Solved How to install Windows 11 using the USB Install drive to an empty disk?

ineuw · Jan 27, 2024

This an 11th generation ASRock Intel motherboard, for which Windows 11 installation iso does not include the USB drivers. Thus, it cannot be installed on an empty disk with the Installation.iso USB key alone. Since there is no other OS installed, the installation of any RST app by Windows or ASRock is not possible. How can this be resolved?

the iso label is CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9. 23H2

SIW2 · Jan 27, 2024

usb drivers?

Is bios detecting the disk?

is it that z590 ? https://download.asrock.com/Drivers/Intel/SATA/Floppy(v18.6.1.1016.1_21H2).zip

ASRock Z590 Steel Legend

Supports 10th Gen Intel Core™ Processors and 11th Gen Intel Core™ Processors; 14 Phase Dr.MOS Power Design; Supports DDR4 4800MHz (OC); 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16, 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1, 1 x M.2 Key-E for WiFi; Graphics Output Options: HDMI, DisplayPort; 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC897 Audio...

www.asrock.com

Unzip it onto something you can get at e.g. usb stick. Boot the installation media, click load drivers and browse to the unzipped folder

Megahertz · Jan 27, 2024

Where did you get the CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9. 23H2 iso?
I suggest you build the USB Win 11 23h2 installation drive using MCT

Not sure if I correct understood your question.
To be short:
- On another computer you download the Intel RST-driver.exe and extract the drivers as *.sys, *.cat, *.ini etc and copy to a folder on the Win 11 USB installation drive.
- You boot from the Win 11 USB installation drive as UEFI, and load the RST drivers by browsing to the driver folder on the Win 11 USB installation drive.
- Once the drivers are loaded you can see the main drive. Delete all partitions on the drive and then proceed.

See step 11 in the tutorial

Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...

www.elevenforum.com

BamaInArk · Jan 27, 2024

I find it hard to believe a Z590 motherboard requires special USB drivers to install correctly. Advanced USB drivers may be needed for the advanced USB 3.2 Gen 2 spec but they are supposed to be backwards compatible. That board includes USB 3.2 gen 1 ports which should also work. Surely a correctly created USB installer will work on one of the USB 2.0 ports?

What error are you seeing upon an installation attempt? Just go to Microsoft and Media Creation Tool and let that create a fresh bootable USB drive installer.

Megahertz · Jan 27, 2024

BamaInArk said:
I find it hard to believe a Z590 motherboard requires special USB drivers to install correctly. Advanced USB drivers may be needed for the advanced USB 3.2 Gen 2 spec but they are supposed to be backwards compatible. That board includes USB 2.3 gen 1 ports which should also work. Surely a correctly created USB installer will work on one of the USB 2.0 ports?

What error are you seeing upon an installation attempt? Just go to Microsoft and Media Creation Tool and let that create a fresh bootable USB drive installer.

Win 11 has the USB3.x drivers but the USB 2.0 port can be used. If you can't boot the Win 11 USB installation drive as UEFI it probably hasn't been set properly.
As I wrote above, during installation you have to load the Intel RST drivers
I suggest you build the USB Win 11 23h2 installation drive using MCT

ineuw · Jan 27, 2024

My gratitude to all for the speedy answers. I will clarify everything. This is an 10/11th generation Intel ASRock Mb desktop. Everything is recognized and working.

Microsoft does not include the drivers required for 10+ generation processors in the iso installation. One must use the Microsoft RST installer.exe or the ASrock equivalent. BUT I have no platform to install it from. I am writing this from my Linux laptop.
The SSD is configured with DISKPART but cannot proceed because of the malicious approach of Microsoft to create exclude this and waste users time.

So, I have an excellent Motherboard, a working SSD, and a paid for licensed working USB installation key, but unable to unpack the drivers or install them.

P.S: The ASRock applicable driver link is ASRock Z590 Steel Legend. I have it.
The Windows 11 package labeled "Win11_23H2_English_x64.iso".

. . . . . and please don't copy and paste here. I researched this issue very thoroughly, including the USB 2.0 which no longer works, but all USB 3+ ports boot the key. Always check the article post date and compare it to today's date.

Try3 · Jan 27, 2024

MS has nothing to do with booting your computer from a USB.
That's controlled by the Bios.

Are you saying that you have booted and the installation process has started but then stalled because the installation process cannot read your USB disk??????
Clean Install Windows 11 - includes local account method - ElevenForumTutorials
If so, see these NVMe-focussed suggestions that nevertheless ought to apply to other devices.
Add drivers to InstallUSB - Kari #2 - TenForums
[This is a link to my short para about NavyLCDR's equivalent procedure]
Coping with an M.2 NVME disk during installation - my post #7 - ElevenForum

I've now seen the added bits of your post #6 and I am completely baffled about what problem you are reporting.
You should not need to use DiskPart at all.
Exactly what is happening when you try to clean install?
- Is it booting to the USB?
- Is the installation procedure starting?
- How far do you get and what happens at that step that stops you proceeding further?

