Cannot get Windows 7 to install

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   Please can someone help me for the future ?
I had tried every way I can think of to install Windows 7.
Motherboard is A320M-HDV version 4
Western Digital Blue 500GB SSD.
16GB Patriot RAM
AMD A10-9700APU AM4 processor
Got the error:-
"A required CD / DVD drive device driver is missing"
I tried installing off the DVD using an external USB DVD drive.
I tried installing off a USB flash drive.
Using both the USB 2 and USB 3 sockets.
I tried installing using the microsoft utility "Windows USB/DVD Download Tool" to make a fresh installation image on the USB flash drive.
I tried the AsRock Windows 7 USB Patcher utility v2.0.21.
Everything I did got the same message:
"A required CD / DVD drive device driver is missing"
I have been able to solve my dilemma by connecting up an older 5 1/2" DVD drive via SATA cable to the motherboard, windows will now install.
BUT, I need to know why there is this problem and what is the solution to it ?
If this had been a laptop I would not have been able to use a SATA cable connected DVD drive so would still be stuck.
Please, please can someone be brilliant and tell me why and what the solution is ?
Thank you.

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kcorsa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Jan 2020 Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote kcorsa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Cannot get Windows 7 to install Posted: 24 Jan 2020 at 12:29am
	Please can someone help me for the future ? I had tried every way I can think of to install Windows 7. Motherboard is A320M-HDV version 4 Western Digital Blue 500GB SSD. 16GB Patriot RAM AMD A10-9700APU AM4 processor Got the error:- "A required CD / DVD drive device driver is missing" I tried installing off the DVD using an external USB DVD drive. I tried installing off a USB flash drive. Using both the USB 2 and USB 3 sockets. I tried installing using the microsoft utility "Windows USB/DVD Download Tool" to make a fresh installation image on the USB flash drive. I tried the AsRock Windows 7 USB Patcher utility v2.0.21. Everything I did got the same message: "A required CD / DVD drive device driver is missing" I have been able to solve my dilemma by connecting up an older 5 1/2" DVD drive via SATA cable to the motherboard, windows will now install. BUT, I need to know why there is this problem and what is the solution to it ? If this had been a laptop I would not have been able to use a SATA cable connected DVD drive so would still be stuck. Please, please can someone be brilliant and tell me why and what the solution is ? Thank you.

jdillipl Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 03 Aug 2017 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 159	Post Options Post Reply Quote jdillipl Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 Jan 2020 at 1:25am
	Windows 7 does not have a generic driver for NVMe SSDs, as Windows 10 has. I installed Windows 10 onto a Samsung NVMe drive, similar to what you trying to do. I had to find a driver for my NVMe and put it onto another optical disc, and loaded, so Setup could finish. You will need to do the same, and I'm not sure where you can find them. Once you do, installation will be a snap. However, you do realize that support for Windows 7 has expired, right? Jake
	Asrock X370 Killer SLI/ac, Amd Ryzen 7 1700, GSkill FlareX F4-2400C16D-32GFX, RaidMax Thunder V2 735W PS

jdillipl Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 03 Aug 2017 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 159	Post Options Post Reply Quote jdillipl Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 Jan 2020 at 1:31am
	Sorry, I misread what you were saying. All of the rear panel USB connectors, except for the two over the PS/2 connector, are USB3, again which Windows 7 has no in-box driver for. Did you try plugging the external USB DVD drive into either one of the USB2 rear panel connectors? Or do you have any front panel USB2 connectors connected to the on-board USB2 headers? Jake
	Asrock X370 Killer SLI/ac, Amd Ryzen 7 1700, GSkill FlareX F4-2400C16D-32GFX, RaidMax Thunder V2 735W PS

