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

Not sure what the M1 and M2 ports are. Maybe eSata ports. Do you have those? Else it is Sata3 0

But for you it does not matter because you are going to disconnect the HDD. So the SSD is the first and only port that the installer finds.

Yes your right re disconnecting, I was just wondering how to tell for general knowledge. So the key is to simply look for the 'zero' ? and then one, two three upwards? The prefix of Sata 3 in front of _0 and _1 threw me off.

I assume what its saying is
There are 5 Sata ports, the lowest one is "_0" and it just so happens the first 2 ports are SATA 3 enabled rather then the slower SATA 2?

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

Your motherboard manual would help explain. It appears you have 8 SATA ports, the M1/2 are probably on a Marvell controller using a different driver. The other six are possibly on an Intel controller. The first two Intel ports (0/1) are Sata 3 capable.

But again, the bios drive priority is the controlling factor. The fact you have active partitions on both drives can mess you up if the order were changed for some reason. Booting with different drive configurations can change the bios drive order.

Sata 3 M1 -- goes to exertnal HDD dock (feature on Corsair case)
Sata 3 M2 - empty
Sata3_0 -- empty
Sata3_1 -- empty
Sata2_2 --- CDROM
Sata2_3 -- empty
Sata2_4 ---- 1TB HDD
Sata2_5 ----- new SSD

Also given my new SSD is SATA 3

Drive Transfer Rate	600 MBps (external)
Internal Data Rate	550 MBps (read) / 510 MBps (write)
Expansion / Connectivity
Interfaces	1 x Serial ATA-600 - 7 pin Serial ATA
Compatible Bays	1 x internal - 2.5" x 1/8H

shouldnt i connect it to a SATA3 mobo port? not the slower Sata 2 its on now? Now just to decide whether the 3_m1 Marvell port or the other one

I would plug it into the SATA 3-0 port. I would always put the hard drives on the lower SATA numbers. I would probably put the 1TB on SATA 2_2, but I have no real reason to feel this way, probably an holdover from the PATA drives.

It gets a little confusing when they describe a drive. A SATA II drive can be described as SATA 3GB or something similar. A SATA III drive can be described as SATA 6 GB...

The SATA 3 ports are usually a different color and the other controller ports are also a different color, although maybe just a different shade.

Put the SSD on Sata3 0. It will give you a better performance. If you are all done, test the performance with Atto and post the results.

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.

Hi, reinstallation done (well just the chipset drivers and GPU driver). The image attached shows the sitution now
Where in Disk Management can I find this abaility to do this?



PS. I moved the Sata Cable light blue to Sata3_0 and at the " Select Drive" install screen of Windows 7 no disc could be found (main hdd turned off), using Disk Part and LIST DISK etc showed nothing. I thought maybe due to the tight fit around the GPU in the PCIE 2 slot I had not been able to push it in all the way.

Either way I obtained out of the Asrock Z68 extreme mobo box a black sata cable which said 'optimised for 6gb/s Sata 3. This cable worked and the drive is now up and running.

I believe the boot sequence is CdRom the SSD then HDD

Just right click on E: (in Disk Management) and you will see.. There should be a 'Delete Volume'. Then right click again and 'Delete Partition". Then you can use the unallocated space to define new partitions.

If you do not need all the space at this time, I would define a partition that is smaller than the whole disk (just as much as you think you will need in the next frew months) and leave the rest unallocated for later use. Shrinking a big partition at a later time is always difficult (because of the MFT that sits high up in the partition) but extending an existing partition into freespace (to the right) is always very easy.

Originally Posted by whs

Just right click on E: (in Disk Management) and you will see.. There should be a 'Delete Volume'. Then right click again and 'Delete Partition". Then you can use the unallocated space to define new partitions.

If you do not need all the space at this time, I would define a partition that is smaller than the whole disk (just as much as you think you will need in the next frew months) and leave the rest unallocated for later use. Shrinking a big partition at a later time is always difficult (because of the MFT that sits high up in the partition) but extending an existing partition into freespace (to the right) is always very easy.

I right clicked and there was only another screen that said

" This is the active partition on this disk.All the data on the partition will be lost. Are you sure you want to delete this partition?"

Are you saying this operation will only delete the

• Windows,
• Windows Old
• Program Files
• Program Files x86
• Users folders

that you can see on the screenshot above? -- ie the folders placed there during my previous attempt to use the Windows install CD to repair the broken SSD. PS - did i miss any folders (ie what else would have Windows repair installed there)

All i want to do is remove all trace of this secondary OS install and otherwise leave the whole 1Tb disk as one big open drive. I dont really want to make a partition on it - it will slowly fill with movies, pics, etc. Unless there is some other benefit to partitioning.

This operation will wipe everything on the disk. So if you have any data of your own there, save it first. And if you want the whole 1TB to be only 1 partition, then use the whole space when you define the partition.

Experience only shows that it is useful (but not compulsory) not to allocate all the space on such a big disk to one single partition initially. It is always easier to extend a partition than to shrink it - in case you want a second partition for another purpose later. Your call though.