F6 Installation Method for Intel® Rapid Storage Technology
The F6 installation method allows you to install a third-party mass storage driver during Windows* setup. The chart below shows the circumstances in which you must use the F6 installation method during an operating system installation.
| Operating system | Total drive volume | F6 installation method |
| Windows 8* | Any size | Recommended but not required1 |
| Windows 7*, Windows Vista* | Less than 2 terabytes | Recommended but not required1 |
| More than 2 terabytes2 | Required | |
| Windows XP*, Windows Server 2003* | Less than 2 terabytes | Required |
| More than 2 terabytes2 | Required |
1 Windows 7 and Windows Vista both include drivers for RAID/AHCI during installation.
2 For Intel® Desktop Boards, you must first enable UEFI in the BIOS when using total drive volume greater than 2 terabytes. For non-Intel motherboards, refer to the motherboard documentation to verify this requirement.
General information
- Determine if F6 installation method should be used
- Install an operating system onto a RAID volume (F6 installation method)
Troubleshooting
- No floppy drive for F6 install of RAID driver
- Controller hub is not listed during an F6 installation
- Error: Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer
| Related topic |
| Microsoft Knowledge Base article: Limited original equipment manufacturer (OEM) driver support is available with F6... |
