New SSD not assigned a drive letter

**bvitter** · 2012-12-30 12:50

WIN 7 PRO, 32 bit, Dell XPS, 256GB hard drive, 120GB SSD
I just installed a new SSD. It is recognized at bootup and shows up in the list of devices attached to this computer but it does not show up as an available drive.
Device Manager and related applications stopped working a few months ago. I installed the Dell System Detect application but it also will not execute.
How can I get the system to recognize the SSD?

***ruirib*** · 2012-12-30 13:41

Does the SSD have any contents?

**CLiNT** · 2012-12-30 14:11

You'll probably need to go into Disk Manager and have it formatted for NTFS, then it will be automatically assigned a drive letter.

Your report of "Device Manager and related applications stopped working a few months ago" is very concerning, you may have bigger
problems than just a drive failing to be recognized.

Do you need to do a clean or repair install of your OS?

**bvitter** · 2012-12-30 16:23

This is a new SSD, I assume it is not formatted

**bvitter** · 2012-12-30 16:26

I had hoped to install a new OS on the SSD. I have tried many different steps to fix the current OS: Registry Cleaners - several, general disk maintenance programs, defraging, running disk error-checking. So far nothing has worked. I can run all apps and many OS functions but not Device Manager or other related functions.

***ruirib*** · 2012-12-30 16:47

I would suggest a repair install, to fix the Device Manager issues. Then you can decide what you want to do with the SSD.

**bvitter** · 2013-01-07 11:29

I did repair Windows 7 and was able to partition and format the SSD. I ran 2 different diagnostic programs on the SSD and both reported no problems.
When I try to install Windows (7, 8 32 and 64bit) the install always stops after copying the files.
The install basically creates the folders on the SSD and stops working, no error messages.
I have reformatted the drive, flashed the BIOS and erased the drive.
Disk Manager reports that the drive has a Healthy, active Partition.
Do I need to do something special to the drive to prepare it for installation of Windows?

**- bill** · 2013-01-10 19:13

Originally Posted by bvitter

Do I need to do something special to the drive to prepare it for installation of Windows?

It should be ready to go as you have described it.

One avenue of approach would be to try to separate the problems in your existing Win 7 system from the process of installing a new system. Have you tried removing the drive containing your current (damaged) operating system and installing the new OS with only the SSD present? Once you get the new system up and running you could use it to try to diagnose what's wrong with your old system (e.g., run anti-malware programs on the new system to check the old system out).

You say that you 'repaired' Win 7 - but did you perform an actual 'repair install' or just use the other repair options from the install DVD (or the equivalent functionality if it's loaded on the hard drive)? When you say you flashed the BIOS, were you referring to the motherboard BIOS (which could conceivably be causing the Win 7 problems you're experiencing, though this seems unlikely) or the SSD firmware?

**bvitter** · 2013-01-12 13:56

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Turns out I had a bad DVD player. After I replaced it the Win 8 install went ok

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