Missing drives during Windows install

During the installation of Windows 10 and Windows 11 you may encounter an error message:

“We couldn’t find any drives. To get a storage driver, click Load driver.”

If you are certain disk is plugged in, to resolve this issue you have two choices:

• Easiest: Disable Intel RST in BIOS
• If you want to use RAID: Load an Intel RST Driver

Disable Intel RST in BIOS

The easiest way to resolve this issue is to disable Intel RST in your BIOS. On many laptops and select motherboard, Intel RST is enabled by default.

The menus vary between manufacturers and models, but the basic entries you want to find may be called “Storage” or “Disk” mode.

This field should currently be set to “RAID” and you want to change it to “AHCI”.

On some systems you may find a “VMD setup/controller” option, disabling this will have the same effect on RST.

You can reboot and load back into the Windows install USB and complete the installation without issue.

Acer

Information

Some Acer laptops have RST option permanently turned on and it’s impossible to change.

Option to change RAID option may be hidden. On select models it’s possible to reveal them, by pressing Ctrl+S in Advanced tab.

Possible menus to disable RAID include:

• Advanced\System Agent (SA) Configuration\VMD setup menu\Enable VMD controller => Disabled

Below are helpful images for some Acer BIOS

Asus

Possible menus to disable RAID include:

• (EZ Mode) Intel Rapid Storage Technology => OFF
• Advanced\VMD setup menu\Enable VMD controller => Disabled
• Advanced\System Agent (SA)\VMD setup menu\Enable VMD controller => Disabled
• Advanced\Integrated Peripherals\RAID Configuration (Intel VMD)\Enable RAID/Optane Function => Disabled
• Advanced\PCH Storage Configuration\SATA Mode selection => AHCI Mode

Below are helpful images for some ASUS BIOS

Dell

Possible menus to disable RAID include:

• System Configuration\SATA Operation => AHCI
• Storage\SATA/NVMe Operation => AHCI

Gigabyte Aorus

Possible menus to disable RAID include:

• Chipset\SATA Mode => AHCI
• Settings\IO Ports\SATA Mode => AHCI
• Settings\IO Ports\NVMe RAID mode => Disabled
• Settings\VMD setup menu\Enable VMD Controller => Disabled
• Peripherals\SATA Mode Selection => AHCI
• Peripherals\SATA Configuration\SATA Mode Selection => AHCI

Below are helpful images for some Gigabyte Aorus BIOS

HP

Information

Some HP desktops/laptops have RST option permanently turned on and it’s impossible to change.

Possible menus to disable RAID include:

• Advanced\System Options\Configure Storage Controller for RAID => Unchecked
• Configuration\SATA Emulation => AHCI

Below are helpful images for some HP BIOS

Lenovo

Possible menus to disable RAID include:

• Devices/ATA Drive setup/Configure SATA as => AHCI

MSI

Information

Some MSI motherboards have a function called M.2/Optane Genie, which will automatically configure RAID even if RAID is manually disabled. Ensure that M.2/Optane Genie function is disabled as well.

Possible menus to disable M.2/Optane Genie include:

• (EZ Mode) M.2\Optane Genie => OFF
• Advanced\Integrated Peripherals\M.2/Optane Genie => Disabled

Possible menus to disable RAID include:

• Advanced\Integrated Peripherals\SATA Mode => AHCI Mode
• Advanced\Integrated Peripherals\RAID Configuration (Intel VMD)\Enable RAID/Optane Function => Disabled

Below are helpful images for some MSI BIOS

Razer

Possible menus to disable RAID include:

• Chipset/SATA and RST Configuration/SATA Mode Selection => AHCI
• Chipset/Intel VMD Technology => Disabled

Load an Intel RST Driver

If you would like to use RAID and leave Intel RST on then you will need to download the Intel RST driver from your motherboard or laptop manufacturers support page, then put that on your Windows install USB.

See below for some guides from various manufactures on this process.

MSI

• https://www.msi.com/support/technical_details/NB_Installation_Unrecognizable

Asus

• https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1044458/

If downloaded file is an executable called SetupRST.exe, you need to extract it first. Open a command prompt in a location with the executable, and run following command to extract drivers:

.\SetupRST.exe -extractdrivers .\RST

The command will extract drivers a folder called RST in same location as executable. Copy the folder into the USB and then proceed with Windows setup.