An empty disk list on the install screen looks like a disaster. It is actually the most normal screen in a Proxmox install - here is the one-minute way through it.
You did everything right: uploaded the ISO, created the VM, started setup - and the Where do you want to install Windows? screen shows nothing. Before you delete the VM and start over, read this page. The disk is there. Windows just cannot see it yet, and one loaded driver fixes that.
Proxmox gives your VM a virtual disk attached to a VirtIO controller, because VirtIO is the fastest way for a guest to talk to storage. The price of that speed: Windows Setup was written before it ever met this controller, and no version of Windows carries the VirtIO storage driver in the box. So Setup looks for disks, finds a controller it cannot speak to, and honestly reports an empty list.
This surprises people because the same ISO installs fine on a physical PC and even on some other hypervisors that emulate a plain SATA disk by default. On Proxmox, the empty list is the expected first act of every VirtIO install - the video treats it the same way.
vioscsi for a SCSI disk on the VirtIO SCSI controller, or viostor for a VirtIO Block disk.w11 for Windows 11, w10 for Windows 10, 2k22 for Server 2022, 2k25 for Server 2025 - then amd64.Within seconds the disk appears with its full size. Select it and continue the install normally.
Work through the three real causes, in order:
viostor for a SCSI disk, or the w10 driver for Windows 11. The driver loads, matches nothing, and the list stays empty. Go back and match both halves of the path.Do not eject that virtio-win CD in your head once setup finishes. The storage driver was only the first guest. The same ISO carries the network driver the desktop needs for internet, the balloon driver for memory management, and the installer for the QEMU guest agent. The standard finishing move - running virtio-win-guest-tools.exe on the desktop - installs all of them at once, which is why the install guide treats the ISO as part of the VM until the very end.
The video shows this exact empty-disk moment and the Load driver fix on a live install - worth watching before your first attempt.
Watch Full VideoThey are drivers for two different virtual disk connections. vioscsi serves a disk attached as SCSI to the VirtIO SCSI controller - the Proxmox default and the faster modern choice. viostor serves the older VirtIO Block disk type. Load the one that matches how your VM's disk is attached, or the driver will load and find nothing.
Yes, by attaching the install disk as SATA or IDE instead - Windows has those drivers built in. But that trades one minute of driver loading for permanently slower disk access. The honest recommendation is to keep the VirtIO disk, load the driver once, and enjoy the speed for the VM's whole life.
It was never attached. The Create VM wizard has a checkbox - Add additional drive for VirtIO drivers - that attaches it as a second CD. If you missed it, power the VM off, add a CD/DVD drive with the virtio-win ISO in the Hardware tab, and restart setup.