Added new/old HDs and now I get 'Reboot and Select Proper Media.'

ChrisPbass said:

It has not booted since this thread. I turned it on(hesitate to say boot) and missed the bios and it booted up!
Nevertheless, I am in the bios now and what I saw as sata/ IDE is in fact 'on chip sata type -sata'. Options are sata,IDE or raid. Should I switch it to ahci?
The only other thing related to sata is On chip sata enabled (directly above sata type). And sata power which is all on?

Edit: I loaded optimal settings in the bios and rebooted and on chip sata stayed IDE.

SATA / IDE / RAID translates to AHCI mode / Legacy IDE mode / RAID mode (if you have 2 identical disks and want to combine in one larger or mirror for data safety). For a single drive RAID mode is almost always the same as AHCI mode. Read my earlier reply for the difference about IDE and AHCI. I have seen that if Windows XP and newer is installed in IDE mode, you can safely change to AHCI and restart. If lucky Windows will start, replace the hard disk drivers to comply with the new mode and you are good to go. The opposite (Windows installed in AHCI mode and you switch to IDE) will most probably produce a blue screen of death and it's not recommended as you lose in performance. That's why AHCI mode is preferred for SSD disks. Not that they don't work in IDE mode, but you have maximum performance only in AHCI mode.

The driver that you mention must be for Windows XP so it enables all features (eg trim support). You probably don't need it for Windows Vista or newer. And certainly is not a SATA driver for your controller, so you cannot use it to identify the disk. Windows should see the disk automatically using build-in Microsoft drivers, assuming the disk has no problems.

TVeblen said:

It would be good to know what you are using for a motherboard.

You most likely have the newer UEFI BIOS. You would select the Windows Boot Manager as your first boot device normally.

If you have been making a lot of changes in the UEFI/BIOS then it might be a good idea to "Load Optimized Defaults" and start again. Note any necessary changes you need, but leave everything else alone until you are completely set up.

Some questions:

• In your BIOS, do you have your SATA Configuration > SATA Mode set to AHCI?
• On the 3TB spinner: Is there a small 100MB or 200MB "System" partition? (In a standard Windows installation this partition will be created and used to keep the Windows Boot Manager. If you delete C: you should delete that one at the same time.)
• Do you know if your SSD was initialized as a MBR or GPT drive?

It's a dual bios but I'm using legacy.
I don't know if you missed it or if you want more information but I said the 'on-chip sata' was set to IDE. It can be set to IDE, AHCI or Raid. (not trying to be snarky just saying that is all the info in the bios) I assume I need to set it to AHCI and was told to have the sandisk driver ready but the driver is an EXE and I'm not sure how to supply that if asked by the OS. I started to run it and the exe wanted to install the drivers. (not a shock). Basically, I'm a tad nervous about switching modes. (not a HUGE deal as I could just reinstall)

It's a gigabyte a75m ds2 w/dual bios. I want nothing to do w/UEFI because, obviously, I'm new to this and I only know enough to be dangerous

Yes, the 3tb that has win 7 installed has the 100/200mb windows partition.
SSD is GPT. Windows must have formatted it that way. I do not remember doing that.

If this is a new build and it would not be a huge hassle then it is a better idea to reinstall Windows in AHCI Mode. It just avoids any problems dealing with the manual installation of drivers. It will just simplify things for you.

• Leave the SDD formatted GPT
• Disconnect all extra hard drives before installing Windows - only the SSD attached.
• Simplify your system. Only essential components installed. Install additional components after Windows Installation.
• Go into the BIOS and set the SATA Mode to AHCI before installing.
• Then install Windows as usual.

You need to delete that 100/200mb Windows Partition on the 3TB drive if you have deleted the Windows partition on it. Do not connect that drive until you have done so. Best to do that now, before you start the next project.


You motherboard either uses a UEFI BIOS or it does not. You don't get to choose yes or not after purchase.
It does not mean anything to the average user. It is the same old stuff in a new package to most folks.


Windows 7 contains an AHCI drive native. If your system is set to AHCI, Windows will install the correct driver automatically on a clean install.


Post back if you need more info.

Thank you for your help.

