> Thanks for the suggestions. I hope I solved the problem by ordering two
> new
> drives, Plextor 810SAs, which are the ones I wanted in the first place but
> they weren't available until today. They are made to be Vista compatible.
>
> I did try feeding it the HD and Plextor driver CDs with no luck. I did not
> try disconnecting the HD, however. And I don't have a floppy (I was hoping
> to
> get into the age where you don't need one; they are kind of annoying). I
> suppose I could have tried that or still could if I have time before I
> auction off the 755sa to regain my money for it. But I'm not very
> confident
> that would work, and I'm not real excited about ripping out the floppy
> from
> my old system, putting it in the new, and ripping it back out. If it turns
> out my two new drives don't work, the perhaps the floppy will be an option
> and I'll wish I would have kept the 755sa to fall back on. But I'm
> confident
> they will work since they are designed for Vista, and everything else in
> my
> sys appears to be working. And if it doesn't, well, I don't want to go
> there.
>
> "dean-dean" wrote:
>
>> Do you have drivers (SATA drive controller driver) that came with your
>> hard
>> drives or motherboard? Try disconnecting the hard drive that Vista won't
>> be
>> installed on (you can reconnect it after Vista is installed). If the
>> message "Required cd/dvd drive device driver is missing" comes up again,
>> interpret that as "Windows Install could not locate a storage device to
>> install Windows Vista on. Please provide the necessary drive or
>> controller
>> device drivers provided by your manufacturer", and offer Setup the media
>> for
>> your SATA drive controller driver.
>>
>>
>> "Phoenixjn" <Phoenixjn[ at ]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:2A595905-C2E3-41CE-8C3A-6E6B5D21DDAB[ at ]microsoft.com...
>> > When the system boots, the drive appears in the drive list. Once inside
>> > the
>> > boot menu, under Boot, it says "No optical drive." If I view the
>> > advanced
>> > boot menu, the drive appears in the boot order list. I've made sure the
>> > drive
>> > is first. However, when I put the Vista DVD in, I get to the Install
>> > Windows
>> > screen, so there's no way the drive cannot be working. If the system
>> > doesn't
>> > recognize the drive, why does it let me get to the Install menu, and if
>> > it's
>> > working enough to get to the install menu, why does it keep asking for
>> > a
>> > driver and why can't I install windows? And how am I supposed to update
>> > a
>> > driver or firmware for anything if I have no operating system? And if I
>> > have
>> > no operating system, how am I supposed to find my product ID number for
>> > free
>> > support? Microsoft really dropped the ball with Vista. Every which way
>> > I
>> > look, it seems I'm blocked from installing my copy of Windows.
>> >
>> > When I get to the Vista install screen, the "Load driver" window comes
>> > up
>> > with the following message when I try to install windows: "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." I tried inserting the DVD drive
>> > CD
>> > and the HD CD and no drivers were found. The only disk I haven't tried
>> > is
>> > the
>> > mobo disk, but I don't see what difference that would make.
>> >
>> > I'm tempted to just resell my Plextor 755SA drive and look for one that
>> > is
>> > specifically Vista ready, but what a freaking hassle.
>> >
>> > Any more suggestions? I could really use something that works. I
>> > appreciate
>> > your help.
>> >
>> > "Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:
>> >
>> >> You need to open the BIOS and check your BIOS settings.
>> >> Is your DVD drive listed and do you have it set as the first
>> >> bootable drive?
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Carey Frisch
>> >> Microsoft MVP
>> >> Windows - Shell/User
>> >>
>> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------Â-----
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "Phoenixjn" <Phoenixjn[ at ]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:35544B26-65E4-42C3-8251-61D6F5172247[ at ]microsoft.com...
>> >> When I try to install WVista home premium, I get the error message "a
>> >> required cd/dvd device driver is missing..." I have a brand new system
>> >> that I
>> >> set up myself, new Plextor 755SA sata hard drive, WD Sata hard drive,
>> >> Intel
>> >> 975xBX2 mobo. All hardware is working. Tried putting in the dvd/HD
>> >> install
>> >> disks but no drivers were found. MS says get updates to hardware. How
>> >> the
>> >> F
>> >> am I supposed to update hardware with no OS? This is a vicious circle
>> >> and
>> >> no
>> >> solution is in sight. How is anyone supposed to install vista? Need
>> >> help
>> >> badly. Pulling hair out. Waited two weeks to get this system and DVD
>> >> drive
>> >> finally arrived today so I could install vista. Now I may never be
>> >> able
>> >> to
>> >> install it. Any help would be tremendously appreciated. I can't even
>> >> get
>> >> free
>> >> product help for my retail version of Vista because I can't find the
>> >> product
>> >> number unless I install it. God, Microsoft hasn't made it one bit
>> >> easier
>> >> to
>> >> install an OS from they day they formed a company. You'd think they'd
>> >> have
>> >> made some steps by now.
>> >>
>>
>>