Posted: 5/16/2013 5:16:45 AM EDT
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I have 4 hard drives (all 2 TB) in my computer running windows 7. I want to do a fresh install on the drive that has the OS on it now. I know I can unplug the other drives but is there a way to tell during the install which drive is which? I do have them named, will that show up? thanks |
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Always unplug all the other drives. I didn't the first time I installed Windows 7, and Windows decided to put the boot loader on a different drive than the one I chose for the OS install. This made it so that both drives were required to be present in the system for it to boot, and I couldn't format the second drive, or my system would be hosed. I researched the issue, and I found other people who had been bit by this. Windows decides using some kind of internal algorithm which drive to put the boot loader on, and it is not guaranteed to be the drive you selected as your OS drive, and the user has absolutely no control over the selection process. Disconnect the other drives, and you force Windows to use the same drive. |
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Quoted:
I have 4 hard drives (all 2 TB) in my computer running windows 7. I want to do a fresh install on the drive that has the OS on it now. I know I can unplug the other drives but is there a way to tell during the install which drive is which? I do have them named, will that show up? thanks You can probably tell them apart but I wouldn't take the risk. Whenever installing a new OS I always disconnect all the extra drives. I don't want the install process going sideways and overwriting one of my data partitions. Just give yourself the safety net and move on. |
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Usually during the install, you will be prompted to select which partition you want the OS installed onto. If there are multiple drives, they will be listed. This is also the section of the install where, if desired, you can create new partitions or blow away old ones.
That being said, it's generally easier to do exactly what others have said. Disconnect all but the drive you want the OS on, and run the install. You'll be given only one disk to select from (how you partition it, though, is completely up to you). _MaH |
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As everyone has already posted, DISCONNECT the drives. If wanting good information on the hardware in your system, then go grab the freeware tool hwinfo. Before you do a fresh install, get factory wipe tool, wipe to zero and then install as this is the only way it is "fresh." |