Windows 7 64Bit not seeing HDD in Setup.

[jeffleroux]

Good Day.

I have just bought a new PC.

I am trying to Install Windows 7 64-bit.

I set the DVD drive to boot, windows starts to run setup mode, asks for language/keyboard/country, then, just when it wants to ask what disk you wanna install to, i run into this problem...

I am currently stuck on a screen, where the install program asks me for drivers of the HDD where I must install my OS onto. I only have a couple of buttons, NEW FORMAT DELETE. They are greyed out. I cannot see the HDD where I must install my OS onto. I think it is unformatted and unpartitioned.

CPU: Amd Vishera Socket AM3+ FX-9590 Black Edition 8xCore 5Ghz
VGA: NVIDIA Geforce 970 GTX 4GB
RAM: DDR3 HyperX 16GB
HDD: 3TB SATA III 7200rpm 6Gbps
OS: Windows 7 64-bit

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there jeffleroux,

It is possible that the problem you are facing is caused by a drive issue. I would advise you to run some HDD diagnostic check on it. If your BIOS has this function, you can perform the test from the BIOS. If not, I guess you should test the drive on another computer that already has OS installed on.
Apart from that, you can try some basic stuff like reseating the drive, swapping cables and ports.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[udit1311]

Or you could select the "Repair my Computer" option instead of "Install Windows"

Select “Command Prompt”

Type diskpart and press enter.
Enter list disk and note the number of the disk you want to install on.
Enter select disk n n is the number of the disk.
Enter list partition and note the number of the partition you want to install on.
Enter select partition n n is the number of the partition.
Enter active
You can now close the command prompt and re-attempt installation.

In case that doesn't work either you could try changing the SATA setting in the BIOS to AHCI, or IDE if AHCI is already set.

 

[jeffleroux]

Hi there jeffleroux,

It is possible that the problem you are facing is caused by a drive issue. I would advise you to run some HDD diagnostic check on it. If your BIOS has this function, you can perform the test from the BIOS. If not, I guess you should test the drive on another computer that already has OS installed on.
Apart from that, you can try some basic stuff like reseating the drive, swapping cables and ports.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[jeffleroux]

Thanks, but the drive is fine. Shows that it's happy in the BIOS. It even showed up in the "Where do you want to install windows" window that shows you the drives available. I think I deleted the partition. Oops. I remember it was 3TB but unallocated. When i tried to reallocate it and format it, it disappeared. I now want to use a DOD window to format it but i'm no expert. I think I should use DiskPart and Format /q

 

[jeffleroux]

Or you could select the "Repair my Computer" option instead of "Install Windows"

Select “Command Prompt”

Type diskpart and press enter.
Enter list disk and note the number of the disk you want to install on.
Enter select disk n n is the number of the disk.
Enter list partition and note the number of the partition you want to install on.
Enter select partition n n is the number of the partition.
Enter active
You can now close the command prompt and re-attempt installation.

In case that doesn't work either you could try changing the SATA setting in the BIOS to AHCI, or IDE if AHCI is already set.

Ok, this is what i needed. DISKPART, i will try to use that, delete any partitions and reformat. However the repair doesnt work. Also the 3TB partition is now split between a 2TB and 700GB, very annoying. I have heard that i can use DISKWISE from the ASUS website. Which can apparently format HDD's 3TB and above so that the partitions are one piece, not 2 frikken pieces.

Also my BIOS is EFI/UEFI. So it supports 3TB Drives.

 

[jeffleroux]

It worked, thanx udit1311!!!!!!

Also, it helps to use the right SATA 6Gbps cables. I had an old SATA HDD and DVDCDROM drive with old/red SATA cables. Sorted. 🙂

 

[udit1311]

It worked, thanx udit1311!!!!!!

Also, it helps to use the right SATA 6Gbps cables. I had an old SATA HDD and DVDCDROM drive with old/red SATA cables. Sorted. 🙂

Good to hear it's working.

 

[jeffleroux]

Oh no, the 3TB HDD cannot be used to install Windows 8.1, not even when using a EUFI BIOS. Windows simply says it cannot be installed. I am upset, I bought this drive thinking it will run my OS. Nowhere does it say, anywhere, that Win8.1 is not compatible. As a final solution, I had to use my old 500GB HDD as the OS installation, and then the 3TB drive as the data drive for my games. This is not fair, but it's life.

Here is the link for the HDD where I bought it from.

http://www.zapsonline.com/more-than-1-tb/53946-seagate-st3000dm001-barracuda-7200-rpm-3tb-64mb-cache-hard-drive.html

 

[D_Know_WD]

Are the partitions formatted to GPT? If not, you should do so.
Check these out:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn336946.aspx
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1652352/format-hdd-gpt.html

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD