Windows 7 Won’t Install: “A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing”
Several users are experiencing an issue in which Windows 7 will not install, delivering the error message
“Load Driver A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now. Note: If the Windows installation media is in the CD/DVD drive, you can safely remove it for this step.”
This problem generally occurs right after pressing the “Install Now” button.
Fixes
Change BIOS boot order The most successful fix for this issue is to set the optical (DVD) drive as the first boot device in the BIOS. To do this, first enter BIOS mode as follows:
Enter your system’s BIOS mode. This is accomplished by pressing a specific key repeatedly as soon as your computer is turned on (or right after it is restarted). For many computers, the key is F8, but it may be F1, F2, F10, the Delete (del) key or the Escape (ESC) key. Consult your computer or motherboard’s manual or try different keys until you find the right one.
Find the screen or option for changing the boot order. Follow the instructions for changing the boot order. This is sometimes accomplished by using the + or – buttons.
Update ITE ATA driver Failing the above, try booting back into Windows Vista or XP. Launch Windows Update and install the ITE ATA driver update before attempting the upgrade. The upgrade advisor may not find this driver.
Switch from SATA to AHCI Follow the aforementioned instructions for booting into your computer’s BIOS, then check your HDD or storage settings. Turn off SATA, switching to AHCI, and reboot normally, then re-attempt installation of Windows 7.
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For other installation problem fixes, see our previous post “The 7 Biggest Windows 7 RC1 Problems (and Fixes)”
Filed under Windows 7 by on Aug 27th, 2009. Comment. 
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Comments on Windows 7 Won’t Install: “A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing”
This is not the answer.
I get the “device driver is missing error” even when I install Windows 7 from an iso file in a virtual machine.
Double bullshit.
1st and 3rd doesnt work. 2nd: i install it on a blank hard disk!
your installation of win7 is for x64 bit processors. You have x32 bit. The reason for the error is that u would need 64 bit drivers installed for the cd/dvd device in order to continue to install a 64bit based OS..
Its odd. they give an option between x64 n x86. Why cant they just give us a x32 or x64 option. /w good reason im sure
Tony,
“your installation of win7 is for x64 bit processors. You have x32 bit. The reason for the error is that u would need 64 bit drivers installed for the cd/dvd device in order to continue to install a 64bit based OS..”
Not true. I tried using both x64 & x86. I got the error both times.
If you are using a Dell Vostro, change you Sata Mode from IDE to Raid and then try booting from the ISO DVD, that seems to do the trick.
i dont get it.Where to install those 64 bit drivers if attempting clean install on empty hdd? (sorry for my english)
None of workarounds worked for me (I’m also not upgrading, I’m trying to install in a HD wich has Linux on it). The curios thing is that I allready managed to successfully install from the same DVD in another HP notebook (mine is a Dell E1520).
I guess I’ll try to install the x86 version and sees what happens.
x86 didn’t work. Same error. =/
Solution 1 worked for me. I disabled floppy disk boot from bios settings.
x86 is 32-bit.
There is no such thing as “x32″.
x86, x64, etc. are processor architectures; not necessarily a measurement of how many bits wide the interface is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IA-32
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit
i tried all these fixes and still got the same error
any help?
Connect cd/dvd rom to the first IDE – helped me to resolve the error above (motherboard ASUS P5GDC)
If you have a 32 Bit processor you will receive that error message. I work with HP and recently experienced the same issue when providing support to a woman that was getting the same error. She was attempting to install Windows 7 64 bit, but she had a 32 bit processor…it cannot be done. run the Windows 7 advisor it does help.
For me this problem was solved by putting the driver of the on-board raid controller on a USB stick. It was confusing though, as the error states the CDROM device driver is the issue, while it was in fact the controller the drive was connected to.
I had the same problem when installing a 64 bit version on a 64 bit AMD Turion system. I then switched to a 32 bit version and it worked fine.
I had a similar issue. Problem was solved by changing the boot order to:
1. CD/DVD Drive
2. Hard Disk
3… others..
I have the same problem during windows 7 installation process.If u get this problem this means that the windows 7 DVD IS damaged!You need to buy a new windows 7 DVD.Because my dvd is damaged.!
Thank you
For more information email me at:asrar.sunge@hotmail.com
I found the solution over google–there lies the windows7 iso burner tool; and it solved the problem!
I now enjoy my Windows7 Ultimate!
Download the tool under the Installation title, from:
http://store.microsoft.com/Help/ISO-Tool
I read through about 10 forums and tried every “fix” listed before finally trying to download the ISO from a different link… And shazzam! The new ISO worked like a charm. The corrupted ISO was around 1GB, the legitimate one is a little over 3GB. Also, a lot of CD/DVD burning software (Like Roxio/Sonic) won’t work with the large image file for some reason. ImgBurn is free and it worked great for this.
I’m not sure if posting links is allowed on this forum, but here are the ones that I used.
Windows 7 Pro (64 Bit)
http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65805/X15-65805.iso
ImgBurn
http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
This is how my problem was resolved, I’m sure there are people out there with different problems than the one I had. Hopefully this will be helpful to someone. (It took me a couple days to figure out, and I’m a professional IT person)
-Michael
I had this problem while attempting to install on an Intel 975XBX2 BadAxe2 motherboard. After a few attempts to install, constantly reverting back to Vista, I decided to figure this out.
The problem for this board was in BIOS… I needed to disable the secondary SATA controller and set the IDE mode to “Legacy”. That was the charm. In fact, I have no more IDE devices since my BD drive is SATA, so I’d also recommend disabling IDE as well.
Once Windows 7 is installed you can re-enable the secondary SATA controller and add back your extra SATA drives.
Hopefully google will pick this up for anyone else searching for BadAxe2 installations, since Intel has now announced they don’t support this MoBo for Windows 7.
I had this problem with the initially shipped version of Windows 7 64-bit. I got another version with integrated updates (May 2010) and the install went flawlessly.
Change BIOS boot order did not work on my new build.
Switch from SATA to AHCI did WORK.
Thanks for the tip 4*, but I still puzzled why W7 64 was asking for a driver
For me the solution was to USE an OLD USB CD/DVD Drive.
Worked perfectly.
Thats what i do to remedy the above step. I pressed alt+F10 after clicking on install now. A prompt window will open and shortly after that it skipped the required driver step and bring me to install the os straight away.
fix #1 worked for me. I made sure the dvd drive was first but this time made sure my hard drive was set as second boot device.
This error message obviously has more than one cause, therefore it has more than one solution. To the people who say you are trying to install a 64-bit OS on a 32-bit computer, some people may be doing that but that is not the “only” way cause of this error message when installing “Windows 7″. I made it go away by switching out a 20GB Maxtor hard drive for a 40GB Maxtor hard drive. After the switch the installation proceeded without any problems.