Cannot Install Windows 7 “Windows Setup could not configure Windows on this computer’s hardware”

When you perform a clean installation of Windows 7 or of Windows Server 2008 R2, you may receive the following error message during the device-detection phase of setup:

Windows Setup could not configure Windows on this computer’s hardware.

This error can occur when you try to install Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 on a system if the following situation is true on your PC:

• You are installing by using Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM media. 
  
  Note: Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 are not affected by this issue.
• Your system has an Intel storage controller that is configured to "RAID" mode in the BIOS. (This is a standard setting for many PC manufacturers)
• The hard drive you are installing to ia an "Advanced Format" disk.
  
  Note Advanced Format disks have a physical sector size of 4 kilobytes and a logical emulated sector size of 512 bytes. "Advanced Format" is a new technology being adopted by PC manufacturers to increase media format efficiency which will lead to larger capacity hard drives. If you are replacing a hard drive in an older PC, you may be more likely to encounter this issue.

RESOLUTION

Method 1: Change the BIOS hard disk drive setting to AHCI or IDE

Method 2: Download the appropriate drivers for your hard disk drive

Download and install the latest drivers for your Windows 7-based or Windows Server 2008 R2-based computer. To do this by using another computer, visit the following Intel website and download the appropriate drivers for your hard disk drive (either 32-bit or 64-bit) to a flash drive. Or, burn the drivers onto a CD or DVD. The flash drive or the disc will then be used during setup of Windows 7 or of Windows Server 2008 R2.

http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-031502.htm

1. Go to another computer that has an internet connection and click the link below to download the driver for your hard disk drive (either 32-bit or 64-bit):
   http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-031502.htm

 

  

2. Save this downloaded driver to a DVD or USB flash drive or an external hard drive that can be taken to the PC that you're installing Windows to. 
3. Next, start the installation of Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 and watch for the Load Driver option. You will see this option on the Where do you want to install Windows? screen in the lower right corner.
4. Connect the USB flash or external drive to the computerthat you're installing Windows or take the Windows DVD out of the drive and put the driver DVD into the drive. (You will put the Windows DVD back into that drive after the driver is loaded)
5. Click Load Driver, (clicking this option checks removable media for storage controller drivers) 
6. Once the driver is loaded, continue with the Windows setup.

The Advanced Drive Format hard drive will be recognized and Setup will continue as expected.

 

Reference:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2466753