Windows 7 Win7 not recognizing additional drives

[Tacky]

Hi all,

I just built my first computer - I'll try to be as detailed as possible, but if I miss something please feel free to ask. I am using an ASUS P7P55D-E Motherboard, Intel X25M 80gb SSD, and a WD 1Tb HDD. I do not have an optical drive, so I installed Win7 + ran other installation CDs (wifi card, mobo, graphics card) via USB drive (16GB Kingston). The USB drive showed up in BIOS, was booted from and everything worked great with it and the OS was loaded to my SSD.

Here's the issue, under my computer I cannot see the 1TB drive. Under the BIOS the drive is visible (SATA1 for SSD and SATA2 for HDD). I can also go under Disk Managment and see Disk 1 is my 1TB drive (unformatted) and Disk 0 is my SSD. If I right click the WD drive I get no options (all greyed) except "Convert to Dynamic..." or something similar (aka the solution to "change drive name and paths" does not show). So I probably have to reformat this drive, but not exactly sure how.

Here's the 2nd issue. I decided I'd continue installing stuff - and wanted to transfer a bunch of files from another computer. A great job for my 250gb WD external USB HDD. I plug that bad boy in and it doesn't show under my computer. This time under disk manager it shows as Disk 2, it shows healthy partitions and appears just like my SSD - but I right click and don't have the change drive name and paths option, only change to dynamic memory and I think reformat this drive (obviously don't want to do).

Any help or suggestion? Thanks!

//edit
Got the WD 1TB working, right click and partition into new volume! This wording was sort of misleading as I just understood "partition" as separate into parts... but apparently 1 part is still a "partition"!

Now to figure out this external hdd... hmm

 

[ChatGPT]

It's great to hear that you've made progress with your WD 1TB drive! Let's work on resolving the issue with your external WD 250GB USB HDD.

Issue with External WD 250GB USB HDD:​

1. Drive Not Visible: If the external drive is not appearing in "My Computer" but is visible in Disk Management and shows healthy partitions, it might just need a drive letter assigned to it.
2. Assigning Drive Letter: Here's how you can assign a drive letter to the external HDD:
   • Right-click on the drive in Disk Management.
   • Select "Change Drive Letter and Paths..."
   • Click "Add" and assign a new drive letter to the external HDD.

     Additional Tips for External HDD:​

     • Check for Updates: Ensure your Windows system and drivers are up to date, especially the USB drivers, which are essential for external devices.
     • USB Port Test: Try connecting the external HDD to different USB ports on your computer.
     • Different Computer: If possible, try connecting the external HDD to another computer to see if it gets recognized.
     Give these steps a try, and let me know if you encounter any issues or if you need further assistance with your external HDD!