Problems installing Win 7 (drivers?)

Howdy

Background story:
Trying to get my new computer up and running (on a spare comp right now). I got all my new parts in nice and quick, easy peazy. I was thinking this would be a record fast upgrade/installation, but I got ahead of myself. Surprisingly installing Windows 7 (x64) is the biggest pain. My last system ran Windows 7 and I don't recall having any issues installing it, but this time it's not going good.

THE PROBLEM:
I had a Windows 7 x64 boot dvd ready to go, ready to install on my new SSD drive. So I set my CD-rom as the boot device, got to the win7 install screen, agreed to terms, etc. Then, it asked for a driver for my CD-rom or else I couldn't advance. It shouldn't need a driver, but, whatever, it wants to be picky. So I put the motherboard CD in thinking maybe it'll find a 'driver' it could use for the CD/DVD rom drive...but nothing to be found. SO I decide to get a USB stick and try to install Windows 7 via USB, averting whatever problem it was having with the CD-rom drive.

But, I ended up having pretty much the exact same issue, only this time it won't detect the SSD drive, and it's also asking for installation drivers for it, which it doesn't have (at least didn't come with a CD or anything like that). When it asks to scan for drivers from the CD drive, I have my Mobo setup disc in there and it actually does say it found a compatible driver (Intel(R)7 Series/C216 Chipset Family SATA AHCI controller) but after it 'installs' nothing changes.

I don't why it's giving me all this trouble, seems like it should be able to access the CDRom/SSD just fine without having to install drivers for each, which may not even exist. And it's accessing the CD-rom drive already since the win 7 install booted up as well as the motherboard setup CD which wasn't any help. I also think it's accessing the SSD find because when it asks to browse for drivers, I see a new drive letter there.

Stumped am I! I can't get Win 7 installed and don't know what to do.

Here's my new parts (don't think it'll help but good to know i guess)
Asrock Z75 mobo
Intek i5-3570k
Sansa 240gb extreme SSD
8gb Kingston dd3 memory

Are you trying to install from a retail DVD, or did you burn a Win7 ISO to disc? Assuming the SATA controller the SSD is connected to is set to AHCI mode, have you tried starting Setup w/ the controller set to IDE mode instead?

Darn still can't get anything going. I tried setting the SATA controller to IDE and that didn't get me anywhere either unfortunately. A good idea but this sucker still doesn't want to install. I think it's just not finding the SSD for some reason even though If I browse for drivers from the win7 install screen, it shows a new drive listed, but not exactly sure if that's the SSD. Thanks for the reply, keep the help coming because I'm about out of ideas

EDIT: I've found that the motherboard will only detect the SSD if it's connected to one of the SATA2 slots on the mobo, if it's in either of the SATA3 slots, it's not found. Hopefully they aren't messed up because SATA3 is twice as fast as SATA2...but for now I guess I'll get win7 installed while it's detecting the drive.

hrm what drivers might I need to install to get those SATA3 ports active? Seems like they would be active from the get-go but not sure. Right now with only two SATA2 connectors active, I can't have my CD/DVD drive plugged in alone with my two other HDs.

P.S. Installing drivers for my creative X-fi causes my system to lock up after about 2-10 seconds of activity (like moving the mouse around). What other sound drivers might I be able to install?