In this situation, the Windows installer cannot see your internal NVMe SSD, making it impossible to continue the installation without loading the correct driver.
download, follow these steps to extract the drivers from the official installer: Download the Installer : Obtain the latest SetupRST.exe Intel Download Center or your laptop manufacturer's support site (e.g., Open Terminal/CMD : Navigate to your Downloads folder, type in the address bar, and press Run Extraction Command : Type the following command and press SetupRST.exe -extractdrivers SetupRST_extracted Locate the Files : A folder named SetupRST_extracted
Finally, copy the f6vmdflpy-x64 folder onto a USB flash drive. This USB drive should be (or you can place it on the same drive as long as you can navigate to it).
The is a storage driver required for modern Intel platforms (11th Gen to 15th Gen) to detect hard drives or SSDs during a Windows installation. Without it, you may see a "No drives were found" error because the storage controller is managed through Intel Volume Management Device (VMD) technology. Intel Rst Vmd Driver Zip File
Deducted points for poor documentation and lack of user-friendly guidance inside the ZIP.
What is the of your computer or motherboard? Which Intel processor generation does your system use? Are you installing Windows 10 or Windows 11 ?
Even with the correct Intel RST VMD driver zip file, issues can arise. Here is how to solve them. In this situation, the Windows installer cannot see
Search for "Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver" for your model.
Without the driver, the Windows installer sees the VMD controller but cannot see the drives connected to it.
Always download the latest version from Intel’s official website. Third-party hosting sites may distribute outdated or malicious versions. Your storage chain is only as strong as its weakest driver. The is a storage driver required for modern
: The primary use for the ZIP (or "F6") driver package is to manually load storage drivers during the Windows "Where do you want to install Windows?" screen. Intel VMD Support
Hope this saves someone an hour of frustration.
During a clean Windows installation, the operating system lacks the driver to "see" the VMD controller. You must provide this driver via a USB drive (extracted from a .zip file) to make the storage drive visible. 1. Where to Download the Intel RST VMD Driver Zip File
When the Windows installer reaches the "Where do you want to install Windows?" screen and shows no drives, use these steps: