dell 660s hard drive upgrade

Hi dell_user_660s,

I request you to connect the HDD which came with the system and disable the Intel Smart Response Technology.

To disable the Intel Smart Response Technology follow the steps given below:

Step1. Launch Intel RST UI from system tray.

Step2. Select “Accelerate” Tab, click “Disable acceleration”.

Step3. Click “Reset to available” to reset volume.

Once it is disabled connect the new HDD into the system and install Windows 8 Operating system. After the Windows 8 and all the drivers installation enable the acceleration once again as shown in the pictire below:

Please reply to this post for further assistance.

thanks ! when I go to the Rapid Storage Technology I only have the options for status, manage, preferences and help. No acceleration

What options do you have available when you press F12 for the one time boot menu (assuming you have the hard drive plugged into SATA 0 and the Windows installation DVD is present in the DVD drive, or bootable USB is plugged in)?  Also, is Windows 8 the version you are attempting to install?

internal odd

internal hdd

usb

nic

and there was a 5th one that I forgot

Yup, the DVD is in the DVD drive.  It recognizes the ODD when the original Hard drive is in the slot.  But it won't boot from anything when I insert the new hard drive.

Is the device order I see in your post the same as the System Setup Boot Order?  One trick that sometimes works is to place the hard disk drive at number 1 and use the F12 menu to boot from the optical drive.  If your hard drive is not already at position 1, try moving it there.

Another option you might want to disable while you attempt installation is the Intel Turbo Boost.  According to the docs there is a System Setup option to do that.

If that doesn't work you need to figure out what is different about the drive you are trying to install.  Something about it is confusing the BIOS.  The instructions with regard to acceleration given by the Dell representative refers to a machine that has an mSATA drive used as a cache for the primary hard drive.  I see nothing in the docs that indicates the Inspiron 660s has that device.

thanks !  after i disabled the intel rapid storage completely, I was able to at least boot from the dvd.  But I get a required drive partition is missing.  Then I get "the drive where windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again" when I try to refresh.  

The 1 TB drives are practically all Advanced Format drives.  This can lead to trouble if you are attempting to install Windows 7 with a disk that does not have Service Pack 1.  If your disk has Service Pack 1, or if you are installing Windows 8, this should not be troubling you.  It does seem to help, however, if the disk is blank when you start.  You mentioned that your 530 is able to work with the disk; try installing it as a second drive and removing all partitions before you try to install in your 660s.

It's a little late, but this might help someone else.  The problem is likely UEFI.  Try changing the boot mode to legacy and try again.