Trying to add second ssd, not getting it to work

[Brian JK]

I built a rig on a 120 gb pny ssd and I want to migrate everything to a larger 240 gb sandisk ssd. my mb is a Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI.

when I try to boot up the computer with the second ssd connected, it's not being recognized. it also loads slowly and shuts down slowly.

I'm not really familiar with RAID or which SATA ports to use on the mb. I plan to only use the 240 gb ssd once i'm done. Help please?

 

[cin19]

1) You need format the new 240GB SSD, here is how to ( for win7) http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/format-hard-drive-windows-7.htm
2) After format the ssd, then install the EZ gig IV from sandisk to clone the OS from 120GB ssd to 240GB. http://downloads.sandisk.com/downloads/um/ssd-install-guide.pdf
3) After you done the cloning, switch the SSD, make sure you connector the 240GB SSD into the 1st SATAII port, you need to check the motherboard manual.
4) If you don't do the Tweaks / Optimization SSD yet, try it from the "Useful SSD Articles - Part 2" http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/270102-32-useful-articles-part

If the sandisk cloning software doesn't work, you can try other like EaseUS Partition Master 10.1 to clone. http://www.easeus.com/partition-manager/

 

[Brian JK]

1) You need format the new 240GB SSD, here is how to ( for win7) http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/format-hard-drive-windows-7.htm

Thanks, I'm kinda worried because I don't see the second drive when I'm in the BIOS. Also, if it matters, it's set to AHCI.

Is there a certain sata socket I should use for the two drives?

 

[cin19]

The boot SSD drive should be in the 1st SATAIII port, also you should set to ahci mode for SSD.
If you don't see the 2nd SSD in the BIOS, it may have problem, usually it will show in the BIOS even you don't format it yet. You can try it in other PC if you have one, or try connect it to other SATAIII port.

 

[Brian JK]

The boot SSD drive should be in the 1st SATAIII port, also you should set to ahci mode for SSD.
If you don't see the 2nd SSD in the BIOS, it may have problem, usually it will show in the BIOS even you don't format it yet. You can try it in other PC if you have one, or try connect it to other SATAIII port.

does it matter where the second drive goes? it's not showing up in bios or device manager. I'm wondering if the drive was doa,,,

 

[cin19]

It does not matter which SATA port you plug it in, it should show up in the bios.
If the SSD doesn't show up either in the bios or device manager, you can try to connect it to other computer. If it still doesn't show up, and you are sure it is the DOA. And you should contact sandisk.