New build - 2nd HDD not seen by W7

[Bones206]

Hello,

I just finished building my new PC and have an odd question. I installed Windows 7 64bit Home Premium and the system boots just fine. However, when I click on "Computer" in the start menu, W7 is only seeing my SSD and not my HDD.

When I started installing W7, I was asked by the installation program on which drive I would like to install. I chose my SSD. Installation went smoothly yet it does not see that 2nd HDD. Interestingly, when I click on device manager, the 2nd HDD is listed and appears to be "working properly".

System specs:

Mobo: Intel DZ68BC
CPU: Intel i5 2500
SSD: Intel SSDSA2CW
HDD: Samsung HD103S

Both the drives are connected via SATA cables. The SSD is in a 3gb/s "SATA 0" slot, the HDD is in "SATA 1" and the optical drive is in "SATA 2".

Within the BIOS, under "Configuration" --> SATA drive:

Chipset SATA is enabled
Chipset SATA mode is AHCI
SATA ports 0 / 1 / 2 not installed (?)
SATA port 3 - optical drive
SATA port 4 Samsung HDD
SATA port 5 SSD

No SATA Hot Plug Capability is enabled.

The Secondary SATA is enabled in IDE mode.

What am I missing here? Do I have something plugged into the wrong SATA port? Why would it be seen in device manager and in the BIOS yet not seen when I look at "My Computer"?

Any suggestions are most appreciated.

 

[mcnumpty23]

go to start--type disk management in search--open the one that says create and format partitions

is your second disk listed?

has it been assigned a drive letter?--D for example

does right clicking it give the option initialise?

 

[Bones206]

Hi Mcnumpty23 - thanks for the quick reply.

When I did what you said, I get a window that opens. In the top section, there is the C drive listed (the SSD) with ~75gb free.

Under that is "system reserved" with no drive letter attached to it.

If I right click on that System Reserved one, I am given the options of "Change Drive Letter and Paths", "Format", Extend/Shrink/Delete Volume", "properties" and "help"

In the next section, Disk 0 is the SSD and listed as C

Under that is Disk 1 (the HDD) with no drive letter and it says in the box to the right of it " System reserved" 100mb NTFS with 931gb unallocated.

If I right click on the "Disk 1" section, I am given the choices of "Convert to dynamic disk" as well as "properties" and "help".

In the section that says "system reserved", if I right click, I am given the option of "new simple volume", "properties", and "help". The same goes for the 931gb of unallocated space.

Do I want to format that HDD? It's only showing 100mb as the capacity yet it's a 1tb drive. Do I need to "change letter and Paths"?

 

[mcnumpty23]

i take it its the 1tb we are dealing with then

is there any data you need on it as formatting it is not an option if its got all your lifes photos and music on it

 

[Bones206]

Correct - The system doesn't see that 1tb HDD.

This is a brand new build with all new components.

Am I safe to format it? Then assign it a drive letter?

 

[mcnumpty23]

yes

though new components shouldnt really have put the windows 7 reserved 100mb on the 1tb drive--but hey thats

windows for you

i always disconnect all hard drives except the one i want windows on during installation to avoid this kind of

thing--saves other drives being added to the mbr so if one goes tits up the others are ok

obviously make sure its the 1tb you format and create the new partition in and not drive c--shouldnt be able to do that anyway but i never take anything for granted with windows

and if it asks to initialise do so--though again the new partition shouldnt need to

then it should show up under my computer

 

[Bones206]

That did it. I now have the new drive with the free amount of GB showing up under my computer.

Many thanks mcnumpty.

 

[mcnumpty23]

you are welcome 😀

 

[BlendedSolids]

go to start--type disk management in search--open the one that says create and format partitions

is your second disk listed?

has it been assigned a drive letter?--D for example

does right clicking it give the option initialise?

You my friend are a genius !!!!!
I just did my first build and after a LONG NIGHT and morning, wont bore you with all the details, i finally got windows installed, after getting my DVD drive to be acknowledged. I thought i was good to go until i ran into same problem as OP. Ah man thank you sooooo much, and thank you to OP for asking the same question i needed answered. I realize this is an old post but i had to sign up here at Tomshardware just to thank you !!!

 

[mcnumpty23]

go to start--type disk management in search--open the one that says create and format partitions

is your second disk listed?

has it been assigned a drive letter?--D for example

does right clicking it give the option initialise?

You my friend are a genius !!!!!
I just did my first build and after a LONG NIGHT and morning, wont bore you with all the details, i finally got windows installed, after getting my DVD drive to be acknowledged. I thought i was good to go until i ran into same problem as OP. Ah man thank you sooooo much, and thank you to OP for asking the same question i needed answered. I realize this is an old post but i had to sign up here at Tomshardware just to thank you !!!

you are welcome--glad to help

 

[BlendedSolids]

Oh i almost forgot my specs.

Case:Corsair graphite white 600t
PSU:Corsair TX750
MB: Asus z87pro
CPU: i7 4770k haswell
Ram: Corsair 16GB Vengance
SSD: Corsair Neutron GTX 120GB ( boot drive )
HDD: WesternDigital Black 1 TB
GPU: GeForce 650Ti boost 2 GB
Monitor: Asus 23" HD HDMI

I dont plan on overclocking yet, if at all, so i went with stock cooler for now. I wanted the option to overclock so thats why i got what i did. I can always upgrade my cooler if i want to overclock. Anyway there it is my first build. Im so excited. Now i have to figure out what kind of virus protection to go with.
And of coarse OS : Win7 home premium. LOL