Install Windows Server 2022: Setup, Storage and Driver Examples

This guide follows an archived OEM Windows Server 2022 Desktop Experience installation and driver example. The English instructional figures keep product-key and password fields empty. Different installer styles and older driver media appear in the source; match each example to your actual platform and supported package.

1. Boot the installation medium and start Setup

Prepare the intended Windows Server 2022 installation media and compatible storage-driver package for the actual server, controller and boot mode. Use the applicable deployment/backup plan before a clean installation or partition change. Boot the USB or optical medium; if prompted, press a key to boot from it.

Original English boot prompt: Press any key to boot from CD or DVD.

Original English Loading files screen; this frame alone does not identify the Windows Server release.

In graphical Setup, choose the intended language, regional format and keyboard. The source selects Chinese (Simplified, China) and Microsoft Pinyin; their names are translated below without changing those original choices. Use the values required for your own deployment rather than leaving them unchanged automatically.

English setup-language illustration retaining the source Chinese locale and Microsoft Pinyin selections.

Choose Install now and wait for Setup to start.

English start page with Install now highlighted and Repair your computer available.

English starting-status illustration: Setup is starting; no installation result is shown.

If the selected media requests a product key, use your own authorized key matching that edition/channel. The OEM also shows I don’t have a product key; use that path only when offered and appropriate for the actual media and entitlement. Skipping entry is not proof of activation or a substitute for licensing. The following two source positions use the same clean empty-field reconstruction; no actual key is reproduced.

Blank English activation reconstruction for the source key-entry stage; key material omitted and Next disabled.

The same safe activation reconstruction highlights I don’t have a product key; availability depends on the installation medium.

2. Choose the edition and installation option

The source selects Windows Server 2022 Datacenter Evaluation (Desktop Experience). This is an evaluation image, not proof of a perpetual entitlement. Select the edition and channel covered by the actual deployment. Microsoft distinguishes Desktop Experience from Server Core; changing between them afterward requires a clean installation rather than toggling the desktop feature.

English edition-selection illustration: Datacenter Evaluation (Desktop Experience), the fourth of four x64 rows, selected; source date 2023/6/7 retained.

The original text’s “two processors” summary is not an adequate Windows Server 2022 licensing definition. Under physical-core licensing, Standard/Datacenter require licensing all physical cores subject to eight cores per processor and sixteen per server. A fully licensed Standard server provides the applicable two-OSE virtualization rights; Datacenter provides unlimited OSEs on that licensed server. Host-only management rights, additional Standard licensing, eligible per-VM licensing and CAL requirements have their own conditions; consult the Microsoft guidance and applicable terms for the actual entitlement.

Read the license terms in the real installer and accept only when authorized. The English navigation schematic below omits the agreement prose and is not a substitute agreement.

English license-terms navigation schematic: source acceptance checked and Next highlighted; agreement text explicitly omitted.

For the source clean-installation workflow, choose Custom: Install Microsoft Server Operating System only (advanced). It does not migrate the existing files, settings and applications as an upgrade. Confirm the intended target and data disposition before continuing.

English installation-type illustration: Custom outlined; Upgrade is the separate upper option.

3. Load a storage-controller driver when required

Windows includes many drivers but not every supported controller package. If the intended disk is absent, inspect the controller/array health, connectivity, exposure mode and driver support. A missing target alone does not prove that an array must be recreated or that every installation requires an additional driver.

English no-drives illustration: empty target table, Load driver available and Next disabled.

When an appropriate additional driver is required, choose Load driver → Browse, select the verified extracted package and review the compatible candidates.

English driver-folder illustration retaining the source win10_winser2016_winser2019_x64 folder and optical-media label; the folder name is not proof of Windows Server 2022 support.

Choose the package that actually matches the controller hardware IDs, OS architecture/release and OEM support requirements. Do not choose an entry merely because its name contains RAID. The low-resolution source shows an Avago MegaRAID SAS 9361-family candidate and a separate LSI virtual-device entry. The English image omits the unclear controller suffix and simplifies the file paths; it does not establish an exact adapter SKU or validate the older-named package for Server 2022.

English driver-selection illustration: Avago MegaRAID SAS 9361 family selected, controller suffix omitted, paths simplified to C:\DriverMedia\MegaSAS2.inf and nodev.inf; compatibility filter checked.

After loading the intended driver, inspect the actual target list. If still empty, check the real RAID/firmware presentation and hardware status without destroying an existing required array. A visible unallocated target in the next figure is an example, not a guaranteed result.

English target-size illustration: Drive 0 Unallocated Space 50.0 GB, New selected and 51200 MB entered; Apply highlighted.

4. Create the intended partitions and install

For the source manual-partition example, review the disk identity and size, choose New, enter the intended size and Apply. When Setup proposes additional system partitions, review the message and confirm only for the intended installation target.

English additional-system-partitions prompt over the 50.0 GB unallocated example; OK/Cancel available.

