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Shows in BIOS, in Device Mgr, but not My Computer

MotoriousRacing

By MotoriousRacing,
in Solid State Drives (SSD)

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MotoriousRacing

MotoriousRacing

Posted
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I built the rig in the sig a few months ago for my sister's family. Now my nephew wants to have a small MindCraft server for his friends. They thought about partitioning C: but I thought a new HDD would be better. Since rotational HDDs have skyrocketed in price, I got a NewEgg Shell Shocker deal on an SSD. I got a Force (SATA) 3 90GB (CSSD-F90GB3-BK).

 

I know I should probably make the SSD the boot drive, but I don't want to hassle with that right now, besides, I'll probably get my nephew a larger rotational HDD for his MindCraft server when prices come down and take bakt the SSD to make a boot drive on my i7-860 rig. :sillygrin

 

I have built 3 PCs before, but this is my first experience with an SSD. I am very upset about the lack of documentation. Not only did nothing come with the drive, but there is nothing to be found at Corsair.com. :mad:

 

I built the rig in the sig a few months ago for my sister's family. Now my nephew wants to have a small MindCraft server for his friends. They thought about partitioning C: but I thought a new HDD would be better. Since rotational HDDs have skyrocketed in price, I got a NewEgg Shell Shocker deal on an SSD. I got a Force (SATA) 3 90GB (CSSD-F90GB3-BK).

 

I know I should probably make the SSD the boot drive, but I don't want to hassle with that right now, besides, I'll probably get my nephew a larger rotational HDD for his MindCraft server when prices come down and take bakt the SSD to make a boot drive on my i7-860 rig. :sillygrin

 

I have built 3 PCs before, but this is my first experience with an SSD. I am very upset about the lack of documentation. Not only did nothing come with the drive, but there is nothing to be found at Corsair.com. :mad:

 

Anyway, I figured it must be "plug and play", so I physically installed the drive. As the thread title says, it showed in the BIOS, in the boot sequence, but not in My Computer. I checked Device Manager and it shows as a Disk Drive. It shows it is working properly, and the driver is up to date. I scanned for hardware changes, but it is already "there".

 

Sorry if I am impatient about searching the forums for answers, but I am a bit miffed about Corsair not having ANY documentation. How do I update the driver, the firmware, etc.? How do I even know what version I have?

 

I'm very frustrated. This should have been an easy E-drive install (the DVD is D: of course).

 

Any ideas to help me? Thanks.

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madnisman

madnisman

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How do I update the driver, the firmware, etc.?

 

You can find the newest firmware in the left panel under "Important Links". Here is a link: http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100162

 

After firmware upgrade, it is recommended to do a SecureErase with PartedMagic.

 

A guide for using PM can be found here: http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90648

 

 

How do I even know what version I have?

 

You can check with CrystalDiskInfo.

 

 

Control Panel/Admin Tools/Computer Management/Storage/Disc Management.

 

Right, you should find your drive here. I guess it needs to be initialized, just right-click onto your drive and choose "Initialize".

 

 

 

As an E: drive, should I format NTFS or exFAT?

 

Normally an SSD should not be formatted. As you have no other options, you should perform a quick format with NTFS and set the cluster size to "Standard".

 

If you want to use the SSD as boot drive in the future, you should SecureErase the disk and install Win 7 into the unpartitioned area. No need to fromat the drive.

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Garvin

Garvin

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"Normally an SSD should not be formatted."

 

All drives need to be formatted in order for an operating system to be able to use them. Initializing a drive puts a master file table on them configured as FAT, FAT32, NTFS, ect. This is a Quick format. An operating system needs a master file table in order to find the locations of where data is stored on the drive, especially at Windows startup. What I think you meant to say is there is no need to do a FULL format on an SSD drive. A FULL format physically writes boundary divisions so to speak all across the physical platters of a spinning platter type hard drive. It also overwrites any pre-existing data on the drive to wipe it clean. A Quick format on a used drive just wipes the master file table and replaces it with a blank new one. Running a FULL format on an SSD drive is a waste of the lifetime of some of the cells on the drive and is completely unnecessary. It also can degrade the performance of the SSD.

 

ps: Running a FULL format on a spinning platter type hard drive works fine to wipe it clean, factory fresh so to speak. This does not work with SSD drives though. To return them to "factory fresh" condition, it is necessary to run a secure erase on the drive and then quick format (initialize the drive). When you use a Windows install DVD to install Windows on an SSD drive, the installer will either automaticaly do a quick format of the SSD drive if it is a factory fresh or secure erased blank drive or ask you how you want the drive formatted (Quick/Full). Depends on which Windows operating system you're installing.

 

ps2: With Windows Xp. Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, you want to initialize/quickformat the SSD drive with NTFS. Spinning platter hard drives as well. Thumb drives are usually formatted as either FAT16 (small capacity drives) or FAT32.

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