Reinstalling Windows (what drive)

craigmh74 · 10 May 2018

I’m in the process of reinstalling Windows 10. I have 3 drives (C, D, E). When I get to the screen that’s asking me to choose which drive to place Windows, I don’t know. I have data on the other drives so I don’t want to accidentally erase it.

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When I click on each disk/partition I get a message stating “windows can’t be installed on this drive/partition”. I get this message on every choice except D: Backup. This is the name of my D drive. I have data on this drive that I don’t want to erase. So I’m stuck.

Can anyone help? I attached some screenshots I hope you’re able to view them. Thanks.

Craig

Berton · 10 May 2018

Usually it would be on Drive 0 and a specified partition on that drive, in the image it would be Drive 0 Partition 4. The other partitions are too small and shouldn't be messed with. It looks like you have 3 physical drives, is that correct?
2 x 500GB and 1 x 1TB. [Formatted size is always less than marked/advertised]
If that is the case, for a clean install I'd disconnect Drive 1 and Drive 2 until the install was finished and Windows is working properly, reconnect later.

zbook · 10 May 2018

Open file explorer to see each drive and the applicable drive letter.
Left click on each drive to see what is inside each drive.
For information about what is within each labeled partition you can use Minitool partition Wizard:
MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Plankton · 10 May 2018

craigmh74 said:

I’m in the process of reinstalling Windows 10. I have 3 drives (C, D, E). When I get to the screen that’s asking me to choose which drive to place Windows, I don’t know. I have data on the other drives so I don’t want to accidentally erase it.

When I click on each disk/partition I get a message stating “windows can’t be installed on this drive/partition”. I get this message on every choice except D: Backup. This is the name of my D drive. I have data on this drive that I don’t want to erase. So I’m stuck.

Can anyone help? I attached some screenshots I hope you’re able to view them. Thanks.

Craig

Is this going to be a clean install?

AddRAM · 10 May 2018

Defenitley UNPLUG your Data drives, just the power cables, you do not need to pull their data cables.

If you are going to do a clean install, and you HAVE backed up ALL your data, then delete ALL the partitions on Drive 0, then just click next and the windows installer will create all the necessary partitions.

And I also see that Drive 1 is Dynamic, this should also be fixed, but you can work on that later.

But, BEFORE you go any further, DISCONNECT any and ALL other drives except Drive 0 (the drive you want to install Windows on)

If you have more questions please ask BEFORE proceeding :)

swarfega · 10 May 2018

If you can, it's best to unplug all but the drive you intent to install Windows on. That way you're sure where you're installing it to. Unplugging drives also help prevent windows installing parts of itself on them during install which can happen.

topgundcp · 10 May 2018

Drive 0 partition 1 is the Recovery partition
Drive 0 partition 2 is EFI System partition
Drive 0 partition 3 is MSR reserved partition
Drive 0 partition 4 is your current Windows OS,

If you want to start fresh install, Delete all 4 partitions of Disk 0, That will leave to 1 single unallocated partition, hilite it then click next. Do not format, During installation, Windows will rebuild all 4 partitions. Actually, you don't need to disconnect anything since you are installing Windows on first disk ie. Disk 0.

zbook · 10 May 2018

1) Backup all files to another drive or into the cloud
2) Make a backup image using Macrium:
Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free
3) Save the backup image onto another drive or into the cloud
With the above steps you will have multiple layers of backup.
Then if there are any unforseen problems you will have saved your data.

craigmh74 · 11 May 2018

This all started when i received a BSOD. I don’t know why I received it because I haven’t installed or downloaded anything in weeks. I did a check disk and also DISKPART but the problem with that is I couldn’t do fixboot because access was denied. I tried to do a Restore but it wasn’t able to. So that leads us to where I am now. I do have a few more questions: 1. In the screenshot I sent earlier, is “Backup” the actual name of the drive? I did name drive D “Backup”. 2. Do SATA cables connect only to the C drive? It’s frustrating because I’m playing unplugging and plugging in drives to determine which is the appropriate drive to load windows. I have data on my D drive so I don’t want to erase it by mistake. I do have 3 physical drives (C, D, E). I can’t check file explorer because I can’t boot. I’ve attached a screenshot of the inside of my PC. I don’t know which drive is which. Please help. I’m not an expert so any help will be greatly appreciated.

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AddRAM · 11 May 2018

Unplug all but the top one.

Start the computer.

As I said, do not unplug the data cables.

You have 2 red data cables and 2 black cables, they are the skinny cables.

Just unplug the power cables (the bigger cable) from the bottom 3 hard drives and turn on the computer.

Report what happens.