The source then shows three partitions: System 100.0 MB (95.0 MB free), MSR 16.0 MB (16.0 MB free), and Primary 49.9 GB (49.9 GB free). It does not show a separate recovery row. The actual partition layout/size depends on media, disk and boot mode; these are source example values, not a universal deployment layout. Keep the system partitions required for the intended installation. The primary partition is smaller than the requested allocation because system partitions also consume space.

English source-partition illustration: 100.0 MB System, 16.0 MB MSR and 49.9 GB Primary; Primary selected and Next highlighted.

If an optical drive was temporarily used for driver media, restore access to the required Windows installation files before continuing. Choose the intended primary target and Next. Setup copies/prepares files and installs features; follow its restart prompts. The source discusses multiple restarts, but the exact number is not a verification condition.

English installation-progress illustration: Copying files at 0%; subsequent stages are not marked complete.

English pending-restart illustration: restarting in 7 seconds, Restart now highlighted; no completed reboot is shown.

5. Set the administrator password and sign in

When Customize settings appears for Desktop Experience, enter and confirm a password meeting the actual policy for the built-in Administrator account, then select Finish. Store it through the organization’s approved process. These reconstructions use empty fields, not a suggested or default password.

Clean English Customize settings reconstruction: Administrator with both password fields empty.

At the lock screen, use Ctrl+Alt+Delete, then authenticate with your own configured account/password.

English lock-screen localization: Ctrl+Alt+Delete, time 16:43 and Tuesday July 23 retained; no source year inferred.

Clean English Administrator sign-in reconstruction with an empty password field; no successful authentication is shown.

The subsequent source desktop figures show Device Manager and driver tools. A sign-in screen alone is not evidence that all deployment, activation or driver checks have passed.

6. Inspect devices and install the applicable packages

Inspect Device Manager

Right-click Start and choose Device Manager. A yellow warning icon means a device has a problem code, which can involve installation, startup, resources or other configuration. Open Properties to inspect its status/error and hardware IDs before deciding which driver or correction is needed.

English desktop navigation illustration: Device Manager highlighted in the Start context menu; source desktop date/time retained.

English device-warning illustration with a simplified device list and SERVER-EXAMPLE hostname; generic warnings do not identify a specific missing package.

Chipset Device Software example

The OEM shows SetupChipset from a folder named intel_chipset_win_10.1.18015.8142_PV. Treat that as an archived package example; check the real server/OS release notes instead of assuming it is the correct current package. Intel explains that Chipset Device Software supplies INF identification information rather than a set of independent device drivers. It does not replace the separate RAID, network or other device-specific drivers.

English package-folder illustration: SetupChipset selected; archived package identifier retained.

English Chipset Device Software installation-progress illustration; the background file listing is schematic and does not verify package contents.

English Chipset Device Software completion illustration with restart required; Restart Now highlighted. This is the source installer’s message, not a reboot performed here.

For an intended supported package, review the installer result and follow its restart requirement at the approved maintenance time. Then recheck the actual device state. This screenshot does not demonstrate that all warnings were cleared.

Network-driver update example

The source selects an Intel I350 adapter, opens Update driver, then Browse my computer for driver software. Verify the specific adapter and downloaded package first. Updating an active network interface can interrupt management connectivity, so keep the required access/change plan.

English Intel I350 context-menu illustration: Update driver highlighted; SERVER-EXAMPLE replaces the source hostname.

English driver-search illustration: Browse my computer for driver software highlighted.

English driver-selection illustration: C:\Users\Administrator\Documents and Include subfolders checked; Let me pick from a list is outlined.

The last source figure outlines Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer. That is a different branch from browsing an extracted package folder and proceeding with Next. Follow the branch appropriate to the verified package, inspect the proposed compatible driver and complete its actual wizard. No source result screen confirms an I350 update or working network connectivity.

M7 coprocessor / QAT package example

The OEM mentions remaining coprocessor entries on an M7 system after the preceding steps. The generic Coprocessor label does not establish QAT hardware by itself: inspect the actual device IDs and supported platform/package first.

English remaining-device illustration: one PCI Device and four Coprocessor entries with warnings; no specific accelerator identification is established by this list.

The original hyperlink’s visible text names an OEM product-download page, while its actual target is Intel download ID 765502. These are separate destinations. The verified English Intel page is linked below and identifies the QAT Windows package for hardware version 2.0; verify the actual platform/accelerator and release notes rather than treating it as a driver for every M7 server. The archived OEM table is a different package listing, not a claim about the current Intel download version.

English archived OEM QAT listing: 2.0.40.3, 36.58 MB, Windows Server 2019/2022 64-bit, updated 2024-02-19; not a latest-version recommendation.

Obtain the intended OEM-supported package, check its installation/restart instructions and verify device status after the approved change. No driver download/install, license operation, partition change or restart was performed during translation.

English sources and screenshot scope

The source OEM page’s English selector leads to its home page; no equivalent complete English walkthrough/screenshot set was verified. The official English Microsoft installation article includes both 2025 and older-release tabs; use its 2022 section rather than copying the newer interface or pay-as-you-go steps. Translated figures are instructional localizations; blank credential views, omitted license prose, simplified hardware suffix/paths, schematic device lists and background details are explicitly identified above.