Windows 7 not detecting Hard Drive

ncheong

New member
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12:01 AM
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So I built a computer 2 months ago, and was doing fine until one night it turned off suddenly, and when I tried to log in it gave me a black screen. So after hours and days of trying to fix it, I decided to use a program to save the important data from the hard drive (Seagate Barracuda 1TB) and format it so I can do a clean install.

I formatted it and was healthy and fine, so I attempted to install Windows 7 Ultimate x64 via USB boot. When I got to the step where I was to choose a hard drive to install it to, my hard drive was not shown. So I again searched for an answer, where I stupidly tried to "Clean All" in disk part. I waited a very long time (6 hours) and it did not look like it changed, so i Ctrl-c'ed and stopped it. Now I cannot explore the hard drive, and it does not show up in windows. If I go to disk management, it says, "You must initialize a disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it." Image attached. And right after it says, "The operation cannot be completed because the disk is being cleaned". I cannot remove the USB cord that connects to the hard drive as it says it is in use and i do not want to damage it.

I am confused and tired and am getting frustrated. Please help me if you can and thank you.
I can supply more pictures and information if needed.

My Specs:

Intel Core i5-3570 - CPU
Gigabyte GA-H77M-D3H LGA1155 - Mother Board
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 - Memory
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM - Storage
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB - Video Card
Antec 520W ATX12V / EPS12V - Power Supply

Thank you in advance.
 

Attachments

  • cleaning.png
    cleaning.png
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  • initialize.png
    initialize.png
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Last edited:

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Hello Theog,

Firstly, thank you for your reply. It has successfully formatted my hard drive, and is now readable by my computer.

However, I am following the steps in the first link you gave me, and am stuck at step 6. It tells me that I should have 3 partitions. When I follow step 5, I am only given the system partition and the other partition which holds the rest of the space. I am missing the "MSR (Reserved)" partition shown in the screenshot. I am confused on what to do here.

Thank you in advance.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Post a shot of the current disk management status.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Skylake Special #666
OS
Windows 10 Pro x64
CPU
Intel Core i7 6700K
Motherboard
Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1
Memory
GSkill TridentZ RGB 16GB 3600 16-16-16-36
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GTX 980 Ti SC x2
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition
Monitor(s) Displays
AOC G2460PG
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080 144Hz
Hard Drives
Samsung 860 Pro 256GB, Seagate Barracuda 4TB x2
PSU
EVGA 1000 P2, EVGA White Custom Braided Cables
Case
Corsair Vengeance C70 Gunmetal Black
Cooling
Corsair H100i v2, Corsair ML120 x2, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut
Keyboard
Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum
Mouse
Logitech G700s
Internet Speed
Verizon Fios Quantum Gateway 75/75
Antivirus
Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Free 3.8.3
Browser
Chrome
Other Info
Corsair SP120 x4, LG Blu-ray Drive, Durabrand HT-395 100 Watt Dolby Digital Amp, Corsair H2100 Wireless 7.1 Headset
Hello Theog,

Firstly, thank you for your reply. It has successfully formatted my hard drive, and is now readable by my computer.

However, I am following the steps in the first link you gave me, and am stuck at step 6. It tells me that I should have 3 partitions. When I follow step 5, I am only given the system partition and the other partition which holds the rest of the space. I am missing the "MSR (Reserved)" partition shown in the screenshot. I am confused on what to do here.

Thank you in advance.

Reboot the PC, than initialize.

Delete all partitions in Drive Options.

Windows 8 Downgrade-008 SB-1.PNG

Than click on NEW.

Windows 8 Downgrade-012 SB.PNG

Boot DVD in uEFI mode.
Windows 8 Downgrade-006 SB for posting.PNG
 

My Computer

OS
ME/XP/Vista/Win7
Thank you for you reply,

When I click on new it only makes 2 partitions,
Disk 0 Partition 1: System Reserved (100 MB Total Size) (86 MB Free Space) Type: System
Disk 0 Partition 2 (931.4 GB Total Size) (931.4 GB Free Space) Type: Primary

I have booted it as UEFI, I have deleted all partitions before pressing NEW, and I have no idea what to do.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
I have got a question, do I have to boot via UEFI? or can I just legacy boot it? What are the benefits?
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Some reading to understand UEFI which is relatively new and presents a whole new set of problems with installs and repairs here we are only now getting familar with:
The 30-year-long Reign of BIOS is Over: Why UEFI W... - Input Output
Technical Note: UEFI BIOS vs. Legacy BIOS - YouTube

Many users here have had problems that were resolved only by installing with Legacy BIOS as described in Bypass UEFI to Install WIn7.

To install with UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums
 
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