Internal SSD drive not recognized

Rob_BG

Have an ATC-605-ur19 desktop w/ included HDD.   Added an additional internal Sandisk SSD Plus (120 gb). 

The device is recognized by both the BIOS and shows up in ther Device Manager (though Type is 'Unknown', Status is 'Not Initialized', Partition style is 'Not Applicable').  

 

However it is not assigned a drive letter and I can't access it at all. Looks like the drivers are up-to-date.   Any suggestions on what the problem is?

 

JordanB

Ok.  I'm going to give you two ways to set up your SSD.  The first way is the easy way and should work.  I tried it the easy way and had a little trouble so I ended up doing it hard (more time consuming) way.

 

Easy way:

 

1. Power down your computer and unplug the power and disconnect the SATA power cable from your 500GB HDD (very important).

2.  Make sure your new SSD is ready (SATA power and sata data cable connected).

3. Insert your recovery drive USB

4.  Boot your computer and at the Acer screen, press delete on your keyboard to access your BIOS.

5 navigate in your BIOS to enable "Boot Menu" and then save and exit (I think it's F-10 to save and exit,but can't remember)

6. When your computer boots, at the Acer screen press F-12 to get to the boot menu.

7. select your USB recovery drive.

8. select troubleshoot and Reset your pc and when it asks if you want to re-partition the SSD, say yes

 

My advice is don't reconnect your 500GB drive as that can complicate things until you decide what you want to do with it.  And then I can help you with that.

 

Let me know if the easy way doesn't work and I'll give you the more time consuming way.

JordanB

Rob_BG,

 

One of my computers is also a ATC-605-ur19.  I've added a SSD already and am still using the 500 GB HDD as a data drive.

 

Yes, I understand why it says "not initialized" and has "not applicable" for partition.  If all you've done is installed the SSD, that's normal.

 

Please tell me what you want to do, and I'll give you instructions on how to do it.

 

But first, power down your computer.  Unplug your computer.  Unplug the SATA power cable to the SSD.  Turn on your computer (so it will use the 500 GB drive).

 

Make a factory default USB recovery drive of your 500 GB HDD:

 

You'll need a 16 GB USB thumb drive to do that.

 

http://acer--uk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26286/~/create-a-acer-factory-default-backup-in-windows-8.1

Rob_BG

Ultimately I want to have all myprograms as well as my OS (Windows 8.1) on the SSD drive and boot up from there. 

At the moment I would settle for being able to just use the drive.

JordanB

Yes, I read your first post.  You indicated you were trying to set it up as a data drive and assigning it a drive letter.  All that will do is complicate setting it up as your main drive like you want it to be.

 

Have you made that recovery drive yet?

 

Edit: It's perfectly normal that a brand new SSD doesn't have a drive letter.  That's a good thing if want to set it up as your main drive.

Rob_BG

Yes, I have created the recovery drive. What's the next step?   Thanks for your help

JordanB

Ok.  I'm going to give you two ways to set up your SSD.  The first way is the easy way and should work.  I tried it the easy way and had a little trouble so I ended up doing it hard (more time consuming) way.

 

Easy way:

 

1. Power down your computer and unplug the power and disconnect the SATA power cable from your 500GB HDD (very important).

2.  Make sure your new SSD is ready (SATA power and sata data cable connected).

3. Insert your recovery drive USB

4.  Boot your computer and at the Acer screen, press delete on your keyboard to access your BIOS.

5 navigate in your BIOS to enable "Boot Menu" and then save and exit (I think it's F-10 to save and exit,but can't remember)

6. When your computer boots, at the Acer screen press F-12 to get to the boot menu.

7. select your USB recovery drive.

8. select troubleshoot and Reset your pc and when it asks if you want to re-partition the SSD, say yes

 

My advice is don't reconnect your 500GB drive as that can complicate things until you decide what you want to do with it.  And then I can help you with that.

 

Let me know if the easy way doesn't work and I'll give you the more time consuming way.

Rob_BG

This seems to have worked. My PC boots from the SSD (the SSD is now mapped to the C drive).   

I haven't re-attached the internal HDD yet, as I want to make sure the SSD doesn't do anything weird over the next few days.  Thanks!! 

 

JordanB, While this worked for me, it might be a good idea to include the "hard way" you mentioned just in case the easy way does not work for some people. Again, thank you for the help.

JordanB

I almost forgot an important step!

 

In order for you to enjoy SATA 3 speeds on your new SSD, you're going to have to "evict" your DVD from its white SATA 3 port and move it to the black SATA 2 port.  The DVD doesn't need a SATA 3 port anyway since it only operates at SATA 1 speeds.  A SATA 2 port is more than adequate for the DVD.

 

So you'll want the SSD SATA data cable plugged in to one of the white SATA 3 ports.

 

I'm hesitant to post the hard method because it involves using the ever dangerous "diskpart clean" command.  Dispart clean will wipe a drive in about 3 seconds and once it's done, it's done.  There's no do-overs if you accidentally selected the wrong drive. And it would probably only apply to a limited number of people (like me) that couldn't get their SSD to initialize properly for whatever reason.

 

I have already posted the 13 or 14 steps "hard method" in a different post, but that was for someone who didn't have a recovery drive.  You can search my posts from about 2 or 3 weeks ago if you want.  Also there's alot of folks that use this forum that don't use English as their native tongue and miscommunication about diskpart clean can be disasterous for them.   

 

Edit:  Don't forget to shutdown and unplug your computer when moving SATA cables and take the usual precautions against static electricity anytime you are inside a computer case.