Windows 7 does not see my hdd on install

[Tylermancuso]

Hi so I just decided to delete my 2 terabyte raid because I need the hard drive for another computer.

On startup I deleted the bios raid.
Changed bios from raid to IDE also tried the ach ( forget what it's called)
Formatted the one and only hard drive I will be using at another computer


So I have read around on the other fourms a bit about this and I have tried some of the things but nothing has worked so far. Windows 7 does not see my hard drive.

Gigabyte x58 a ud7
I7 975
Nvidia 580
Seagate 1 t hard drive

My computer was working fine 10 min ago so of-course it's not hardware related, however I should say although I highly doubt it makes any difference, I burned this windows 7 disc using the windows 7 built in iso burner.

Thank you so much for any help!!!!!!!

 

[EnvH]

Most probable:
You forgot to "activate" your drive's first partition (be it the only partition or not) when you formated. (you want it bootable, you need to activate)

Attach it back to the computer where you formated it, launch Disk Manager (diskmgmt.msc), right click on the partition and activate it.

 

[mcnumpty23]

try setting your bios to default settings or fail safe settings--sometimes done by pressing f5 when in the bios though it depends on the individual bios manufacturer--check in your bios that your hard drive is being seen ok--there should be a section that lists the drives currently connected--if your hard drive is listed in the bios chances are the disc you burned is the problem--if possible double check that the disc you burned works ok by trying it in another pc

 

[Tylermancuso]

Thanks for everyone's help already! As of right now diskpart is cleaning my disk and I am going through that tutorial. If that does not work I will then reset bios however I would prefer not to because there is a complicated overclock with voltage tweaks that I might mess up.

Also should I have my bios set to ide or achi?

Thanks so much I really appreciate it.

 

[mcnumpty23]

just noticed its gigabyte board--in my ga-ex58-ud5 bios there are two settings i have to set to ide or ahci--i use ahci as it should be faster--if i dont set both of them some of my drives dont show up--cant remember exactly where in the bios without rebooting and looking but they are both on the same page one near top of the available options and one at the bottom of the list--when i broke up my raid array and didnt set both options my sata dvd drives wouldnt show up or i would get blue screened if windows was already installed

why not write down the bios settings for your overclock just in case--or if its like my board you can save and load bios profiles by pressing f11 or f12

will reboot in a while and see exactly where the two settings were

 

[EnvH]

Sorry, my mistake.

I've just tried it on an old HDD. You don't have to activate your boot partition. The Windows 7 installation process have grown smarter and activate the partition during the installation process.

So it is NOT the activation.

It's strange you managed to format it on one computer yet cannot find it on another.

What mcnumpty23's been suggesting are all valid and good points. I would try AHCI first, then IDE. Best of luck!

 

[mcnumpty23]

just looked in the bios and the two settings i mentioned are in integrated peripherals--the one near top of list is ich sata control mode mine is set to ahci
the second is near bottom of list and is onboard sata/ide control mode mine is set to ahci

it may be you only altered the top one as its the one that deals with raid on my board

 

[Tylermancuso]

Thanks mcnumpty23 I did not know there were 2 settings after windows installs I will have 2 change that.

Thanks also to everyone else.

And for anyone that ever has this problem I used diskpart to clean and partition my hard drive. Mostly only people using a drive with a bunch of stuff on it will have this problem I hypothesize based on forums.

Here is a great tutorial I found

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

 

[Tylermancuso]

Best answer selected by tylermancuso.