Set it to AHCI and leave it there, your Windows 7 installer is bad if it asks for drivers.
Put your iso file on the usb stick using wintobootic, It works perfectly.
Make sure booting from a usb device is enabled in the bios.
Use your 1 time boot menu key to bring up the boot menu, then use the arrow key to move down to the usb drive. Then hit enter.
Bootable Partition Manger | MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable Edition
Well, I WAS feeling enthusiastic about trying that AHCI option. I shut the PC down... unplugged the small HDD... moved the 1tb up to the first SATA... Booted up... tried to install... didn't work.Opened the PC back up... moved the cables back... rebooted... OS can't boot(Yay)!! Launch repair tool... "Windows could not repair"... reboot... retry (a couple times)... etc...
I'm so sick and tired of trying to figure this out. Screw it... so I left both HDD plugged in, restarted the installation, formated the 150gb as a single partition and started the reinstall on it.
I just finished re-installing Chrome so I could come here and post this update. I'm running windows update now to get things back to normal. I suppose I'm resigned to this as a solution, at least for now. I'll just figure out how to make due with a 150gb primary drive and an additional 1tb storage drive, which is still far better than what the OEM reseller left me with originally.
I do appreciate the help guys. thanks.
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