Win7 install on new SSD fails with existing raids. Need help please.

[webintrigue]

Setup: (5 Drives total)
Main drive - SSD for windows install
Raid set 1 - 2 WD VelociRaptor 10,000RPM SATA for speed/performance
Raid set 2 - 2 WD drives for data storage

Problem:
Main drive failed and am replacing it with another SSD. Using a CD for Windows install first would stop installation immediately stating it was missing CD/DVD drivers. Using a USB stick instead and can get to the point to where it wants me to select a drive, no hard drives show up in the installation window. I can see all the hard drives in the BIOS, but the Windows installation sees none and cannot proceed with the new installation.

Does having the raid drives still enabled create an issue for Windows installation to not see any drives at all? The installation asks for the drivers and the only search option is the USB stick, or a Boot drive X:\ that I am unsure where that is coming from and contains Windows, but no drivers. Would the raid drives again be interfering with this?

Another issue that popped up on this ASUS MB, is the DRAM LED comes on at boot up and nothing fires off. After restarting a couple times, the light turns off and then the computer fires up. I thought that this was a RAM issue, so to be safe, I bought a new complete set of RAM and installed it, but the same issue comes up. So not quite sure what else could be causing that now. Would this be related in anyway to the issue above for installation?

Any help would be greatly appreciated since I've tried so much on my own and not getting anywhere now.

 

[Emerald]

the reason you don't see any drives is that Windows7 does not include the driver for AHCI and RAID. Check the ASUS website for the install drivers for AHCI/RAID.

Download the drivers, extract them to a second USB stick, and load the drivers at the screen where you are suppose to select the drive.

Once the drivers are loaded, you might have to click the Refresh button for the drives to show.

 

[Digital Lie]

I've done a similar set up in the past, you'll need to get the drivers from the manufacturer or from an installation disk for your hard drives. I seem to remember the easiest option is to put them on a usb stick but im sure you could do CD as well. This can be a bit of a headache if you didn't know this before hand and don't have easy access to the drivers.

As for your DRAM LED problem, try each stick on its own and try and see if it is related to a particular stick or ram slot. If its not the memory it could be your motherboard. There are similar threads on this here if you look around:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1806674/asus-motherboard-dram-led-solid-red.html

 

[webintrigue]

the reason you don't see any drives is that Windows7 does not include the driver for AHCI and RAID. Check the ASUS website for the install drivers for AHCI/RAID.

Download the drivers, extract them to a second USB stick, and load the drivers at the screen where you are suppose to select the drive.

Once the drivers are loaded, you might have to click the Refresh button for the drives to show.

That worked, in fact I was able to get that to also work on the old SSD and repair Windows, sort of. I'm thinking if I make a mirror image, then I can transfer that drive data to the new SSD (much larger size), would that be correct? This way it doesn't file lock the files on the raid drives and deny me access to them.

 

[webintrigue]

I've done a similar set up in the past, you'll need to get the drivers from the manufacturer or from an installation disk for your hard drives. I seem to remember the easiest option is to put them on a usb stick but im sure you could do CD as well. This can be a bit of a headache if you didn't know this before hand and don't have easy access to the drivers.

As for your DRAM LED problem, try each stick on its own and try and see if it is related to a particular stick or ram slot. If its not the memory it could be your motherboard. There are similar threads on this here if you look around:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1806674/asus-motherboard-dram-led-solid-red.html

I did replace all the sticks with brand new ones, so I'll try the other trouble shooting ideas too, thanks.