Windows 7 install fails due to driver not being found

F

FrankO1

Member
I bought a license for Windows 7 Professional 64-bit from an authorized Microsoft reseller, and was given a product key and a link where I downloaded the .iso file from the reseller's website.
When I initiated the install in Parallels Desktop, setup started normally, but soon there was a window stating, "A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now." There are options to Browse or Cancel. I can't seem to get beyond this point (there is no "Ignore" or equivalent), so all I can find to do is to abort the install.
Is this a known problem when installing Windows 7 in Parallels Desktop? I've done a number of installs of other Windows versions (10, XP, etc), and have never seen this error before.
 
Actually I tried searching here on the phrasing of the error statement, and saw posts (all quite old) from people who encountered the error when installing Windows 7. It seems that a corrupt .iso file was the most frequent cause. I downloaded again from the reseller, but got the same error when I tried the install within Parallels Desktop. When I did a web search for Windows 7 download, the Microsoft links all reported that Windows 7 support had ended. Is there anywhere trustable where an .iso file for Windows 7 Pro 64-bit can be downloaded?
 
Per instructions from the reseller that I bought the Windows 7 Pro 64-bit license from, I downloaded the .iso install file from their website and used an ISO-to-USB utility they recommended to burn it onto a 32GB USB thumb drive, set to make the thumb drive bootable.
I then started Parallels Desktop and made selections to install Windows 7 from the bootable thumb drive. However, a short time into the install I am still seeing this error message about the need for a driver:
Screenshot-2023-03-30-at-8-59-52-AM.png


Screenshot-2023-03-30-at-9-01-13-AM.png


Any suggestions on how to resolve this? The reseller is certain that the .iso file is not corrupted; I've downloaded it several times and am reasonable sure there wasn't a problem during download.
 
FrankO1 said:
Actually I tried searching here on the phrasing of the error statement, and saw posts (all quite old) from people who encountered the error when installing Windows 7. It seems that a corrupt .iso file was the most frequent cause. I downloaded again from the reseller, but got the same error when I tried the install within Parallels Desktop. When I did a web search for Windows 7 download, the Microsoft links all reported that Windows 7 support had ended. Is there anywhere trustable where an .iso file for Windows 7 Pro 64-bit can be downloaded?
Click to expand...
Dear Frank,
Thank you for your feedback.
Kindly follow the steps below to download and create a new Windows 7 Pro 64-bit virtual machine:
1. Create a new Windows 11 Virtual Machine (If you already have a Windows 10/11 virtual machine you can follow step 2 directly):
1.0) click the Parallels icon on top of the mac menu bar > Control Center)
1.1) In the upper right corner, click on the "+" button.
1.2) In the window that appears, click "Continue".
1.3) In the window that appears, click "Get Windows 11 from Microsoft" > "Install Windows".
1.4) Wait until the virtual machine is installed.
2. Once you are on the Windows 11 Desktop > Open Edge Browser > open the link below :
https://archive.org/download/windows-7-pro-64/Win7Pro64.iso
2.1) Download the ISO (It will be downloaded to the mac's download folder).
2.2) Shut Down the Windows Virtual machine (Actions > Shutdown)
2.3) Click on the Parallels Icon on top of the mac menu bar > Control Center > In the upper right corner, click on the "+" button
2.4) In the window that appears, click "Install Windows or another OS from a DVD or image file" > Click Continue > Choose Manually > select a file
2.5) Navigate to the Downloads folder > Select the "Win7Pro64.iso" and click open > Continue > If you have the activation key, enter it and press Continue.
2.6) Click continue > Create > Select Windows 7 Professional > Next > The installation shall begin.

Thank you!
 
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