Can't do clean install of Windows 10 on new ssd and also hdd issues...

Hello! I'm a computer noob and I just installed a new 500 gb ssd into my laptop that still had my hdd in it. I tried to clean install the Windows 10 on the new ssd with my 1tb hdd in it still so now it will not boot without the hdd. After researching around and reading posts and tips for people with my same issue, I tried taking out the hdd and installing the Windows with just ssd and during the first phase of Windows installation it says that it cannot install into the ssd because it can't make partitions. So...how do I fix this? Someone called what I did a nightmare situation...please someone wake me up from this nightmare.

Summary:
Original laptop:
-Dell Inspiron 15 5570
-1TB hdd
-Windows 10

What I want:
-to have my new ssd as the only boot and use hdd as storage

What I did:
-Installed Samsung 970 EVO 500 gb ssd
-Changed the ssd to AHCI
-tried to clean install Windows 10 through usb with the media tool
-install worked but since my original hdd was still in there and I didn't do anything to it, it seems to be using the boot files left there
-So I took out hdd and tried to reinstall Windows 10 on just the ssd
-Windows Installation said it couldn't install because ssd could not be partitioned

You want to install Windows onto unallocated space.

Not onto a partition.

Delete all partitions. That should be a choice on one of the first screens you see. Delete them all one way or another.

Thank you Samurai and ignatzatsonic! It worked!!

So, now if I want to use my hdd as storage, can I just stick it back into my laptop? Will it create issues because I still have the old boot files in there?

It certainly shouldn't.

It should have a drive letter like D or E, not C.

After you get it installed, you can just format it again.

You'll need to update Windows, which might take hours.

ignatzatsonic said:

It certainly shouldn't.

It should have a drive letter like D or E, not C.

After you get it installed, you can just format it again.

You'll need to update Windows, which might take hours.

Thank you so much! I did it and it worked like you said! Yes, I am now doing the long updates.

A drive that once had windows has many partitions. To avoid the laptop from trying to boot from it and to use it as a data drive you should clean the disk (erase all partitions) and then format.
On a CMD window as administrator type:

diskpart
list disk (it will list all drives. Identify the data drive number)
select disk n (replace n by the data drive number obtained with list disk)
clean
create part primary
select part 1
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
exit (to exit diskpart)

Megahertz said:

A drive that once had windows has many partitions. To avoid the laptop from trying to boot from it and to use it as a data drive you should clean the disk (erase all partitions) and then format.
On a CMD window as administrator type:

diskpart
list disk (it will list all drives. Identify the data drive number)
select disk n (replace n by the data drive number obtained with list disk)
clean
create part primary
select part 1
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
exit (to exit diskpart)

Or, if you don't want to lose everything on that disk, just delete all the extra partitions (system reserved, recovery, etc.) that don't contain your data, and expand the partition containing your data to fill the rest of the disk. If the system is booting in legacy BIOS mode, to keep the computer from booting from the second HDD, just look for the partition marked as active and remove the active flag from that partition. If booting in UEFI mode, just look for a small FAT32 partition and delete that partition. Wiping the whole entire drive is certainly not needed.

jk000 said:

Thank you so much! I did it and it worked like you said! Yes, I am now doing the long updates.

NavyLCDR said:

Or, if you don't want to lose everything on that disk, just delete all the extra partitions (system reserved, recovery, etc.) that don't contain your data, and expand the partition containing your data to fill the rest of the disk. If the system is booting in legacy BIOS mode, to keep the computer from booting from the second HDD, just look for the partition marked as active and remove the active flag from that partition. If booting in UEFI mode, just look for a small FAT32 partition and delete that partition. Wiping the whole entire drive is certainly not needed.

It seems that OP already formatted the partition. See post #6