Getting a hard drive ready for installation

Hello,
I've been trying to install Windows 7 on my computer for some time now, and I keep running across the same issue, maybe someone can help. All I want to do for this current step preventing me from continuing the installation is get a hard drive recognized and able to be partitioned for Windows 7. Each time I call up the installation, with drivers as updated as possible as I could find and download/install, when I get to the screen to select a hard drive, either nothing shows up(if running the disk from startup), or I get 2 internal hard drives, both unable to be partitioned(if run after inserting the disk while computer is on main screen) because each driver has an error that pops up stating it needs the installation media or driver for device "Intel ich7m mdh sata AHCI Controller Driver", and I have no idea what that is and after searching the internet to get drivers and updates for it, this still appears. Is there some way I can get around this, or go to a link where I can download the correct driver or at least obtain the installation media so when it asks for it, I can browse to it and select it so it can finally get what it wants and I can continue installation, or make it to the next step where I'll have future problems(probably). Any/All help is appreciated, thank you for reading and your time.

-John

P.S.- I might be able to provide pictures of the installation problems I'm having, so you can get a better idea of what's happening.

P.P.S - Also, if run from startup, nothing shows up, but there are options to format and such, if I can get a hard drive to show up on the list to be formatted, my computer is ready for that too, since all files on my computer are on an external, computer is ready for clean, custom install.

Also, has anyone ever used or heard of Driver Fetch? One of those free computer scan programs that I was suckered into installing that won't do anything for me unless I buy it, but it does seem to identify more drivers that I need versus other programs that I've been using. I tried contacting their support a week ago on whether the updated drivers it can install for my computer would allow my computer to install Windows 7, but I haven't heard back from them, making me suspect if this is a legit program and not just the usual spam. Thought someone might be able to verify its integrity and if it would be able to get me the drivers I need for Windows 7.

I also got a picture of what I'm seeing so you can take a look too and maybe help:


Sorry, had to use imageshack, hope it's not too big or distorted/blurry. I want to install to the hard drive with System and not to either of the Primary drives, since the USB TB drive is my external(which is almost full). And you can see the error I'm getting when I try to select it. It's the same for D drive, and it won't install on the USB TB drive. That's as far as I can get with the installation.

Hi getsmart

Before we try a few things tell us which computer or motherboard do you have.


Quote from this thread - can't format extra HDs

I have heard talk about windows not wanting to install to a computer that has more drives than one connected.

Try disconnecting the two primary drives leaving the system drive (which is also a primary drive) . This may allow you to continue if there is only one drive connected.

This is all the info I could find for my motherboard:

Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID <DMI>
Motherboard Name TOSHIBA Portable PC

Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel AGTL+
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 167 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 667 MHz
Bandwidth 5333 MB/s

Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type Dual DDR2 SDRAM
Bus Width 128-bit
DRAM:FSB Ratio 10:5
Real Clock 333 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 667 MHz
Bandwidth 10667 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel Direct Media Interface

Field Value
CPU Properties
CPU Type Mobile DualCore Intel Core Duo T2500, 2000 MHz (12 x 167)
CPU Alias Yonah
CPU Stepping C0
Instruction Set x86, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
Original Clock 2000 MHz
Min / Max CPU Multiplier 6x / 12x
Engineering Sample No
L1 Code Cache 32 KB per core
L1 Data Cache 32 KB per core
L2 Cache 2 MB (On-Die, ECC, Full-Speed)

Multi CPU
CPU #1 IntelGenuine Intel(R) CPU T2500 @ 2.00GHz, 1995 MHz
CPU #2 IntelGenuine Intel(R) CPU T2500 @ 2.00GHz, 1995 MHz

CPU Physical Info
Package Type 479 Ball uFCBGA / 478 Pin uFCPGA
Package Size 3.5 cm x 3.5 cm
Transistors 151.6 million
Process Technology 8M, 65 nm, CMOS, Cu, Low-K Inter-Layer, 2nd Gen Strained Si
Die Size 90 mm2
Core Voltage 0.950 - 1.238 V
I/O Voltage 0.950 - 1.238 V

CPU Manufacturer
Company Name Intel Corporation
Product Information http://www.intel.com/products/processor

Field Value
CPUID Properties
CPUID Manufacturer GenuineIntel
CPUID CPU Name Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2500 @ 2.00GHz
CPUID Revision 000006E8h
IA Brand ID 00h (Unknown)
Platform ID 20h / MC 20h (Socket 479)
Microcode Update Revision 39
HTT / CMP Units 0 / 2
Tjmax Temperature 100 °C (212 °F)

Instruction Set
64-bit x86 Extension (AMD64, Intel64) Not Supported
AMD 3DNow! Not Supported
AMD 3DNow! Professional Not Supported
AMD 3DNowPrefetch Not Supported
AMD Enhanced 3DNow! Not Supported
AMD Extended MMX Not Supported
AMD MisAligned SSE Not Supported
AMD SSE4A Not Supported
AMD SSE5 Not Supported
Cyrix Extended MMX Not Supported
IA-64 Not Supported
IA MMX Supported
IA SSE Supported
IA SSE 2 Supported
IA SSE 3 Supported
IA Supplemental SSE 3 Not Supported
IA SSE 4.1 Not Supported
IA SSE 4.2 Not Supported
IA AVX Not Supported
IA FMA Not Supported
IA AES Extensions Not Supported
VIA Alternate Instruction Set Not Supported
CLFLUSH Instruction Supported
CMPXCHG8B Instruction Supported
CMPXCHG16B Instruction Not Supported
Conditional Move Instruction Supported
LZCNT Instruction Not Supported
MONITOR / MWAIT Instruction Supported
MOVBE Instruction Not Supported
PCLMULQDQ Instruction Not Supported
POPCNT Instruction Not Supported
RDTSCP Instruction Not Supported
SYSCALL / SYSRET Instruction Not Supported
SYSENTER / SYSEXIT Instruction Supported
VIA FEMMS Instruction Not Supported

