Fresh Windows 11 Install (No Signed Drivers) Issue

naturemadehobbi · Oct 16, 2023

I'm trying to do a fresh install of windows 11 on this desktop (details below) - I had this exact problem a few months ago with another computer where after I created the Bootable USB with the media creation tool, I would get this error when trying to boot up "No signed device drivers were found. Make sure that the installation media contains the correct drivers, and then click OK."

Everything works up until it comes time to select the bootable drive The last time I did this I paid a guy $175 to install Windows...I'm trying to not do that again, I'm in college so it's not realistic for me at the moment. The guy who did this for me told me I was "missing drives" and that he found them on a "website" - so I haven't a clue.

The flash drive is not corrupted, and I can't clone the OS.

Dell Inspiron 3910
Processor 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700, 2100 Mhz, 12 Core(s), 20 Logical Processor(s)
BaseBoard Product 0KHP4K
WD Blue SN580 NVMe SSD

hsehestedt · Oct 16, 2023

It sounds like you are likely missing a storage driver that the system needs in order to properly see the storage on your system. If you are doing a clean install and there is nothing on your drive(s) that need to be saved, try this:

1) Enter the BIOS setup.
2) Check to see what mode your SATA storage is configured to use. For example, is it set to use RAID, is it set to AHCI mode, etc.
3) If set to anything other than AHCI, change it to AHCI (assuming that you are not using hardware RAID).
4) Try installation again.

If still getting an error, it is possible that you may need to load a driver at the screen where the disk selection is to be made. In all likelihood, the driver that you would need is the Intel IRST (Intel Rapid Storage Technology) driver.

Extract this driver to a folder on your Windows installation media. For example, you might place it in \IRST. Then, at the disk selection screen, choose the option to load a driver and point it to that driver. After that driver loads, select the "Refresh" option on that screen.

Let me know if this helps at all.

POLYSIUS · Oct 16, 2023

This is the driver you need. It is to be extracted first.
Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Driver_Y6R9T_WIN64_19.5.1.1040_A02_02.EXE
There is also a brandnew BIOS update

glasskuter · Oct 16, 2023

By default, in all new machines, Dell sets disk mode to raid. You can do what @hsehestedt says and change to ahci or install storage driver as per Dell's instructions here.

Intel 11th, 12th, and 13th Generation Processors, No Drives Can Be Found During Windows 10 and Windows 11 Installation | Dell US

hsehestedt · Oct 16, 2023

glasskuter said:
By default, in all new machines, Dell sets disk mode to raid. You can do what @hsehestedt says and change to ahci or install storage driver as per Dell's instructions here.

Intel 11th, 12th, and 13th Generation Processors, No Drives Can Be Found During Windows 10 and Windows 11 Installation | Dell US

Interesting. I was not aware that Dell did that by default. That's an interesting choice. Thanks for that information.

glasskuter · Oct 16, 2023

@hsehestedt I don't know if all the other OEMs are following suit with Dell regarding raid mode, but they all have similar articles on their sites. I've set up over half a dozen new Dell laptops in the last year and they were all optioned as raid.
It used to be that Dell shipped only their business grade PCs and laptops configured as raid but I began noticing consumer grade machines optioned as raid at around 11th gen. Somewhere I read it had something to do with the additional power saving one supposedly gains using IRST controller.

hsehestedt · Oct 16, 2023

glasskuter said:
Somewhere I read it had something to do with the additional power saving one supposedly gains using IRST controller.

Yet another detail I was unaware of. You are on a roll today

. I'm grateful for all the detailed information. Now the trick will be for me to try to remember all these details.

naturemadehobbi · Oct 16, 2023

hsehestedt said:
It sounds like you are likely missing a storage driver that the system needs in order to properly see the storage on your system. If you are doing a clean install and there is nothing on your drive(s) that need to be saved, try this:

1) Enter the BIOS setup.
2) Check to see what mode your SATA storage is configured to use. For example, is it set to use RAID, is it set to AHCI mode, etc.
3) If set to anything other than AHCI, change it to AHCI (assuming that you are not using hardware RAID).
4) Try installation again.

If still getting an error, it is possible that you may need to load a driver at the screen where the disk selection is to be made. In all likelihood, the driver that you would need is the Intel IRST (Intel Rapid Storage Technology) driver.

Extract this driver to a folder on your Windows installation media. For example, you might place it in \IRST. Then, at the disk selection screen, choose the option to load a driver and point it to that driver. After that driver loads, select the "Refresh" option on that screen.

Let me know if this helps at all.

Thank you both @glasskuter - I downloaded the driver and switched to AHCI ~ not sure what resolved the issue, but it does work now!

glasskuter · Oct 16, 2023

You didn't have to load the driver once you changed to ahci. The disk would have been recognized during install just by doing that. But it's ok that you did.