Windows 7 and Intel SSD installation.

[sap86]

Alright I've been having this problem with my SSD. I want to use it as only my operating system HDD. So I try and install Windows 7 x64 on it. And Im not getting any HDD to show up when I'm attempting the install. I've been having this problem ever since I got it. WIndows installed just fine on my 1 TB HDD, but wont even give me an option to install on the SDD. I dont have the HDD connected when I attempt to install the SDD. When I'm in windows 7 from the HDD i can plug in my SSD and it recognizes it at this stage, but not when I'm trying to install windows on it.

This is my first system build, so I'm trying to get in as much education on this experience as I can. My system is as follows, just in case it matters:

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R
Intel Core i7-920
SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770
Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive
G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB)
Samsung 1TB HDD

So I dont know if I'm missing something, or need something for the Boot disk to recognize the SSD, my bios is completely updated so I dont know what else to do. Is there a workaround? The SSD has more than enough room to use windows 7 Pro, which uses what like 15 GB, so it shouldn't be a problem in that respect.

Thanks in advance

 

[gracefully]

I'm assuming you are connecting the SSD via a SATA connection. Did you put both the SATA data cable and the SATA power cable? Is your SATA controller configured as IDE or AHCI? I think the SSD prefers the AHCI configuration, just set it in your BIOS.

 

[sap86]

whats the difference between ANCI and IDE for SATA connection?

 

[gracefully]

AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) is the newer interface used in modern controllers. Although the controller can still run in IDE (or "Compatibility") mode, doing so will make the new advancements unavailable to you, such as Native Command Queuing (NCQ), which increases drive performance, and other things. I suggest you set the SATA operation mode to AHCI, since drives you can buy these days all support it.

I looked it up, and found out that you indeed have to set the SATA operation mode to AHCI if you don't want to load the SSD's driver CD before installation. Putting the controller in IDE mode will necessitate the SSD's drivers, which you can find on the driver CD. In AHCI mode, this is not the case.

 

[sminlal]

Windows 7 includes the Intel X58 chipset drivers used on that motherboard, and they support SATA drives in IDE, AHCI or RAID mode. No separate driver disc should be needed.

I'm not sure what the problem is - did you try using the "Advanced" option in the window that lets you choose where to install Windows? And just to confirm:

- you're booting from directly from the Windows 7 DVD with nothing but the SSD connected to the SATA ports?

- the SSD is connected to the motherboard via a SATA data cable and also connected to the power supply via a SATA power cable?

 

[sub mesa]

For IDE you never need a driver; this works in MS-DOS.
For AHCI, you either need drivers (Windows XP RTM) or you need an OS that supports AHCI out of the box (any modern OS minus several windows releases).

After having installed Windows, changing the SATA transfer mode from IDE to AHCI or the other way around may lead to blue screens. In Linux, changing this option wouldn't cause any problems.