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Article By:
Miguel
Article Date: 07/30/07
Windows Vista brings one very welcomed
change in the install process of this highly troublesome OS. With
Vista, you have the option of pre-loading third-party drivers from a
removable storage device such as a CD or even your trusty flash drive.
Yes, this is a somewhat decent attempt at finally making the floppy
drive a thing of the past. However, this feature is not without
its share of flaws. After quite a number of Vista installs, some
of which involved loading more than one RAID driver, I have come across
a number of very annoying issues that most would want to be aware of.
In this latest EMHz Tech Tip, we briefly cover some of the issues many
may face when they finally give in and attempt to switch from Windows
XP.
Whether or not it is needed to actually
install the OS itself, it is always best to load all your third-party
controller drivers during the install process. This will eliminate
a number of issues you may encounter when attempting to load them after
the installation is complete. With Vista, this is highly
recommended right now as I have encountered quite a number of RAID
driver issues when attempting to install a device after the Operating
System is already running.
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When prompted, you want to choose the
Custom Install option in order to gain access to additional menus that
will allow you to load third-party drivers that are not supported (out
of the box). Once you choose this option, you'll get a window
showing any available drives to install Vista on. In this example,
I will be demonstrating a rather unique setup that involves loading two
completely different RAID drivers...one for the drives that will contain
the OS itself, and one for an external RAID solution used in my current
HTPC setup.
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Once you click on "Load Driver" and then
on "Browse", you will get an explorer-like window allowing you to
actually browse for drivers on any external device that is currently
installed and working. In this particular case, I will be
attempting to load two individual controller drivers located in the root
of the USB flash drive as shown in the screenshot above.
Now this is where it gets tricky!
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**click to enlarge** |
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The first RAID driver I loaded was for the
pre-configured dual Samsung 320GB drives that will contain the OS
itself. Once you select the proper driver, you'll want to hit the
"Next" button first. Why? Well, I've found that Vista reacts
quite differently depending on both the hardware installed, as well as
the flash drive being used to load the drivers. Once you click on
"Next", you'll eventually see the available physical disc to install
Vista. It is only when you're in this screen that you will hit the
"Load Driver" option again. If not, Vista will only replace the
existing options with the last one you chose. Yes, this is
annoying.
**click to enlarge**
After you have properly loaded your RAID
controller drivers and have formatted your array for use, you can then
click on the "Load Driver" option again to load additional third-party
drivers. Again, you will be prompted for a location and can browse
through any external storage device such as the same USB drive used.
Now, this is where the second issue comes
in...
After numerous Vista installs, I've found
that the flash drive being used plays a role in going through all these
steps without a hitch. For example, with some flash drives, I had
to remove and re-connect the drive in order Vista to read it again.
This was an issue with a couple of drives from Sandisk, but those
Voyager drives from Corsair (both original and GT) did work flawlessly
every time.
**click to enlarge**
Unlike the first set of SATA RAID 1
drivers loaded for the OS itself, the second set were for a RAID 5
configuration that would be used to power the excellent
DS351 from
Silverstone. After you load the additional drivers, you can
continue on with the OS install as usual.
As stated in this latest Tech Tip, it is
important to load each third-party driver individually during setup.
In addition, it is important to note the issues mentioned here regarding
the use of flash drives for such an install. Some drives used
simply did not function well at all and caused a number of issues in an
attempt to get Vista to recognize the drive again after loading the
first driver. Keep in mind that you may need to unplug the flash drive
and re-connect it a few times before the Vista install can read it
again.
Yes, the use of a flash drive to load
controller drivers is highly convenient. However, the bottom line
is that it may not necessarily work as it should and you may need to
resort to either another flash drive or another alternative altogether.
Unfortunately, that includes the trusty old Floppy Drive which
seems like it will never finally die!
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