One PC shows HDD missing from Disk Management while another does display it.
One PC shows HDD missing from Disk Management while another does display it.
I bought a Seagate 10 TB Enterprise HDD recently. At first it didn’t show up in Windows 7’s disk manager, but after using it in Windows 10 it appeared and I set it up properly with partitions and formatting. Then I moved it back to Windows 7 and everything worked fine. After some updates, the drive stopped showing up in Windows 7, so I reformatted it and it still didn’t appear. I changed the SATA cables and tried different ports; both my SSD and the 2TB HDD (Seagate Barracuda) plus the CD-Rom drive showed up no matter what I used. The 10TB only showed in BIOS but never in disk management or elsewhere. What concerns me is that it was functioning well and showing in BIOS, yet disappeared suddenly. Even after removing the new parts I installed, it still didn’t show. PC specs: Windows 7 Home Premium x64, version 6.1.7601, Service Pack 1, build 7601. Motherboard is 12 years old, while other components are around 6-7 years old—except for the new CD drive and 10TB HDD which are brand new.
Are you certain the system supports 10TB storage? It could simply rely on a standard SATA controller unable to manage such large drives.
It wasn’t obvious this would become a problem. I didn’t expect it to be an issue, especially since it was functioning earlier. I managed to store files on it and everything else until I installed the CD drive and created copies of the boot disk on separate SSDs that aren’t part of the system right now. How would I verify that? I’ve looked at the manufacturers’ website, but there’s no information there about this.
Yeah some older systems had limits to their sata lanes. Most likely what is going on is the 10TB is too large, and wasn't able to be loaded until you initialized it the first time, now with the optical drive installed and more sata lanes being taken up it isn't going to work. I'd suggest unplugging the optical drive and checking to see if the prior method of getting it to work does that will answer that. This is one of the issues you will run into when using EOL parts and software and trying to use new components with them.
I'm not entirely sure about that since I haven't used expansion cards much with Windows 7. When the motherboard limits are tight or Windows 7's restrictions become clear, there really isn't much to do unless a compatible card exists. Most modern cards now support Windows 8 or later. Unless you find an older used model designed for Windows 7, I'd recommend moving to a newer system that can run natively. Windows 7 has been outdated for about ten years and is no longer supported, so upgrading would be wise. If you can't upgrade, consider using Windows 7 in a virtual machine on a newer computer.
It’s more about saving money than needing a specific OS. I already have a gaming PC, which was what I needed. I was just looking to repurpose this older machine for other tasks, but most of the components are so outdated that replacing them would be costly and unnecessary. I’m not keen on buying a newer Windows version, especially since my current motherboard likely won’t support anything beyond Windows 8 based on my research. Thanks for your help—it’s been really frustrating lately. For now, I’ll put this project on the shelf until I find a better solution.
Windows 7 can be upgraded to Windows 10 at no cost, the operating system can generally be installed and used for free without buying a license. Just connect another device to create a Windows 10 installation USB, which is also free if you have an 8GB or bigger USB drive.
They probably stopped offering updates in 2020, but I still need a code for the second method. Wouldn’t it be risky to leave my PC vulnerable or brick it for long-term use? I think there was a problem with activating Windows, so I might have to watch that video again.
The main problem with an un-activated Windows setup is the watermark, which prevents customization of themes and background images. When Windows 7 is already licensed and you perform an in-place upgrade via an installation USB, it will activate again using your existing license.