Windows 7 will NOT recognise my OCZ Vertex 2 120Gb SSD at the "Where do you want to install Windows" screen

As bassfisher6522 notes, it appears you current install is on the 1 TB drive.

I notice your SSD is partitioned the way a Windows 7 install would partition it and even shows an active partition.

Can you tell if the old install is still on the SSD?

Maybe some of the rules will help you decide what you need to do.

A Windows 7 install will put its boot files on the primary drive in the system. The OS will go where you tell it to go.

Windows will boot to the first active partition it comes to during the boot sequence, starting with the primary drive.

Only the drive sequence in the bios makes a difference, not the disk management drive number.

If you want to make sure something does not get messed up during an install, then disconnect the second drive.

You now seem to have a decision to make. Do you want to use the SSD for you system drive, or leave it on the 1 TB? Let us know. Disconnecting the 1 TB drive might restore your original install and you can use a startup repair to restore the boot, if possible.

I don't know what these guys did. The are apparently some morons that do not know what they are doing.

All you got on your SSD is an active system partition. But C on the spinner is also active. Question is whether that active partition on the SSD has any function.

Boot into Win7 and go to Disk Management. Right click on the little 100MB partition and see whether it lets you change it to 'inactive'. If yes, do so. If no, disconnect the SSD and reboot. If the boot works, then it has no function and we can start setting up your SSD correctly. Post back.

Just another question. There is a nifty program by Paragon - but it costs $19.95. With that you could transfer your OS with 3 clicks to the SSD (after we cleaned up the mess on the SSD). That would be the easy solution.

Else we also can do it 'manuelly'. But that will be a bit involved.

Hi , thanks for the responses, I am in no need to save the information on either drive particularly the SSD. Prior to it dropping I was having another issue with it being unresponsive upon waking whereby programs would just spin their wheels and not do anything. I also had a bunch of programs I dont really need to bring back.

Hence Iam actually thinking to simply re install Windows 7 Pro as a clean install on the new SSD.

If so, is it just a case of inserting that windows CD and going from there? making sure i choose the SSd to install to of course?
Or should I do some prior wiping of data something you think will do a better job then Windows itself?

With the 1Tb drive and its Windows install - what should I do there - simply delete all the Windows files? There is no issue in clean wiping that drive either as I had very little on it thus far.

If you have an installation disc, you can just reinstall with that on the SSD. But disconnect (e.g. Sata cable) the 1TB HDD, else your bootmgr will land on it. No real need to wipe, but it may be advantageous for Trim to do so. The commands in elevated Command Prompt (run as admin) are:

Diskpart
List disk
Select disk n (where n is the number that was given for your SSD in List disk)
Clean
Exit

After the installation on the SSD, you have to change the bootsequence in the BIOS. The SSD must be first (or second after the CD/DVD reader.

For deleting the OS partition on the big HDD, go to Disk Management (once you are booted from the SSD and the HDD is reconnected) and delete the OS volume and the partition there.

Originally Posted by whs

If you have an installation disc, you can just reinstall with that on the SSD. But disconnect (e.g. Sata cable) the 1TB HDD, else your bootmgr will land on it. No real need to wipe, but it may be advantageous for Trim to do so. The commands in elevated Command Prompt (run as admin) are:

Diskpart
List disk
Select disk n (where n is the number that was given for your SSD in List disk)
Clean
Exit

After the installation on the SSD, you have to change the bootsequence in the BIOS. The SSD must be first (or second after the CD/DVD reader.

For deleting the OS partition on the big HDD, go to Disk Management (once you are booted from the SSD and the HDD is reconnected) and delete the OS volume and the partition there.

okay, so the Diskpart and clean etc above, you are saying i should do this to the SSD first before i then insert the installation disk (after disconnecting the HDD).

If I wanted to wipe clean the entire 1TB HDD can i use those instructions as well? though probably it can be left as is as long as once i reconnect it (post SSD Win 7 install) I can successfully remove any trace of a windows installation on it.

PS. When you say disconnect the SATA HDD, do i need to disconnect both the Data and power cables, or just the data.
PPS. Earlier posts talked of the HDD being installed at a lower port than the SSD. Should I also have a look on the motherboard and see what spots the SATA data cable snakes back to? Mobo is

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68 Extreme4



even so how do you know which of the apparent 8 SATA connector ports rates as 'highest' and what does 'highest or lowest' imply

Sure, you could use the clean command on the 1TB HDD too. Just be aware that you lose all your data.

But I would keep the HDD installation around (at least for a while) - as a backup. By switching the temporary boot sequence (e.g. tapping ESC on a HP or F12 on many other makes), you can always boot into that system. After 30 days though you may have to get rid of it - because of the system activation.

sorry i added a bit more to my post above, please see.

1. Disconnect just 1 cable. Sata or power. That's enough

2. If you disconnect the HDD, the ports do not matter.

The problem you refer to is that when multiple disks are on the mobo and running, the Windows7 installer always grabs the disk on the lowest number port to install the bootmgr. That can usually be fixed very easily if you have only 1 OS. But in your case you will end up with 2 OSs and then it is more difficult. That's why I recommend to detach all disks and only leave the disk to which you want to install.

Hi thanks

if you look at my inserted image and the listing of parts, the SATA ports are list numbers 11 through 18. How do I determine which of these ports is the 'lowest port number'?

Ie it lists

Sata 3 M1
Sata 3 M2
Sata3_0
Sata3_1
Sata2_2
Sata2_3
Sata2_4
Sata2_5