Can't Install Second Drive Win 8.1

rodbetts · Apr 23, 2014

Just installed SSD drive for Win 8.1 Pro. I now need to install a second data drive. A new WD10EZEX 1TB just arrived and it won't install.

The bios finds it, device manager finds it, disk manager does not see it at all. I attached it to a USB cable and now devise manager sees it but only as a removable drive with no media so I still can't create a partition.

As a USB drfve, I've tried to install it in two different desktops and a laptop. Same problem.

Either I've lost my mind or I have a bad drive. Any thoughts anyone? I could sure use some help.

Thanks,

Rod

p.s. I still have the drive I replaced with the new SSD. When I reinstall it into my system, the exact same problem remains.

g-unit1111 · Apr 23, 2014

When you add a second, third fourth and so on drives in Windows despite that the drives will appear in the device manager, you still need to have them recognized by the PC. To do that:

1. Go to Windows Explorer
2. Go to your computer.
3. Right click and click on the menu item that says "manage".
4. Click on disk management.
5. Find the drive you want to add.
6. Right click the drive and click "Assign letter". If the drive has not been formatted you will need to format. You can do this from here as well.

After that Windows will find the drive and assign the drive a letter, you can access it then.

dodger46 · Apr 23, 2014

Some BIOS/UEFIs have a page where the drives are listed in order of priority. (Not the Boot priority, though). Otherwise I would suggest checking your Windows installation for errors, especially as the old drive didn't appear in Disk Management
First try System File Checker
Winkey plus 'X'
Choose Command Prompt (Admin)
Type sfc /scannow then Enter

It finds and fixes errors in Windows, but doesn't always report them. Run it and see if the fault disappears after re-booting your system
If corrupt files are found that can’t be fixed, try

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth (Observe spaces before /)

Re-run SFC

To view CBS Log

findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log >sfcdetails.txt

Search C drive for sfcdetails.txt or navigate to C:\Windows\System32 and scroll down

.

rodbetts · Apr 23, 2014

Thank you both for your help, but unfortunately, we're not quite there yet. As to the two suggestions:

g-unit1111 - What you're suggesting is what I've been trying to do but since the new drive does not show up in Disk Management, I cannot do as you suggest.

dodger46 - I've followed your suggestions as best I can. I've run the "sfc" command several times but it always stops with error code "Windows Resource Protection Could Not Perform The Requested Operation" at either 18 or 33%. Between trys, I've run the "Dism" command several times as well. It reports that it completes successfully. None of this seems to have had any effect on the problem I've reported above (either before or after reboots).

The new drive shows up in the bios and it is listed after the SSD drive but I'm not sure there's a way to change the listing order??

Other info that may be of help:

Processor - AMD FX 8350 (not overclocked)
MB - Asus M5A97 R2.0 (I checked, it has the latest bios installed)

The computer is only a couple of weeks old. I installed a Samsung 840 Pro SSD and installed Win 8 w/o difficulty and then immediately upgraded to Win 8.1. It's the computer I'm using right now.

Drives, other than the new unpartitioned WD mentioned above are recognized immediately upon installation. I suppose that's because they're already partitioned and formatted. I've cloned the SSD drive and the clone boots perfectly. The HDD from my old computer, which I want to copy data files from, loads w\o difficulty.

When I put the old boot drive back into my old computer and boot with the new WD drive installed as a non-boot drive, I have exactly the same problem as discussed above. That means that the problem is the same on two computers, using two different boot drives but the same Win 8.1 operating software. That kind of makes me wonder if I don't have a bad drive???

Sorry to be such a bother, but I really do appreciate your help.

Rod

An afterthought - I've added a couple of cards to the motherboard. One of them supports additional SATA drives. I'll try removing them and see if that makes any difference.

rodbetts · Apr 23, 2014

Thanks Guys, I got it.

I got the bright idea that if I mounted it as the only drive in the computer then installed Win 8 on it that Win 8 would partition and format it and I'd be good to go. Tried it; it worked. When done I reinstalled my SSD, set it as the boot disk in bios, booted my computer and then reformatted the WD drive to get rid of the unwanted Win 8 install. It all worked!

Thanks, you're great!

Rod

g-unit1111 · Apr 23, 2014

rodbetts :

That's extremely odd. Can you go into your BIOS? Does the BIOS list the disc drive as being available? If it doesn't there might be a loose cable somewhere, or worse, a defective drive.

dodger46 · Apr 24, 2014

rodbetts :

Ah, well, long as it's running. Bit worrying, should have been easier than that, and the fact that it won't allow SFC to run is of great concern, perhaps run 'Refresh your PC' as you haven't loaded any software yet, in the hope that the corrupt files are replaced...

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Can't Install Second Drive Win 8.1

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