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Windows 8 Installation no HDD detected
Hi guys,
My first post here and hoping i can find a solution here. I got the Alienware 17X R4. My primary HDD is the 256 GB SSD. So apparently I had windows 8.1 and everything was working just fine until I don't know how i got the windows 10 installed on it. So now i have Windows 10 on it. After using it for a day I wanted to do a clean install just so I could get rid of some unnecessary errors. I created a bootable USB using the alienware respown. When i tried to do a clean installation I only made it clean my C drive and selected the option of Fully Clean my Drive. The installation failed and now I was left with a computer which does not have a OS on it. So since nothing was working i thought of formatting my C drive which I did using the command prompt, and also decided to go back to windows 8. I had the bootable USB for windows 8. I didn't change anything on the system BIOS setup, but still went to the system setup and made sure i go back to default settings just to be safe.
I started the windows 8 installation and here is my problem, I don't see the Drives at all. I got 2 HDD. One is SSD and the other one is a regular 1TB HDD. I don't see any of my hard drives so i can't install windows anymore. I also ran the full system diagnostics and it seems all good. I tried putting the drives on the USB but it would still give me some error. Finally i read somewhere on the internet to switch something in the BIOS from RAID to ACHI. I did and that actually worked. But I've tried installing windows and after it reached it took a while and the installation wasn't done. Now i am not sure what to do about it. Please somebody suggest something, I just want my computer up and running with the right settings. I don't wanna mess around. If anybody got any ideas please let me know.
Thank you,
Namit
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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16K Posts
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August 2nd, 2015 02:00
Do not bother attempting to Reinstall Windows 8 it is now obsolete. Since you already had Windows upgraded to Windows 10. Your systems hardware profile is registered with a Microsoft Product Activation server and considered a Windows 10 Device this means you can Clean Reinstall Windows 10 directly. See here for details on obtaining Windows 10 Installation Media:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-microsoft-windows-and-office/download-microsoft-windows/download-windows-10-oem-and-retail-iso/
You should use proper Windows 10 Installation Media and not a Windows 10 Recovery Drive as you have an advanced system with multiple hard drives. Ensure you select the correct edition. Skip the product key three times during installation and Windows 10 will automatically reactivate.
You shouldn't need to prepare and load SATA drivers for Windows 10 Installation media but if you do the instructions are here:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/a-clean-install-of-windows/downloading-preparing-and-loading-sata-drivers/
namitchouhan
6 Posts
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August 5th, 2015 14:00
Hey man, you are a Rockstar. Everything worked fine like you said. I also did't need to install the driver for the drives. Windows 10 automatically detected it as compared to Windows 8 where it kept asking me what to do.
My last question would be do i have to be worried about the BIOS? I was on A12 where my computer crashed about 2 times but ever since i got A13 it's been working fine without any crashes. Do you think dell would actually bother coming out with a BIOS for Windows 10 ?
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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16K Posts
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August 6th, 2015 12:00
Windows 10 is similar to Windows 8.1 so if Windows 8.1 is stable likely Windows 10 will be. I don't know if Dell plan releasing any updates but as its a Late 2011 system and most are out of warranty I would assume not.
Did you check that Windows 10 activated? Right click the Start Button and left click system.