Best of luck,
Denis

Megahertz · Jan 27, 2024

ineuw said:
This is an 10/11th generation Intel ASRock Mb desktop. Everything is recognized and working.

What do you mean by working? Does it has an OS?

ineuw said:
Microsoft does not include the drivers required for 10+ generation processors in the iso installation. One must use the Microsoft RST installer.exe or the ASrock equivalent. BUT I have no platform to install it from. I am writing this from my Linux laptop.

Linux can be used to download the RST drivers. Unzip the attached IRST_AHCI.zip to a folder on the Win 11 USB installation drive.
During installation browse to the folder to load the drivers. Once you have added the drivers you can see the target drive.

ineuw said:
The SSD is configured with DISKPART but cannot proceed because of the malicious approach of Microsoft to create exclude this and waste users time.

So, I have an excellent Motherboard, a working SSD, and a paid for licensed working USB installation key, but unable to unpack the drivers or install them.

You don't need to configure the SSD. You will delete all partitions during Win 11 installation.
Can you boot from the Win 11 USB installation drive as UEFI on the ASRock desktop?

Megahertz · Jan 27, 2024

What are you formatting? The USB installation drive or the SSD on the desktop?

glasskuter · Jan 27, 2024

You may have researched carefully but it seems you do not have a clear understanding of the fine points. @Try3 and @Megahertz are 100% right. It's all there in DETAIL in step #11 of Brinks's tutorial. Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

1. There are 2 ways to install the IRST driver. Either extract and insert them into your installation media OR manually insert the extracted drivers during the "load driver" step of the install process . You do not need in a working environment for installation of these drivers.
2. You do not partition the drive prior to clean install. All the partitions you created will be deleted and Windows installed on unallocated space. This is done during the install.

Try3 · Jan 27, 2024

I do not disagree with any of the other posters but please clarify the situation in your next post.

If you cannot make the InstallUSB then say so.
If you have made the InstallUSB and have a problem using it then say so and say what is happening.

Try3 said:
Exactly what is happening when you try to clean install?
- Is it booting to the USB?
- Is the installation procedure starting?
- How far do you get and what happens at that step that stops you proceeding further?

All the best,
Denis

Megahertz · Jan 27, 2024

Reset BIOS or load defaults.
Set Disk mode to AHCI, not RAID
Select OS mode = UEFI
Disable fast boot and secure boot (you can turn it on after installation)

Windows can be installed in two ways: Legacy-MBR or UEFI-GPT
To install as Legacy-MBR you must boot the installation drive as Legacy
To install as UEFI-GPT you must boot the installation drive as UEFI.

As you have a UEFI BIOS, you should install as UEFI-GPT
Detach any other drives (SATA or Power cable) from the MB.

During POST, press F12(?) to launch the boot menu. You will see two options for the USB drive. USB UEFI (Name) and USB (Name). Select USB UEFI (Name) to install as UEFI-GPT.
Go to install and hit Load driver. Browse to the iRST driver folder on the USB and load. Then delete ALL partitions on the main drive till you have one and only one unallocated space and then proceed.
If you want to use a local account What is "oobe\bypassnro"

ineuw · Jan 27, 2024

As a user with 39 years of experience with Microsoft, DOS and Windows, I will entertain all your questions one by one, since I wasn't clear enough. Much of the answers include out of date suggestions, suppositions, and even disbelief.

Since I've been through it all, I will reply to each question in the order asked, before restating my question.
question 1

SIW2 said:
Is bios detecting the disk?

is it that z590 ? https://download.asrock.com/Drivers/Intel/SATA/Floppy(v18.6.1.1016.1_21H2).zip

ASRock Z590 Steel Legend

Supports 10th Gen Intel Core™ Processors and 11th Gen Intel Core™ Processors; 14 Phase Dr.MOS Power Design; Supports DDR4 4800MHz (OC); 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16, 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1, 1 x M.2 Key-E for WiFi; Graphics Output Options: HDMI, DisplayPort; 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC897 Audio...

www.asrock.com

Unzip it onto something you can get at e.g. usb stick. Boot the installation media, click load drivers and browse to the unzipped folder

The BIOS is detecting and recognizing everything. Windows 11 existed on this machine previously, only the SSD failed. I only replaced the SSD.

The ASRock zipped driver file was downloaded and extracted to a USB2 stick. The "Windows11InstallationAssistant.exe" file was also downloaded to the same stick, but there is no Windows OS to extract the drivers from an .exe file.

