A few other options I saw online said that for an SSD, the SATA ports should be set to AHCI instead of IDE

So next I tried the following without anything other than the SSD, CDROM, and USB SATA connected:

1. All boot options (Hard Disk, USB-FDD, USB-HDD, etc..) with AHCI enabled for all SATA ports. Same results as before.
2. #1 didn't work, so I turned back on my HDD, went into Disk Management in windows, then used the "diskpart" command in CMD to clean the SSD. It is now unallocated and not initialized. I then unplugged the HDD again and retried all the boot options (with SATA set to IDE). Same results as before.
3. I did the same as #2 again, but with SATA set to AHCI instead of IDE again. Same results as before.
4. I then did #2 and #3 again but with the USB holding the windows install files into a variety of USB ports (front of PC and the ones in back on the motherboard) same results as before.


Only different thing to note, is very briefly this prompt pops up when I'm in AHCI before I get to the boot menus:

Serial ATA AHCI BIOS, Version iSrc 1.20E
Copyright (c) 2003-2008 Intel Corporation
** This version supports only Hard Disk and CDROM drives **
Please wait. This will take a few seconds.

Controller Bus#00, Device#1F, Function#02: 06 Ports, 02 Devices
Port-00: Hard Disk, Seagate BarraCuda 120 SSD ZA500
Port-01: CDROM, ASUS DRW-24B1ST c
Port-02: No device detected
Port-03: No device detected
Port-04: No device detected
Port-05: No device detected
AHCI BIOS installed



Not sure what it means by this version only supports Hard Disk or CDROM drives, but I did use this USB method years ago when I upgraded from Windows 7 to 10

so, when you're going into your boot menu (there should be a key to press to access direct boot menu, not bios, think its usually like f2 or f7? might have to google your motherboard), you have to select your USB drive the windows installation is on, not the drive itself. that's where you SELECT the ssd to install it on, it should prompt you with what drive you want to install it on. i think this may be the issue that's happening?

bios updates are not as scary as they used to be
it is very easy all you need is a usb. the motherboard won't let you put the wrong one on there, just make sure you have stable power. google your motherboard , go to the support page, downloads, bios, download file, extract to usb and then go into bios and find the update feature

ahci is more recent and should be used if possible

MBR is master boot record and should be on your primary installation drive

Yeah on my particular motherboard the direct boot is F12

When I do that, it gives me the following to select from to boot:
1. +Hard Disk
2. CDROM
3. USB-FDD
4. USB-ZIP
5. USB-CDROM
6. USB-HDD
7. Legacy LAN

I have tried each of those when the USB with the installer is plugged in, but all it does is bring me to the black page that doesn’t do anything.

From my memory, years ago when I upgraded from windows 7 to 10, I used the same USB stick I'm using now in the same port, and I feel like I selected either USB-FDD or USB-HDD, but I can’t remember. The problem is, none of those options listed above are working, all of them lead to that same black page

that sounds like either a corrupted installer or a bad usb port
for doing installations i always recommend using a motherboard usb port (NOT a case port)

first i'd try plugging it into your motherboard, and if that doesn't work i'd try recreating your windows installation USB from scratch

all of those 'usb' names are generic, they aren't real USB names (i.e mine would say SAMSUNG 256GB or KINGSTON 16GB sometimes even windows creates them to be WINDOWS INSTALL)

you can try using the installation media to download the ISO file, then download RUFUS and format the ISO to the USB using RUFUS, and then make sure to VALIDATE the installation files once complete. this way you know it's correct

This post was edited by Candyzcanes on Feb 5 2023 08:35pm

Ok I can try again, I did use one of the USB 3.0 ports at the back of the motherboard as well and it did nothing, so I can try a different one later today.

I’ll take a look at the RUFUS option, I would need to read up on it though

Would you think I could try downloading the ISO to a blank CD then booting off CDROM option could be a valid attempt?

that is the same concept as downloading the ISO except to a USB, not sure what is better these days but i'd personally stick with USB.

try to use a USB 2.0 if your motherboard has as well.
RUFUS is just a ISO ripping software (made by microsoft), so you download the iso from official installer, then run rufus, select ISO disk, select usb drive, and then rip it. ezpz

Well, just tried a USB 2.0 on the back of the motherboard and also decided to unplug every SATA besides the SSD, still no luck. I tried every boot option with the SATA set to both IDE and AHCI, still goes back to that same black page telling me to remove the media.

A guy at work thinks I either have a bad USB (even though I did this before on my HDD with this USB), or he thinks I’m doing something stupid lol

I’m going to try his USB tomorrow, and if that doesn’t work, I’m going to attempt your RUFUS plan

gl, yeah it's hard to really know what's happening here but to me it does seem either usb or installation media issue

Turns out, that guys USB was what the trick was, windows loaded the set up on his USB and chose USB-HDD..never saw that happen before.

Only problem is that after windows starts the set up, it resets, going back into the install and restarting it infinitely… do I have to change the boot order so USB-HDD is first? Does it matter what the 2nd and 3rd option are?

Do I have to change the 2nd option to hard disk?

Awesome! Yup that is correct. Once it restarts to the 'install now' page again you can power down and unplug USB and change boot order