Can not re install vista on my inspiron 530

More info on your system would be nice.

You problem is either a bios setting or you are not using the Dell recovery disk that should have come with your system, what is happening is you need to load the SATA drivers.

1st boot into the bios and check the SATA setting. look to see if there are any option to set the SATA to ATA unless you are using a RAID setup.

2nd you need the SATA driver. Go HERE  and download this file. After you download it you need to run the file to extract the files as it is a compress file. Then if you have a floppy drive, you place these files on the Root directory of the floppy disk. If you do not have a floppy drive you will need to slipstream them into the install disk using a program like nlite.

Also make sure that the CD/DVD drive is set to be the boot device. you can do this either in the bios or by pressing the F12 key at the dell splash screen and selecting booting from the on board CD drive.

Hi,

This is the progress i've made so far:

for step 1: when i boot into bios i have 2 options for sata mode 1. IDE  2. RAID and i currently have it set on IDE (not sure if that is correct or not)

for step two i downloaded those drivers and hwen i go to load them there is an option box that says "hide drivers that are not compatible with this hardware" and when i unclick that box i see the drives there.  once I highlight the drives and click next it takes me back to the original problem of "where do you want to install windows" and there is nowhere to install it.

Any other suggestions, please??

Thanks for your time and quick response to my previous post.

My computer is a
inspiron 530
intel core duo CPU @ 2.4GHZ with 4GB RAM and 500 GB HD

How do I know which is the correct SATA driver?

There is a list of about 15 of them and I selected them all and clicked next but just end up at the original screen of "where do you want to install windows" wiht the same error message. "No drives were found. Click load driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation."

thanks

make sure that your are selecting the correct SATA driver when you see the list. There is also the possibility that the drive has gone south

OK sorry but I am beging to run out of ideas at the moment.

Does the Bios correctly id the drive. You did place all the extraced files in the A: directory of the floppy and not another folder.

Can you try the drive in another system to see if you can at least get it to be recognize it.

You are not using a Dell recovery disk to do the reinstall correct?

i do not have a floppy drive, i was puttin the drivers that i downloaded (from the orignal post) on a usb memory stick.

and yes i am using the dell recovery disk that came with my system to reinstall windows.  I have used it before in the past.

Thanks.

Well you should need to load drivers when using a Dell disk. This gives me more reason to suspect the drive. Most of the time a usb drive will not work when load the SATA drivers. Something about the system will not look there when it comes time to actually load the SATA driver.

Normally at this point the standard recommendation would be to slipstream the SATA drivers into the install disk but since you are using a Dell disk that would be unecassary.

I strongly recommend testing the drive on another system or get a new one.

So, I had somenoe who knew what they were doing look at my computer.

Turns out my hard drive was faulty.  I have a new one coming now.  Thanks for your help and time.

You will most likely have to reinstall Vista once you get the drive.  The list of drivers for the Inspiron 530 desktop are:

• Intel® G33 chipset driver
• Realtek™ ALC888 audio drivers
• Intel integrated video drivers
• Inte 82562V network drivers
• Drives for any PCI Express® video cards installed
• Drivers for any PCI or PCI Express cards installed

Apparently this is one of the systems that does not require the Desktop System Software, however, if it is listed in the Drivers and Downloads section for the system I would recommend installing it before the chipset software.

I had this same issue with the same Inspiron 530, and have replaced my hard drive. What disk should I run first? It came with a drivers disk and a system install disk.