I will post the BIOS settings to the appropriate question. Now to the next post in order.

markw51 · Jan 27, 2024

ineuw said:
My gratitude to all for the speedy answers. I will clarify everything. This is an 10/11th generation Intel ASRock Mb desktop. Everything is recognized and working.

Microsoft does not include the drivers required for 10+ generation processors in the iso installation. One must use the Microsoft RST installer.exe or the ASrock equivalent. BUT I have no platform to install it from. I am writing this from my Linux laptop.
The SSD is configured with DISKPART but cannot proceed because of the malicious approach of Microsoft to create exclude this and waste users time.

So, I have an excellent Motherboard, a working SSD, and a paid for licensed working USB installation key, but unable to unpack the drivers or install them.

P.S: The ASRock applicable driver link is ASRock Z590 Steel Legend. I have it.
The Windows 11 package labeled "Win11_23H2_English_x64.iso".

. . . . . and please don't copy and paste here. I researched this issue very thoroughly, including the USB 2.0 which no longer works, but all USB 3+ ports boot the key. Always check the article post date and compare it to today's date.View attachment 85246

No offenc but you are wrong, I have a 13th gen Dell and can install Windows 11 from a USB stick just fine. As it doesn’t recognise my SSD during install I simply load the RST driver and continue as usual. Build the iso from the Microsoft Creation Tool, don’t mess with Diskpart or anything else and just boot from the USB.

ineuw · Jan 27, 2024

Megahertz said:
Where did you get the CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9. 23H2 iso?
I suggest you build the USB Win 11 23h2 installation drive using MCT

Not sure if I correct understood your question.
To be short:
- On another computer you download the Intel RST-driver.exe and extract the drivers as *.sys, *.cat, *.ini etc and copy to a folder on the Win 11 USB installation drive.
- You boot from the Win 11 USB installation drive as UEFI, and load the RST drivers by browsing to the driver folder on the Win 11 USB installation drive.
- Once the drivers are loaded you can see the main drive. Delete all partitions on the drive and then proceed.

See step 11 in the tutorial

Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...

www.elevenforum.com

Question #2

You did not understand, and your post tells me that it is my fault. This USB installation key was used previously several times with this motherboard. But your first question shows that you are all lazy and operate on outdated information, even the ubermentsch of Windows who display 5 gold stars and combat ribbons.

Also pls see my answer to question #1.

glasskuter · Jan 27, 2024

ineuw said:
The "Windows11InstallationAssistant.exe" file was also downloaded to the same stick,

You do not use the windows installation assistant to perform a clean install. That's for an upgrade.
Did you even look at the the referenced clean install tutorial? It is all in there and has been verified to be correct many times over if you follow the steps as they are written.

And I totally agree. You are being extremely rude.

ineuw · Jan 27, 2024

BamaInArk said:
I find it hard to believe a Z590 motherboard requires special USB drivers to install correctly. Advanced USB drivers may be needed for the advanced USB 3.2 Gen 2 spec but they are supposed to be backwards compatible. That board includes USB 3.2 gen 1 ports which should also work. Surely a correctly created USB installer will work on one of the USB 2.0 ports?

What error are you seeing upon an installation attempt? Just go to Microsoft and Media Creation Tool and let that create a fresh bootable USB drive installer.

Question #3
This is a fresh .iso, downloaded two days ago. There is nothing wrong with it. The error shows up in GUI mode stating that it is missing the driver.

Please check Microsoft's policy on the drivers for 10th+ generation motherboards. Also, I recommend to abandon ancient beliefs and suppositions. Next question . . . .

ineuw · Jan 27, 2024

BamaInArk said:
I find it hard to believe a Z590 motherboard requires special USB drivers to install correctly. Advanced USB drivers may be needed for the advanced USB 3.2 Gen 2 spec but they are supposed to be backwards compatible. That board includes USB 3.2 gen 1 ports which should also work. Surely a correctly created USB installer will work on one of the USB 2.0 ports?

What error are you seeing upon an installation attempt? Just go to Microsoft and Media Creation Tool and let that create a fresh bootable USB drive installer.

Question #4

The reply to this is in Question #3.

markw51 · Jan 27, 2024

ineuw said:
Question #3
This is a fresh .iso, downloaded two days ago. There is nothing wrong with it. The error shows up in GUI mode stating that it is missing the driver.

Please check Microsoft's policy on the drivers for 10th+ generation motherboards. Also, I recommend to abandon ancient beliefs and suppositions. Next question . . . .

What ancient beliefs and suppositions?

glasskuter · Jan 27, 2024

This is going around in circles. Are you trying to clean install Windows to a usb connected drive? The drive to which you clean install windows MUST be installed in your computer as sata or pcie. It can not be a usb connectd drive. You can however, clone an existing drive to a usb drive but we're talking clean install here.. Only your install media is usb connectd.