Windows 7 installer

[GoFigureItOut]

Does the Windows 7 installation has the option to create a partition table on a hard drive? I bought a new PC yesterday, and it didn't come with a HD so I purchased one separately. During the installation process, Windows couldn't find the hard drive. I had to take it out and create and format the drive with Gparted. If Windows does not allow such things, why limit it like that?

 

[rtwjunkie]

Did you identify the HDD as the boot drive in BIOS first?

Aside from that, yes, W7 does allow that, and I've done so many times. I'm not sure other than the BIOS question I posed what the problem could be, but I'm glad you sorted it. Putting an HDD on another PC to see it and to format is always a good check/follow up.

 

[GoFigureItOut]

It was found in the BIOS but it was set to RAID. I assumed that's why Windows wasn't able to find the single drive. So, I went back into the BIOS and changed it to: RAID Autodetect /AHCI; still no go. That's when I used gparted and after that it was enabled to install the drive. I remember the guy telling me that he used Dban or a similar program to wipe the drive clean.

 

[silentbogo]

That's a glitch in a built-in Windows installer partitioning mechanism. I had similar issue with a 2.5" laptop drive.
It was visible in BIOS, but not during Windows 7/8/10 installation.

If you encounter this problem in the future, you can solve it using diskpart - a command line partitioning software.
When you get to the installation screen either launch "Recovery tools" and select Command Prompt, or simply hit SHIFT+F10 and re-partition the drive by running diskpart.

If you are not comfortable with CMD, then just make 1 partition using diskpart, and then (once your disk becomes visible in installer), re-partition it the way you like using GUI.

P.S. There is one thing you need to know: if you try to use clean all command, it may take a few hours to complete. It performs NULL-formatting and takes approximately 1 hour per 320GB on mechanical HDD.

 

[Pill Monster]

It was found in the BIOS but it was set to RAID. I assumed that's why Windows wasn't able to find the single drive. So, I went back into the BIOS and changed it to: RAID Autodetect /AHCI; still no go. That's when I used gparted and after that it was enabled to install the drive. I remember the guy telling me that he used Dban or a similar program to wipe the drive clean.

It's because you don't have any drivers for the RAID controller. Set it to AHCI.

Edit, just noticed your very old board....might have to use SATA/IDE mode unless u can slipstream the AHCI drivers.

Edit 2: Is this a fresh install or OEM reinstall?
You don't need to format the drive before installing a new OS from scratch, it's done automatically.