Windows installation media not recognizing my computer hard drive.

Hello Diogo Correia,

Thanks for reaching out here in the Microsoft Answers Community.

Based on the description, since you have mentioned that the official media creation tool is unable to see the disk, it is likely that the disks are not directly accessible as they are behind an RAID controller. Some motherboards use RAID mode by default which needs specific storage drivers that may not be compatible with the latest version of Windows.

Please check for the following options in BIOS settings:

• SATA controller mode set to RAID (even when you do not have a SATA disk)

• NVMe RAID mode turned on

• Intel Rapid Storage Technologies/AMD StoreMI turned on

If any of those are true, RAID is used. Since disabling RAID will make the data on the disks unreadable, please boot in to Linux and copy all your personal data to external storage (like USB sticks, external hard drives, and memory cards) to prevent data loss.

Then, you need to perform a clean reinstallation of Windows 11, which erases everything from the hard drive and starts you from scratch.

To do so, please plug the Windows 11 USB stick into your computer, and boot from it in UEFI mode. The exact procedure differs among motherboard manufacturers, so please refer to the user manual for details.

Also, please set the following BIOS options, for the reason mentioned above:

• SATA controller mode: Change to AHCI mode

• NVMe RAID mode: Turn off

• Intel Rapid Storage Technologies/AMD StoreMI: Turn off

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.

If you are going to modify BIOS Settings, please back up all your personal files first to ensure you do not lose data.

After booting, please select "Install now". Follow the instructions, and when selecting the installation type, select "Custom: Install Windows only". On the next installation screen, please delete all the partitions (including EFI, reserved, and recovery ones) in your system disk. Select the unallocated space and select "Next". The installer will partition your system disk automatically.

Disclaimer: At this point, we have exhausted all troubleshooting and I recommend that we try to perform a clean install to get your computer back into a working condition. Please ensure that you backup any important data, including Documents, Pictures, Videos, and more.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Best Regards,

Sheng G. - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist