Windows 7 Clean Reinstallation gone wrong. Urgent help needed, please.

[Nunusaur]

Hello!

So I'd gotten my PC built a year ago. I have two hard drives; one's an SSD for the OS, another is a WD Black Caviar for storage purpose only. My PC had recently gotten quite slow so I decided to do a clean reinstallation (reformatting my storage hard drive as well, just to be on the safe side). Though, I thought I'd deal with the SSD first, and reformat my 2TB storage hard drive later, once the OS would be reinstalled.

When I was on the installation screen, here's what it said:
Disk 0 Partition 1: 2TB
Disk 1 Partition 1: System Reserved
Disk 1 Partition 2: System

I deleted the Disk 1 Partition 1: System Reserved and Disk 1 Partition 2: System and proceeded to install Windows 7 on it. It however went wrong. This is what it looks like now:

The System Reserved partition is gone. And after I tried installing drives for my graphic and etc, my storage hard drive got these files installed on it which I do not know of:

Where did I go wrong? I have all my files backed up, so I can reformat my storage hard drive if need be.

When on the installation screen, should I delete all partitions, including my storage drive? And install the OS on my SSD first, then reformat my storage hard drive on the installation screen once that's done, just so no files are accidentally installed on the storage hard drive?

I've done clean installations before and have had no problem, not sure what's going on here. Why does the 2TB hard drive show as "System, Active, Primary Partition"? Shouldn't it simply say "Primary Partition" if it's for storage and has no OS files on it?

Help would be greatly appreciated, would save me from having to carry it all the way to the guy's shop who got this PC built for me and spending extra money for a clean reinstallation. Thanking you very much for your time!

 

[theog]

1) Remove the 2tb HDD, & reformat later.
2) Make the SSD disk 0.
3) Reinstall to SSD, or do a Startup Repair.
4) Refit the 2tb HDD & format.

 

[Nunusaur]

1) Remove the 2tb HDD, & reformat later.
2) Make the SSD disk 0.
3) Reinstall to SSD, or do a Startup Repair.
4) Refit the 2tb HDD & format.

Thank you for your reply, but could you expand a little for me, please? I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to hardware. Do I unplug the 2TB HDD? How do I make the SSD disk 0? Thank you!

 

[AddRAM]

Yes, unplug the 2 TB drive, then make sure the ssd is plugged into sata port 1 on the motherboard. The writing will be small but you should be able to read it.

Then install windows on the ssd. Don`t worry about having a system reserved partition, you don`t need it. Make sure you format the ssd before you install windows on it. Just choose drive options and you`ll see the option to format the ssd. After it`s formatted, click next and the install will start.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

Always unplug any other hard drives when you do an install, you can hook them up later.

 

[Nunusaur]

Do I have to switch my SSD from Disk 1 to Disk 0? Quick question about this: What difference does it make if my SSD is on Disk 1 instead of 0, and storage hard drive on Disk 0? I'd like to know just incase I end up having to go up to the guy who built it for me.

Is there any other way around this? I don't trust myself with opening up my CPU and touching wires. I've never done it before. How about I delete my 2TB Hard drive when I'm on the installation screen so it shows as "Unallocated", and then reformat my SSD, and do a clean install again? And then later reformat my 2TB Hard Drive once the OS is already installed.

Thank you once again.

 

[Nunusaur]

Another quick question (sorry!): If the guy who built this PC for me has connected my 2TB Hard Drive to SATA port 1, is that a mistake? Should my SSD have been on SATA port 1 for it to be shown as Disk 0? I'm asking so if I take my PC to him, I can make a complaint to him if it is a mistake of his. Never had an issue with installing an OS before, and this might be the reason why. He'll probably ask me to pay another 75 euros for a reinstallation and if it his mistake, I don't know if I should have to pay this much for something he's at fault for.

 

[AddRAM]

Once you unplug the 2 TB drive the ssd will automatically be disk 0, once you plug the 2 TB drive back in it will then be disk 0

If you don`t want to put the ssd on sata port 1 on the motherboard then don`t, it`s nothing to worry about.

And I would not pay anyone for something so simple. Leave it the way it is.

We are giving you free advice on how to fix your issue, but if you don`t want to do the work then we can`t help you, if it`s working fine for you then just leave it the way it is.

 

[gregrocker]

If you don't trust opening the case there is a workaround to achieve what you need to do.

You will need to use Windows Image Burner to burn a CD of free Partition Wizard . These steps can also be done from the installed version of PW although having the disk gives you rescueabilty.

Boot the CD using the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key, rightclick I to Modify>Set to Inactive, click OK. Then rightclick I again to Modify>Set to Primary, OK. Apply both steps.

Next rightclick C to Modify>Set to Active, click OK. Highlight the C drive and from the Disk tab select Rebuild MBR, click OK. Apply both steps.

Exit Partition Wizard, replace the disk with Win7 installation disk, boot into Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times until Win7 starts and the System flag now appears on the C partition - since I is now Logical it cannot accept the System Boot files or the Active flag which shows where to place them.

Let us know if this works. If not there are other workarounds, or you can Clean Install Windows 7 to Disk1 now without worry since the boot files will not be able to be written to the data drive since it is Logical.

Look over the steps also for Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which compile everything that works best to get and keep a perfect install, even for retail.