A: No. Only if VMD is enabled in your BIOS. If you disable VMD in the BIOS, standard NVMe drivers will work. However, disabling VMD may prevent you from using Intel Optane or certain power management features.
You boot from your Windows USB stick, click "Install Now," and then—disaster. The setup screen says: "We couldn't find any drives. To get a storage driver, click Load driver." Intel Rst Vmd Driver Zip File
Your new 2TB Samsung 990 Pro or WD Black SN850X is physically installed, but Windows Setup cannot see it. Why? Because your motherboard BIOS has VMD enabled by default, and the generic Windows installer lacks the necessary driver. The zip file is the key that unlocks visibility. A: No
| Pro | Details |
|------|---------|
| Works reliably | Once loaded, Windows Setup immediately detects all NVMe drives. |
| Clean file structure | No bloat – just iaStorVD.sys, iaStorVD.inf, and catalog files. |
| Supports modern hardware | VMD hot-plug, RAID on PCIe, and Intel RST for PCIe/NVMe. |
| Signed by Microsoft | Passes driver integrity checks in WinPE and secure boot environments. |
| Small size | ~3–5 MB – fits easily on a USB key or network boot image. | Determine if you need the 64-bit or 32-bit version
Determine if you need the 64-bit or 32-bit version. Modern systems (post-2015) almost always require the 64-bit (x64) driver.