Fix Windows 11 Installer Cannot Recognize Drive

When we install Windows 11 by creating Windows installation media, we often have problems with "no drives can be recognized". Why is this happening and how do we solve this problem? Now let's move on, you'll get answer in Window 11 installer can't recognize drive, how to fix it?

1. Cause analysis

Windows 11 Media creation tool didn't provide the supported storage driver for some computer model. So when you clean install Windows via a bootable USB flash drive, you will stuck in the screen that "Where do you want to install Windows" and can't see any drives on the screen. The reason has been found, that is a lack of supported storage drivers.

To solve this problem, we need to download Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) driver from your device manufacturer's official support website and extract them to the USB flash drive.

It's worth noting that you'd better download the corresponding driver from your brand's offical website to eliminate the potential impact caused by loading non-customized drivers.

Below is some download links:

Customized drives

Go to the official support site for your computer brand, and then select product type. Type your serial number, product number, or product name to find the software and drivers for your computer. Finally in the Driver-Storage section, you can download the Intel RST Driver (RAID). And here is HP Software and Drivers download page for you.

If your device is from another brand, please go to corresponding brand's official website to download the suitable driver.

Intel generic drivers

If you can not find the corresponding driver in your brand's offical website. Here is the generic driver provided by Intel officially. You can download it from Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Driver Installation Software with Intel® Optane™ Memory (11th up to 13th Gen Platforms) or IRST Driver Installer(10th and 11th Gen Platforms) depending on your processor model.

2. Specific steps to solve

Step 1: Create the Windows 11 installation media

Before you start creating, you need to be prepared for tools listed below:

• A computer with a reliable internet connection.
• A blank USB flash drive or DVD having 8 GB capacity at least.
• Product key(if you have a digital license, you don't need it).

More details about this section, you can refer to the "Create Windows 11 installation Media" section in Download Windows 11.

Step 2: Extract the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver to the USB flash drive

Step 3: Install Windows 11 via Windows installation media

You can see more details in HP PCs - No drives can be found during Windows 11 or Windows 10 installation (Intel 11th Generation processors) if your PC is in the HP family.

What's more, here is Troubleshooting - Cannot find drives when installing Windows 11/10 from ASUS for reference.

3. Brief summary

From effect to cause, the result is "no drives can be recognized" when we install Window11 via Windows 11 Installation Media. For the hint that no drives, it's easy for us to think that our drive is bad or the media have some errors. Then the next step is to verify.

Drive troubleshooting

We can through diskpart to check whether the hard disk is wrong.

First, we need to open the Command Prompt as an administrator.

Next, run the following command(press "Enter" after typing each line of command):

diskpart
list disk        

Finally, if the status is "online", the drive can be considered normal. Ohterwise, you need to repair your drives first.

Media troubleshooting

The media may also be damaged, so we can confirm its availability using another PC before drawing a conclusion.

At last, the most recommended way to solve this problem is always to check your PC manufacturer's support information or contact their support organization.