Fix “No Drives Detected” During Windows 10/11 Installation (5 Methods)

To fix the “No drives were found” error during Windows 10 or 11 installation, the most common cause on 11th-gen and newer Intel laptops is the Intel VMD (Volume Management Device) controller, which Windows setup doesn’t recognize without the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) driver. Extract the IRST driver to a USB stick, click Load driver on the partition selection screen, point it at the USB, and your drives appear. On AMD or unsupported boards, switch the SATA mode in BIOS from RAID/Optane to AHCI instead.

Applies to: Windows 10 (22H2) and Windows 11 (23H2, 24H2, 25H2) | Last updated: May 4, 2026

Key Takeaways

• Intel VMD is the most common cause on 11th-gen and newer laptops — Windows setup doesn’t ship the IRST driver
• Don’t copy SetupRST.exe directly to your USB — Windows setup can’t extract drivers from an installer; you must extract first using SetupRST.exe -extractdrivers
• The driver file you actually need is iaStorVD.sys located in the VMD subfolder after extraction — copy the entire RST folder for best results
• If Intel RST doesn’t apply, switch SATA mode in BIOS from RAID or Intel Optane to AHCI, or grab the SATA/RAID driver from your motherboard manufacturer
• Physical disconnection is the second most common cause on desktops — re-seat NVMe drives and check both ends of SATA cables before downloading drivers

Quick Steps

1. Re-seat your NVMe SSD and check SATA + power cables on any 2.5″ or 3.5″ drives
2. Identify your CPU generation and download the matching Intel IRST driver (10th-11th gen, or 11th-13th gen)
3. From a working PC, run SetupRST.exe -extractdrivers C:\RST\ in PowerShell
4. Copy the entire RST folder to a FAT32 USB stick
5. Boot the Windows installer, click Load driver on the drive-selection screen, and browse to the USB
6. Select the Intel RST VMD Controller driver and click Next — your drives should now appear
7. If RST doesn’t apply, reboot into BIOS and switch SATA mode from RAID/Optane to AHCI

In This Guide

• Fix 1: Check Physical Connections
• Fix 2: Load the Intel IRST/VMD Driver (Most Common Fix)
• Fix 3: Switch SATA Mode From RAID/Optane to AHCI in BIOS
• Fix 4: Manually Create Partitions With Diskpart
• Fix 5: Update BIOS for NVMe Support on Older Boards
• AMD Systems: Motherboard-Specific Drivers
• Frequently Asked Questions

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Fix 1: Check Physical Connections

Before chasing drivers, rule out the simple stuff. On a desktop, power down, open the case, and check both ends of the SATA cable on any 2.5″ or 3.5″ drives — one end into the drive, the other firmly into a SATA port on the motherboard. Also confirm the SATA power connector from the PSU is fully seated. SATA cables in particular are notorious for working partially loose during transport.

For NVMe SSDs, remove the screw, re-seat the drive at the angle the slot allows, and screw it back down. A surprising number of “dead” NVMe drives are just half-inserted.

If the drive shows up in BIOS but not in Windows setup, you have a driver problem rather than a hardware problem. Move on to Fix 2.

Fix 2: Load the Intel IRST/VMD Driver (Most Common Fix)

On 11th-gen Intel laptops and newer, Intel enabled VMD (Volume Management Device) by default. VMD intercepts NVMe traffic and routes it through Intel Rapid Storage Technology, which Windows setup doesn’t have a driver for out of the box. The fix is to load the IRST driver during installation. This is by far the most common cause of “no drives detected” on modern laptops and prebuilts.

Identify and Download the Right IRST Driver

Intel ships two IRST packages. Pick the one that matches your CPU generation:

• IRST for 10th and 11th-gen Intel platforms
• IRST for 11th to 13th-gen Intel platforms
• For 14th-gen and Core Ultra (Meteor Lake / Arrow Lake), check Intel’s IRST page for the latest revision — the driver name is the same but the package version matters

Extract the Driver With PowerShell

Don’t copy SetupRST.exe straight to the USB. Windows setup can’t unpack the installer at runtime, so you have to extract the driver files first on a working PC.

1. Move SetupRST.exe into a folder you control, like C:\temp
2. Right-click Start, choose Terminal (Admin)
3. Change directory and run the extract command:

cd C:\temp
.\SetupRST.exe -extractdrivers C:\RST\

The extractor finishes in seconds and writes the driver tree under C:\RST\. Inside, the file you actually need is iaStorVD.sys in C:\RST\VMD\.

