Sata HDD instal without formatting

[bp2826]

Hello,

In my computer I have 3 hard drives, a 500gb that i use for windows and other programs and then (2) 1TB hard drives that are used for nothing but movies/music ect. I'm wanting to do a fresh install of windows 7 but i'm worreid that it wont recongnize my 2 other sata hdd's with out making me format them. Is there a way to force windows to see the drives without formatting them?

Thanks in advance

 

[jitpublisher]

Simply unplug the other drives while you do the install, that is always the safest thing to do, afterwards, plug them back in, Windows will find them, and everything on them, just fine.

 

[sminlal]

Windows 7 will recognize the drives without any problems. The worst thing that could happen is that if there are files or folders on the drives that are protected so that only a specific account can see them then then new system won't be able to access them unless you take ownership of them and then change their protections.

As JTPublisher said, the safest thing to do is to physically unplug the data drives before installing windows. That way you can't possibly screw up and accidentally delete anything during the installation process.

 

[bp2826]

Thanks for the quick response guys, I've never used anything newer than XP PRO and in xp it makes you format them to see the full size of the drive otherwise it only shows like 160gb or somthing strange.

Makes sense that 7 shouldn't have any problems since tb hard drives are fairly common now and when xp launched they were unheard of.

Thanks again guys

 

[sminlal]

Thanks for the quick response guys, I've never used anything newer than XP PRO and in xp it makes you format them to see the full size of the drive otherwise it only shows like 160gb or somthing strange.

The 137GB limit was removed way back in XP SP1.