol Ridge silicon—will all require Windows 10."

• Microsoft Suspends Win 7/8.1 Updates For Intel Kaby Lake, AMD Ryzen CPUs - "Microsoft suspended updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users with Intel's 7th generation (Kaby Lake) processors, AMD's 7th generation (Bristol Ridge) processors, and Qualcomm's 8996 processor or newer. The company said before that it wouldn't release new drivers for older Windows versions to support new hardware, but now it's stopped Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users with these new CPUs from scanning or downloading from Windows Update."

/windows | Aug 21, 2016

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