SATA stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, and in computers, SATA refers to a common physical interface between the computer bus host and the computer's storage devices, such as hard drives. In order for your motherboard and drives to communicate properly, a SATA driver specific to your SATA type must be installed. When you upgrade to a new SATA or buy a new computer, a driver disk often comes in the packaging. If you don't have this disk, though, you can still install the necessary drivers through Windows.
Instructions
Using the "Found New Hardware" Wizard
1. Boot up the computer with the SATA device installed. Wait for Windows to fully load.
2. Look at the system tray in the bottom right corner of Windows for an alert balloon that says that Windows has detected new hardware. If you see this, the "Found New Hardware" Wizard will open in a few moments. If you do not see this, skip to the next section and install the drivers through the Device Manager.
3. Follow the on-screen prompts in the "Found New Hardware Wizard" to authorize Windows to download and install the appropriate drivers for you. It may take Windows a few minutes to do this, and you must be connected to the Internet for Windows to be able to download the drivers. At the end of the process, you'll see a dialog box that tells you whether or not the process was successful. If it was not, skip to the next section to try to update the drivers manually through the Device Manager.
Installing Drivers Through the Device Manager
4. Click the "Start" button in Windows and click "Run." In the Run window, type "devmgmt.msc" and click the "OK" button. This will open the Device Manager.
5. Expand the "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" category by clicking the plus sign next to it.
6. Right-click the first entry under this category and click "Install driver" or "Update driver," whichever appears. Wait as Windows searches for, downloads and installs any available drivers or updates. At the end of the process, Windows will display a dialog box letting you know whether or not any drivers or updates were successfully installed.
7. Repeat step three for every other entry in the "IDE ATA/ATAPI controller" category. This will completely install and update the drivers for all of your SATA hardware.
Tags: Device Manager, Found Hardware, Found Hardware Wizard, Hardware Wizard, drivers through, drivers updates, next section