Ensure that the disk's controller

 is enabled in the computer's Bios menu
Source
933171 You cannot select or format a hard disk partition when you try to install Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -US;933171
Method 5: Use diskpart to get the drive configured.
To use the Diskpart.exe utility to clean the hard disk, follow these steps: 1. Put the Windows Vista/7 installation disc in the disc drive, and then restart the computer. 
2. Install Windows Vista/7. During the installation process, in the Where do you want to install Windows screen, press SHIFT+F10 to open a command prompt. 
3. Click Start , click Run , type diskpart , and then click OK . 
4. At the command prompt, type list disk , and then press ENTER. A list of available hard disks is displayed. 
5. At the command prompt, type select disk number , and then press ENTER. The hard disk is now selected. 
Note: number is the number of the hard disk that you want to clean. 
6. At the command prompt, type det disk , and then press ENTER. A list of partitions on the hard disk is displayed. Use this information to verify that the correct (determined) disk is selected. 
7. Make sure that the disk does not contain required data, type clean all at the command prompt, and then press ENTER to clean the disk. All the data and all the partitions on the disk are permanently removed. 
8. Type exit , and then press ENTER. 
9. Run Windows Vista Setup to perform a clean installation of Windows Vista.