Trouble Installing Windows on new SSD

Options

So right now I'm having an issue with a new SSD for a new system. I'm trying to install Windows(8.1, which I'm going to upgrade a few times to 11 and then reformat, because Microsoft has enough of my money) however I'm running to the most bizzare problem. The drive is initialized and has a partition on it, I can see it registered in my BIO, it has the correct table format. However, when it's in my new computer Windows won't detect it to install to. If I take the drive to my old PC, I can install to it just fine but after installing Windows and returning the drive to my new PC it bluescreens before I can even get to the desktop.

Help?

Comments

  • PowerSpec_MikeW
    PowerSpec_MikeW
    Seventh Anniversary 2500 Comments 100 Answers 250 Likes
    PowerSpec Engineer
    Options

    @Gahlo

    Storage controller mode most likely. I'd guess your PC is set to RAID in the BIOS. You either need to change to AHCI in the BIOS or download the RAID driver for your motherboard and at the Windows install screen, click "Load Driver" and load the RAID driver.

  • Gahlo
    Options

    Thanks for the quick reply. I just checked my BIOS and it is in ACHI. I was able to work around my issues somewhat yesterday by just making a Windows 11 installation on my intended boot drive, which solved the "installing windows" issue. Now I'm dealing with the motherboard, while detecting the drive, not detecting it as a bootable drive.

    I have an NVMe drive that I have an Win8.1 installation on due to troubleshooting last night that I can get into the boot menu for, and from there boot to Windows 11 on the SATA SSD, but I'm trying to just boot to my SATA SSD directly.

  • PowerSpec_MikeW
    PowerSpec_MikeW
    Seventh Anniversary 2500 Comments 100 Answers 250 Likes
    PowerSpec Engineer
    Options

    @Gahlo

    What motherboard do you have and what brand/model is the target drive?

  • Gahlo
    Options

    Just got back from fixing the issue with a tip I got elsewhere. It was a problem of installing 8.1 on the other drive before the Windows 11 install I was using to try and troubleshoot, so Windows 11 didn't install as bootable. Removing the other drives and reinstalling Windows 11 fixed the issue.

    Thanks for your time today, have a great rest of the year.

We love seeing what our customers build

Submit photos and a description of your PC to our build showcase

Submit Now
Looking for a little inspiration?

See other custom PC builds and get some ideas for what can be done

View Build Showcase

SAME DAY CUSTOM BUILD SERVICE

If You Can Dream it, We Can Build it.

Services starting at $149.99