kcorsa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Jan 2020 Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote kcorsa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 Jan 2020 at 5:59pm
	Hi, Thanks for replying. The SSD is not in the M.2 slot, it's a simple SATA SSD. And it's recognised in the BIOS. Yes, I realise the support has ended but I wished to install W7 and then upgrade it to 10 with the 7 licence as I had done previously in a machine that has now failed, hence the new machine, and wanting to reuse the W7 licence. I tried with all of the available USB ports, both the USB3 and USB2 ones. The external USB DVD drive would load the installation from any of these ports but would always stop at the "A required CD / DVD drive device driver is missing". Likewise, using a USB flash drive with W7 on would do exactly the same from any USB port too, and stop at "A required CD / DVD drive device driver is missing". Another odd thing happens. After I had managed to install W7 using the old 5 1/2" DVD drive connected to a SATA cable to the M/B, there was no mouse operational ! I have tried with 5 different mice, plugging in before booting and after booting, all to no avail. Using both PS/2 mice and USB mice. Do you have any idea of what on earth is going on here ? Also only a keyboard that is PS/2 will work, USB will not ! All of this is very odd behaviour.

kcorsa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Jan 2020 Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote kcorsa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 Jan 2020 at 7:49pm
	I meant to add that although the mice don't work when booted into windows, oddly enough when you enter the BIOS the mouse does work !

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 22748	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 Jan 2020 at 10:51pm
	You will have to check a guide for installing windows 7 on an unsupported system. Since windows 7 has no native USB 3.0 support and both socket 1151 and AM4 motherboards onward only have USB 3 controllers (USB 2.0 ports on these boards run on the 3.0 controller) no USB devices will work in windows 7 without adding USB 3.0 drivers during the installation process. This is what you need a guide for. This has been an issue since windows 7 support was not implemented on these platforms. There are however a lot of how to guides out there to get it working.


kcorsa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Jan 2020 Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote kcorsa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jan 2020 at 2:07am
	Thanks. Yes, although there are drivers available on the AsRock website for this motherboard for W7, indicating the W7 is supported by this motherboard, it appears that it isn't really intended for W7 at all. This is borne out by the keyboard and mouse issue. Your explanation that all of the USB ports are controlled by a USB 3.0 controller, whether they are USB2 or USB3, in one way does make sense of the situation, the keyboard and mouse issue, but doesn't make sense on another level as both the USB flash drive and the external DVD drive were both recognised and worked. This also begs the question, if these chipsets have ONLY USB 3.0 controllers, why not simply also ONLY provide USB3 connectors on the motherboard ? I have today installed W10 on this pc and all appears to be functioning correctly. For future installations where I may wish to install W7, I am going to try slipstreaming the Convenience Rollup and Servicibg Stacks into a SP1 W7 iso to see if that will sort the issue.

Geoffers Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 29 Dec 2019 Location: York, UK Status: Offline Points: 158	Post Options Post Reply Quote Geoffers Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jan 2020 at 5:58pm
	Forgive me for butting in, I have just transferred Win10 to my new AMD based machine. My old machine (Dell T5400) had an M.2 slot but it was not bootable. I cloned the boot SSD to an M.2 card first. Then mounted the M.2 card in the new machine (B450 K4 based) and it booted straight away. However Win 10 detected that it was on a totally different machine and asked me to re-register. I had originally upgraded from W7pro so I entered the W7pro license number and "Bingo", it was accepted and 8 weeks later all is fine! Hope this helps!
	Geoff, York, UK Fatal1ty B450 K4; Ryzen 5 2600; 16GB Team Vulcam DDR4-3000; Raedon RX580 4GB; Corsair MP510 480GB M.2 SSD Now running on Windows 11

kcorsa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Jan 2020 Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote kcorsa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jan 2020 at 10:42pm
	Thanks, that's also useful to know for my future installations.

kcorsa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Jan 2020 Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote kcorsa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jan 2020 at 10:51pm
	With reference to my 3rd post above:- If the USB mouse/keyboard is supported when operating in the BIOS, then obviously the firmware of the motherboard has that capability, why cannot that capability not then also be used during any installation process ?