Copy to USB and Load During Setup

Copy the entire C:\RST folder to the root of a FAT32-formatted USB stick. Many users have reported more reliable results with the whole folder rather than just iaStorVD.sys on its own — Windows setup picks the right INF.

1. On the partition selection screen of Windows setup, click Load driver
2. Click Browse, expand the USB, and select the RST folder (or RST\VMD)
3. Pick the Intel RST VMD Controller driver and click Next
4. Your drive(s) should now appear in the partition list and you can continue installation as normal

Fix 3: Switch SATA Mode From RAID/Optane to AHCI

If you would rather skip the driver dance entirely and you don’t actually need RAID or Intel Optane caching, the cleanest fix on a single-drive system is to switch SATA mode in BIOS to AHCI. Windows setup ships AHCI drivers natively, so the drive shows up immediately.

1. Reboot and tap the BIOS key for your board (commonly Del, F2, or F10)
2. Look for SATA Configuration, Storage Configuration, or VMD Setup Menu — exact location varies by vendor
3. Change the mode from RAID or Intel Optane / VMD enabled to AHCI
4. Save and exit. Boot back into Windows setup — the drive should appear without loading any drivers

Note: If Windows is already installed and booting in RAID mode, switching to AHCI from a working install will cause a boot failure. The switch only fixes “no drives detected” during a fresh install on a clean drive.

Fix 4: Manually Create Partitions With Diskpart

Sometimes the drive is detected but the installer refuses to use it because of leftover GPT signatures, Linux partitions, or a hybrid MBR table. Diskpart wipes and re-initializes the disk in seconds.

1. On the Windows setup screen, press Shift+F10 to open Command Prompt
2. Run the diskpart sequence below, replacing 0 with your target disk number

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
clean
convert gpt
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs
exit

Close Command Prompt, click Refresh on the partition selection screen, and the disk now appears as a clean NTFS volume ready to install onto.

Warning: clean wipes everything on the selected disk. Run list disk first and confirm the size matches the drive you intend to wipe.

Fix 5: Update BIOS for NVMe Support

On older boards (Skylake-era and earlier), the BIOS may not include the NVMe boot module at all, in which case Windows setup never sees the drive even with drivers loaded. Check your motherboard manufacturer’s support page for a BIOS update with NVMe support — it’s usually a one-line note in the changelog.

This is rare on anything from 2018 onwards, but I’ve hit it in the repair shop on Z170 and B250 boards. After the BIOS flash, the NVMe shows up in BIOS and Windows setup finds it on the first try.

AMD Systems: Motherboard-Specific Drivers

AMD doesn’t have a single equivalent to Intel RST. Instead, drivers are provided by the motherboard or laptop vendor. Open System Information on a working PC, note your Baseboard Manufacturer and Baseboard Product (or the laptop model number), and head to that vendor’s support page.

Look for downloads labeled SATA, RAID, NVMe RAID, or AHCI. Extract the package, copy the resulting folder to USB, and load it via the Windows installer’s Load driver button as in Fix 2.

If you want to avoid this entirely on your next install, build a custom installation USB with UnattendedWinstall — you can bake the storage drivers directly into the install media so they load automatically.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know which driver to download for my system?

For Intel laptops from 11th-gen onwards, you almost certainly need the IRST/VMD driver. For desktops, check whether your CPU is Intel or AMD and whether SATA mode in BIOS is RAID, AHCI, or VMD. Intel + RAID/VMD means IRST. AMD means motherboard-specific drivers from the board manufacturer.

Can I just copy the driver setup file to a USB drive?

No. Windows setup can’t unpack a .exe at runtime — it needs the extracted .sys and .inf files. Run SetupRST.exe -extractdrivers C:\RST\ first, then copy the resulting RST folder.

What if the Intel RST driver doesn’t fix it?

Switch SATA mode in BIOS from RAID/Optane to AHCI (Fix 3), or grab the SATA/RAID/AHCI driver from your motherboard manufacturer (AMD section above). On older boards, also check for a BIOS update that adds NVMe support.

Why is my NVMe SSD not detected during installation?

Either the drive isn’t fully seated, the BIOS doesn’t have NVMe boot support, or — most commonly on modern laptops — Intel VMD is intercepting it without the IRST driver loaded. Check BIOS first to confirm the drive is detected at the firmware level, then load the IRST driver if it is.

Does this guide work for both Windows 10 and 11?

Yes. The “no drives detected” error and its fixes are identical on Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 23H2/24H2/25H2 — same setup engine, same Load driver button, same drivers.