FYI; here's Gigabyte's spam:

Hybrid EFI Technology combines the benefits of GIGABYTE's mature BIOS platform including stability and compatibility with 3rd party products with 3TB+ HDD support from EFI technology, allowing GIGABYTE to offer the best of both worlds through a quick and easy BIOS update using GIGABYTE's @BIOS utility that is freely available from the GIGABYTE website.
GIGABYTE DualBIOS™ is a patented technology that automatically recovers BIOS data when the main BIOS has crashed or failed. Featuring 2 physical BIOS ROMs integrated onboard, GIGABYTE DualBIOS™ allows quick and seamless recovery from BIOS damage or failure due to viruses or improper BIOS updating. In addition, GIGABYTE DualBIOS™ now supports 3TB+ (terabyte) hard drive booting without the need for partitioning, and enables more data storage on a single hard drive.

Don't you just love marketing?

So here is the translation:
You have a modern BIOS based on EFI Technology. UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface. It is the industry standard combining a couple of different EFI schemes into one standard everyone could use.
Gigabyte makes it sound like they invented it just for their motherboards.
Good for them!

Dual BIOS is a great feature. Like the ad copy says, it will help recover you from dumb mistakes and (theoretical) boot sector virus. (virii?).

For clean install set the disk to AHCI mode, connect only the SSD to avoid accidentally deleting data from the other disks. Also if you have more than one disks installed and you mess with the priority, there are chances that Windows is not the first disk C: but D: or whatever else. This is very confusing and annoying and could give you compatibility issues with applications that assume they are always installed in C: drive. So disconnect all the other disks including card readers etc and leave only the DVD-RW and the SSD to avoid such issues. In the old good MBR (Master Boot Record) partition system (compatible with older version of Windows) you can use up to 2TB single partitions. Inevitably you have to split a 3TB or 4TB hard disk into two partitions. In the new GPT (GUID Partition Table) system (Vista and newer only) you can have a single partition up to 16TB (I think?) So use AHCI mode and GPT partirtioning for the newest and best configuration. As long as you have finished installing Windows on SSD, you can reconnect the other disks (make sure you set the priority in BIOS so SSD is the first). Since D: is the DVD-RW they will take drive letters as E:, F: etc. If you, like me, prefer all disks first and then DVD-RW, you can change drive letters from Disk Management. Ask if you are interested in more details. And to help you avoid common mistakes that could lead to problems, when installing drivers you must first of all install the chipset drivers and then graphics etc. This is because other drivers could make modifications to the system devices configuration and if you install chipset after them you cancel all these modifications and ask for trouble... This is not too common in Vista and newer, but in XP and especially earlier Windows this could screw all the system and make you do a format! So beware!

One other thought:

Whenever I do this kind of chore (reinstalling Windows on a hard drive already containing Windows) I like to do a true "Clean" Installation. Again, it just eliminates any of the annoying problems that might happen otherwise.

What you will want to do (immediately before installing windows, preparing as listed above) is boot from your installation disk, get to a Command Prompt, Run DISKPART utility, and clean (delete) the SSD of everything installed previously. To be very thorough, you could Wipe the drive using the "Clean All" command, but in your case (new install, not a lot of stuff) you would be just fine using the "Clean" command.

Instructions Here:

To boot from your Installation DVD:
Command Prompt at Startup

To Run the DISKPART Commands:
Disk - Clean and Clean All with Diskpart Command

To Install Win 7 Clean (for Upgrade, but it's all the same):
Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

One thing: I think you can install clean over the old copy from the installation window at the point where it asks "Where do You Want To Install Windows?". Here you can go advanced and then format the Drive.
For some reason (OCD) I like the other method better.

TVeblen said:

Don't you just love marketing?

So here is the translation:
You have a modern BIOS based on EFI Technology. UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface. It is the industry standard combining a couple of different EFI schemes into one standard everyone could use.
Gigabyte makes it sound like they invented it just for their motherboards.
Good for them!

Dual BIOS is a great feature. Like the ad copy says, it will help recover you from dumb mistakes and (theoretical) boot sector virus. (virii?).

Speaking of dumb mistakes. I unplugged everything but the sSD and a DVD and it won't LOAD THE DVD (I'm trying hard not to smash my keyboard here....). giving me the REBOOT and select proper media!!!!


I cannot get around this BIOS> It's not my first BIOS but I can't figure out how to move the boot devices. Manual/internet says select the device and hit +/- but nothing happens. I'm baffled.
I'm posting on the gigabyte board but no one is giving any help.