Technical Anshu
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💽 RST Driver Fix

Load the Intel RST Driver at Windows Setup to See Your Drive

The cleanest fix for a missing SSD during Windows installation: give setup the Intel RST driver it is asking for. No BIOS changes, VMD stays on, and the drive appears in seconds.

✍️ Technical Anshu🪟 Windows 10 / 11 Setup⏱️ 7 minute read
🎥 Watch the video — the missing drive fix and the RST VMD RAID settings shown live

Your laptop SSD is invisible on the Windows Setup drive screen, and the BIOS confirms the storage mode is VMD or RAID On. The professional fix is not to change the BIOS at all — it is to hand Windows Setup the Intel RST driver during installation. Setup has a Load driver button built for exactly this. Ten minutes of preparation on a second PC saves you from touching firmware settings.

Windows Setup — Load driver
Load driver

To install the device driver needed to access your hard drive, insert the installation media containing the driver files, and then click OK. Note: the installation media can be a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive.

The Load driver prompt in Windows Setup. Your driver folder must contain the raw driver files, not an installer exe.
1

Get the Driver From the Laptop Maker First

The single most common failure is using a random driver from the internet. The RST driver must match your laptop's controller generation, and the maker's support page always has the tested one.

  1. On a working PC, open the support page of Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer or ASUS and enter your exact laptop model or serial number
  2. Under Drivers, look in the Storage category for Intel Rapid Storage Technology — Dell publishes it as a driver package whose description mentions F6 floppy drivers
  3. Only if the maker has no listing, use Intel's own download centre and match the RST version to your CPU generation

Intel's generic package also works on most machines, but the OEM package is tested against your exact board, so it is always the first choice.

2

Extract the Package Until You See the Driver Files

Windows Setup can only read raw driver files. It cannot run an installer.

  1. Run or unzip the downloaded package on the working PC and find the folder that was extracted
  2. Inside you should see files like iaStorVD.inf, iaStorVD.sys and iaStorVD.cat — the .inf file is the one setup reads
  3. If the folder only contains a SetupRST.exe, the extraction step was skipped — Dell packages extract with a command like SetupRST.exe -extractdrivers C:\RST; other makers unzip or offer the F6 folder directly
  4. Copy that whole folder onto the same USB stick you boot Windows from, or a second USB stick
3

Load the Driver Inside Windows Setup

  1. Boot the laptop from the Windows USB and go to the screen where the drive list is empty
  2. Click Load driver, then Browse, and navigate to the driver folder on your USB
  3. Setup lists the compatible Intel RST controller driver — select it and click Next
  4. Wait a few seconds. Your SSD now appears in the drive list with its real capacity
  5. Select the unallocated space and continue the installation normally

Nothing was changed in your BIOS, VMD stays enabled, and any future reinstall on this machine will need the same driver trick — so keep that folder on your Windows USB permanently.

4

If the Folder Shows No Driver

If Browse shows an empty list, untick the box labelled Hide drivers that are not compatible with hardware on this computer and look again — setup sometimes hides the right entry. If it is still empty, the folder does not contain an .inf for your controller: you downloaded the wrong generation of the driver. Go back to the maker's page for your exact model rather than trying versions at random.

🔴 Honest note: driver loading never harms the drive — it only teaches setup how to talk to the controller. If the drive still does not appear after the correct driver loads, the problem is not the driver; check whether the BIOS itself sees the drive, as covered in the main guide of this series.

🎥 Watch the Complete Fix in the Video

Watch the video to see the driver being loaded inside Windows Setup and the drive appearing on screen.

▶️ Watch Full Video
❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Where do I download the Intel RST driver for setup

From your laptop maker's support page for your exact model, under the Storage category — it is listed as Intel Rapid Storage Technology, and Dell calls the setup-ready package an F6 floppy driver. Intel's own download centre is the second choice. Avoid random driver sites; the version must match your controller generation.

Why does setup not accept the driver I downloaded

Because setup reads raw driver files — iaStorVD.inf, .sys and .cat — and cannot run an installer exe. Extract the package first until you can see the .inf file, then point Browse at that folder. If the list is still empty after unticking the hide incompatible box, the driver generation does not match your laptop.

Do I need to load this driver every time I reinstall Windows

Yes, as long as the BIOS storage mode stays on VMD or RAID On. Keep the extracted driver folder on your Windows USB stick so it is always there at the Load driver step. The alternative is switching the BIOS to AHCI once, after which setup needs no extra driver — but that change has its own cautions, covered in this series.

This guide is based on the Technical Anshu video linked above • Stuck on a step? Ask in the video comments — you will get a reply 🙏