New Custom Build - Vista Won't Identify Hard Drive

[solodude23]

First of all, heres the rig:

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Two
Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz
Mobo:
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45
RAM:
G.SKILL 4GB DDR2 1066
GPU:
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB
HDD:
WDC Green 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD
PSU:
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
CPU Cooler:
COOLER MASTER V8


Anyway - everything checks out fine. Computer turns on, Power and HDD LED lights come on, all integrated devices check out in BIOS (including the HDD). However, during the beginning of the Vista 64bit installation, it cannot see the hard drive to install on. I've tried installing SATA drivers from both the provided Gigabyte CD and the Gigabyte Mobo Driver Page but even after trying both, the Vista installation still will not see my hard drive.

Anyone with experience that can help me out here? Anything would be appreciated. Thanks.

[VoXiNaTiOn]

Have you got the latest BIOS for the motherboard? The newest one should aid 64-bit installs.

[solodude23]

Originally Posted by [R-COM]VoXiNaTiOn

Have you got the latest BIOS for the motherboard? The newest one should aid 64-bit installs.

Hmm not sure. I just used whatever was out of the box.

Can I update the Bios straight off the Mobo CD?

[Tofurkeymeister]

Originally Posted by solodude23

Hmm not sure. I just used whatever was out of the box.

Can I update the Bios straight off the Mobo CD?

No. Usually you have to update it from Vista (Ironic, I know) or a floppy/USB drive depending on the motherboard.

Make sure the SATA and power connections are secure, and maybe mess with BIOS settings.

P.S. DO NOT USE THE PURPLE SATA PORTS!!!!!! DO NOT USE THE PURPLE SATA PORTS!!!!!! Use the yellow ones. The purple SATA ports require BIOS setting changes and maybe drivers, as they use a different chipset. Plus, they are not as fast I believe, and are just there for those who want 6+ hard drives.

[solodude23]

Yeah mine are in the yellow ports and everything seems connected fine. At the windows Vista website it re-directed me to the this Gigabyte page. Should I just download the latest? (F9) My current version is F6.

[solodude23]

Update: I installed the newest version of BIOS for my board (F9). And the same thing happens. Not really sure what I should mess with in BIOS as I don't know very much about it aside from basic functions.

[lmisbah1234]

the best thing to do is go to the the mobo manufacturor website and most ones these days have live update which will search the drivers on your pc and update/install any missing or outdated ones but make sure to open through internet explorer as others like firefox are not compatable with the live update feature

[solodude23]

Originally Posted by lmisbah1234

the best thing to do is go to the the mobo manufacturor website and most ones these days have live update which will search the drivers on your pc and update/install any missing or outdated ones but make sure to open through internet explorer as others like firefox are not compatable with the live update feature

Yes but the PC that has the problem has no OS installed, that's the problem.

[solodude23]

Meh I guess the drive is just bad. The worse part is I went back to the store I bought this at (about 3 days ago) to find it empty and boarded up today. Awesome.

This would happen to the only thing I didn't get at Newegg.

[[R-CON]Chammy]

I had the same problem, actually its not a problem but just a quick adjustment. If its all new then go to your BIOS as soon as you start and see the splash screen, and reset your Boot order cause it will say primary boot and first boot or start up and it will have the name of your hard drive listed. Make sure you have the operating system in the CD ROM drive and change the start up or boot first drive to CD ROM to boot from that disc or else the computer will stall at "verifying DMI pool data". My girlfriend fixed the problem I had last night, same thing heh and I never even thought of changing the startup chain.