Security Features
Advanced Cryptography Engine (ACE) Not Supported
Advanced Cryptography Engine 2 (ACE2) Not Supported
Data Execution Prevention (DEP, NX, EDB) Not Supported
Hardware Random Number Generator (RNG) Not Supported
PadLock Hash Engine (PHE) Not Supported
PadLock Montgomery Multiplier (PMM) Not Supported
Processor Serial Number (PSN) Not Supported

Power Management Features
Automatic Clock Control Supported
Digital Thermometer Supported
Dynamic FSB Frequency Switching Not Supported
Enhanced Halt State (C1E) Supported, Disabled
Enhanced SpeedStep Technology (EIST, ESS) Supported, Enabled
Frequency ID Control Not Supported
Hardware P-State Control Not Supported
LongRun Not Supported
LongRun Table Interface Not Supported
PowerSaver 1.0 Not Supported
PowerSaver 2.0 Not Supported
PowerSaver 3.0 Not Supported
Processor Duty Cycle Control Supported
Software Thermal Control Not Supported
Temperature Sensing Diode Not Supported
Thermal Monitor 1 Supported
Thermal Monitor 2 Supported
Thermal Monitoring Not Supported
Thermal Trip Not Supported
Voltage ID Control Not Supported

CPUID Features
1 GB Page Size Not Supported
36-bit Page Size Extension Not Supported
Address Region Registers (ARR) Not Supported
CPL Qualified Debug Store Not Supported
Debug Trace Store Supported
Debugging Extension Supported
Direct Cache Access Not Supported
Dynamic Acceleration Technology (IDA) Not Supported
Fast Save & Restore Supported
Hyper-Threading Technology (HTT) Not Supported
Invariant Time Stamp Counter Supported
L1 Context ID Not Supported
Local APIC On Chip Supported
Machine Check Architecture (MCA) Supported
Machine Check Exception (MCE) Supported
Memory Configuration Registers (MCR) Not Supported
Memory Type Range Registers (MTRR) Supported
Model Specific Registers (MSR) Supported
Nested Paging Not Supported
Page Attribute Table (PAT) Supported
Page Global Extension Supported
Page Size Extension (PSE) Supported
Pending Break Event Supported
Physical Address Extension (PAE) Supported
Safer Mode Extensions (SMX) Not Supported
Secure Virtual Machine Extensions (Pacifica) Not Supported
Self-Snoop Supported
Time Stamp Counter (TSC) Supported
Turbo Boost Not Supported
Virtual Machine Extensions (Vanderpool) Supported
Virtual Mode Extension Supported
x2APIC Not Supported
XSAVE / XRSTOR Extended States Not Supported

All of it was simply copy/paste from an internal hardware identification program I have. I have looked it over but I'm not sure what I'm looking for to help me determine what I need or if the system has the requirements for any drivers or Windows 7 installation(It's definitely Vista capable, so there's a good chance for Windows 7 too).

Also, how do I disconnect the internal D drive(so it's not recognized in that list)? Do I actually uninstall the software or drivers for it, or do I need to perform surgery and open up the computer and remove it?

What is the model number for your toshiba notebook?

You can find it in the list under Product Support found here.
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/t...t/jsp/home.jsp

Model number is G35-AV650, Toshiba Qosmio laptop. Already went through the site and confirmed a bunch of stuff, and the Upgrade advisor said only a few programs and my printer might experience difficulty running with Windows 7, but nothing else, at least nothing it specified that I wanted or needed, so it should be good to go once the System drive is partitioned correctly for installation. I'm going to try this partition wizard, then maybe disconnect the drive D once I figure that out, and hope for the best, that it should be enough to get Windows 7 up and running.

Two quick questions, Partition Wizard can format my System drive, give it a clean new partition. If I do that... will it be ready to install Windows 7 on it?

Partition Wizard says by doing that the current Operating System will not boot properly, since it's been wiped. Thus, I must install the new OS on the System drive, so do I now use the installation disk at boot/startup and run everything from there?(BIOS is currently set up to run the CD-ROM drive first) When I did that before, the list to select a drive was empty, it wouldn't recognize any hard drives because of missing/out-of-date drivers. So if the new clean partition will be ready for install, it should show up on the list, right?

(okay, that was kinda three questions...)

That would be a trial and error aproach. Try and see is all I can tell you. I can't say for sure how your system will do without first doing it.

Well, it's more of an all-or-nothing versus trial-and-error approach, since my current operating system will not function properly, according to Partition Wizard, if I give it a clean format partition, and if Windows 7 won't install on it, and I can't get the computer to work on the original OS(and I do not currently have the recovery/installation disk for this original OS), then I'm left with a 1500 dollar brick on my desk. I need to be sure for these kind of methods, since I need my computer for work and can't afford any repairs. I might give it a try next weekend, when I have more time and I don't have work. Until then, I'll be open to more secure and for-sure methods. Thanks for all the info and suggestions to this point.