New Aspire E5-575-33BM, New SSD install, New Problem....

Hello Acer Community,

I'm looking for some advice on how I can solve a hard drive issue (or suggestions on what I can Google to fix it). I'll describe the situation in a timeline that was trial and error for me.

I purchased a new Aspire E5-575-33BM.

After taking it out of the box I flipped it over and unscrewed the panel. I installed a new SP (Silicon Power) M.2 2280 SATA 6Gb/s SSD into the slot.

I turned on the computer (it booted to the factory HDD) and I completed the Windows setup and created a logon that signed me in to the desktop.

I turned off the computer and inserted a USB flash drive with a Windows 10 installation tool on it.

I booted the computer up to bios and changed boot order to go to the USB.

The computer booted up to the USB Windows installation, and I chose the SSD drive for my new Windows installation.

The installation completed successfully, and I logged on to desktop and went to the control panel into Disk Management and formatted the HDD drive. There was two partitions that I was unable to format or delete (the right click menu was grayed out). However I opened File Explorer and confirmed that the HDD was empty (had full space available).

Now, when I restart the computer, Windows asks me which operating system I want to load (windows 10 on volume 3 or windows 10 on volume 5).

If I formatted the HDD, why is the computer even recognizing a second operating system?

I did some searching and read that you are supposed to disconnect your HDD BEFORE installing the SSD (it confuses the motherboard and makes it think there are two OS).

So now I'm back to square one. I need to format/erase the SSD, and format/erase the HDD (I want the partitions gone too) then I know I need to take the back cover off and unplug the HDD and then boot the computer to my USB installation tool and do a fresh install Windows to my formatted SDD.... Then after the installation is completed, I can plug in my HDD and use it as a data drive.

Is this correct? How do I format both drives and just start over from scratch so I can do this right? I know most people upgrade to SSDs after owning their computers and using them for a long time... This should be an easy solution because the computer and drives are all brand new with no data on them.

Thank you Community in advice for responses and replies.

-J

Comments

brummyfan2

Hi,
You could install Minitool Partition wizard free on the SSD, install the HDD and delete the partitions using Minitool Partition wizard.
https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html

bluetality

Thanks brummyfan, I will look in to using this tool to delete the partition in the acer HDD. I don't know if that will be necessary if I can do a proper install of the SSD.

I was just reading that it is possible to format a drive in BIOS without doing it in Windows... maybe this is helpful for me?.... If you change boot order to your USB or Disc Installation Tool, then Windows will prompt you to format the drive before doing an install. Is this true? If this is the case then I can unplug the acer HDD, Change boot order to USB drive, then start the computer and re-install windows the SSD. Then the motherboard will recognize one OS...... But... if I plug the acer HDD back in and start the computer, will the motherboard get confused again and think there are two hard drives? So then should I change boot order to HDD (#2 after the install USB) and act like I'm going to reinstall to format it? Then shut the computer down after format?

Looks like I will need to know which order to do what.

brummyfan2

Hi,
Yes, you can remove the HDD, install the OS on the SSD, the Windows installation will format the drive, then install HDD and try switching the Boot order in BIOS.

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