Need help installing Windows 7 on new SSD (Please Help)

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DasaHayat

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Jan 10, 2014
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Hey guys, I have a HP Pavilion dv7 laptop that I switched out the HDD and installed a new SSD in its place. My plan is to clean install Windows 7 onto the SSD and then plug my old HDD into the secondary drive slot. I am installing my Win7 through USB disk. But when I go to install, it does not recognize the new SSD. Also the BIOS just says "Notebook Hard Drive" so I am not sure if the BIOS recognizes either. I know my drive is SATA 3, but I am not sure if my motherboard is SATA 3 or 2. Also I don't know if Im in IDE mode or AHCI, as there is not an option for that in my BIOS.

Any suggestions on how I can fix this? How can I get my laptop to recognize my SSD?

EDIT: The Window's installation says "No device drivers were found. Make sure the installation media contains correct drivers"

Does that mean my USB with Windows 7 is not detected? or my SSD?
 
Solution
A
The BIOS on many laptops are limited in function compared to desktops. Although you normally don't have to format a drive to install windows, in your case it may be a way to get your BIOS to "see" this drive. Put the SSD in an external enclosure or a desktop computer and go to DISK MANAGEMENT and format the SSD ( right click on the rectangle for the drive, choose format, follow instructions for quick format ) . Then put it in your laptop and see if it now recognized.
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avjguy2362

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Jun 21, 2012
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The BIOS on many laptops are limited in function compared to desktops. Although you normally don't have to format a drive to install windows, in your case it may be a way to get your BIOS to "see" this drive. Put the SSD in an external enclosure or a desktop computer and go to DISK MANAGEMENT and format the SSD ( right click on the rectangle for the drive, choose format, follow instructions for quick format ) . Then put it in your laptop and see if it now recognized.
 
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Solution
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DasaHayat

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Jan 10, 2014
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10,510


Ok so I took out the SSD and connected it to another laptop with a Sata to USB adapter cable. So now how do I get to the drive? It doesn't show up on under Computer, is there some way to get to it?
 
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avjguy2362

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Jun 21, 2012
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Computer management > Storage > Disk Manager. Disk Manager will show disk's that are not yet formatted. You will see a rectangle that represents each HD, you will only have 2, so simply right click inside the SSD rectangle and choose format. Then a Windows' instruction Pop-up comes up and asks you basic questions about your disk. You want NTSF. If your are not partitioning the drive into smaller pieces ( you probably aren't ) just allow all the data to format. If you wanted to split the SSD in half if it were a 240GB SSD, you might want to choose half of the total MB's to be formatted ( when you finish, you will just choose to format the remaining amount by doing it again on the unused portion of the drive ).
 
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