Install from USB and SSD's

I have always ran into this with SSD's, but now trying to figure out the root issue.

I have a laptop that has no optical DVD Drive. I have a SSD hard drive in it as well.

When I try to install Windows 7 from a USB key, the Windows 7 installation does not detect the SSD hard drive. If I plug in a USB optical drive or move the SSD to a desktop that has a DVD Drive and use a DVD image of Windows 7, the installation detects the SSD just fine.

What makes installing from USB not detect a SSD, but installing from a DVD, detect the SSD?

Are these EFI based laptops?

If they are, follow the guides you see online regarding configuring the USB drive for EFI boot. I'm curious if the normal MBR installer can't see a GPT formatted disk. I know DVD will work with EFI boot without any modification.

Sean's Windows 7 Install Guide has very detailed step-by-step instructions for making the USB stick correctly and preparing the SSD correctly on UEFI motherboards. If, like me, you want to have the SSD formatted with GPT instead of MBR, you have some additional hoops to jump through and instructions are given for that.

Sean's Windows 8 Install Guide, in case you should be interested in doing the same for that system.

You cannot use a MBR-formatted USB drive to install Windows 7 to a UEFI-based system with a GPT hard drive (or SSD). You would need to configure the USB image to be able to boot as a UEFI installation.

evilsofa said:

Sean's Windows 7 Install Guide has very detailed step-by-step instructions for making the USB stick correctly and preparing the SSD correctly on UEFI motherboards. If, like me, you want to have the SSD formatted with GPT instead of MBR, you have some additional hoops to jump through and instructions are given for that.

Sean's Windows 8 Install Guide, in case you should be interested in doing the same for that system.

Click to expand...

Yep...followed the Windows 7 guide and this worked like a charm. I guess that solves this mystery thats been annoying me for so long.

Is it safe to assume the Windows 8 one will work with the Windows 10 Preview?