How do I ensure my secondary hard drive appears in Windows after I reformat the PC?

[lsquare]

I'm currently using a SSD+HDD setup. Every time I reformat the computer, the HDD won't appear in Windows. I'll have to go to Disk Management to manually add the drive. It's a bit strange why it does this. Is there no way to get Windows to automatically detect and add the drive?

 

[Coup27]

I am not sure why it's doing this. When you reformat you only want the SSD connected. Once you have installed Windows, turn off, reconnect the HDD and boot up.

It should then appear in My Computer. See if theres anything odd going on in BIOS, maybe relating to SATA hotswap..?

 

[lsquare]

I am not sure why it's doing this. When you reformat you only want the SSD connected. Once you have installed Windows, turn off, reconnect the HDD and boot up.

It should then appear in My Computer. See if theres anything odd going on in BIOS, maybe relating to SATA hotswap..?

Why would I need to disconnect the HDD when I go and reformat the SSD? It doesn't make any sense.

 

[Coup27]

Windows 7 has an odd bug when [sometimes] multiple drives are connected when installing Windows, it can place the boot files on a different drive to the one being installed on. So as a rule, if you only have the drive being installed to connected, this cannot happen. This bug has never happened to me but I have read about it.

I still would try what I said. I would also disable SATA hot swap on all ports as well and see if that helps. My Asus board defaults are hot swap disabled on all ports and I've never changed that or had an issue from it.

 

[thelastjuju]

Windows 7 has an odd bug when [sometimes] multiple drives are connected when installing Windows, it can place the boot files on a different drive to the one being installed on. So as a rule, if you only have the drive being installed to connected, this cannot happen. This bug has never happened to me but I have read about it.

I still would try what I said. I would also disable SATA hot swap on all ports as well and see if that helps. My Asus board defaults are hot swap disabled on all ports and I've never changed that or had an issue from it.

Weird, I've been having this bug ever since Windows XP.. you would think they would have long addressed this by now once the install is finalized.

But with this in mind, I always make sure to unplug ALL drives besides the one I'm formatting and installing Windows onto. THEN plug all secondary storage drives back in.

 

[corkyg]

It makes sense to me. A secondary drive has nothing to do with the reformatting of the system drive. It is always best to get them out of the line of fire, because it is not uncommon for folks to make mistakes. I guess, I don't trust software all that much. When I do a new install, I don't add peripherals until the main event is alive and well. I've never had a problem that way.

 

[Nothinman]

Why would I need to disconnect the HDD when I go and reformat the SSD? It doesn't make any sense.

Because it's safer. As mentioned, the Windows installer isn't that smart and can touch other drives during install and there's always a chance that you may format the wrong volume.

But what's the problem with having to add a drive letter to the drive after installing? It's a simple 10s process.

 

[Turbonium]

I agree that disconnecting drives you don't want modified is the best way to go. I've done it myself. It's not the most elegant or ideal solution, but it definitely works.