Not sure what I've done wrong. Built one PC before successfully in a similar way but this one seems to be struggling.
I have the following components:
- Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V/Pro Gen 3 (updated to latest firmware)
- RAM: 16GB (2 x 8GB)
- Power Supply: corsair HX850
- HDDs:
- 2 x 3TB drives on the intel z68 controller
- 1 x 128GB SSD on the Marvel controller
- Graphics: Sapphire 7950 (not using on-board graphics)
The problem
- I set up my 3 TB disks in RAID1
- controller appears to recognize them fine during boot as one 2.7TB raid1 volume
- windows setup sees two disks, both 746 GB, but will only let me install to one and appears to work fine.
- windows appears to install fine
- after installer reboots, I receive "windows failed to start" error referencing code 0xc000000e and "\Windows\system32\winload.exe
- every time I do an install, a new additional "win7" entry is added to the boot menu; all lead to this error.
What I've tried:
- updated the BIOS to the latest firmware
- attempted to repair the install
- tried clearing / removing raid / re-raiding drives
- tried formatting the drives during install
- attempted to clear the menu Of entries (can't figure out how to do that)
No matter how many times I destroy the raid array, format the disks, etc. the boot entries keep piling up. Any idea where I'm going wrong?
Best Answer
The answer was quite involved, so I turned it into an item that hopefully others will get some lasting use from.
Warnings / Notes Before You Start
How to Install Windows 7 on an Intel Z68 Chipset with Drives Larger Than 2TB
This guide will take you through the process of installing Windows 7 x64 on a new machine using the following:
On a Good Machine: Put Intel RST Standalone Drivers onto a FAT32 USB Drive
On the New Machine: Update Your Motherboard's Firmware
Create the RAID Array
(This assumes you have your PC entirely together, hardware wise, which is outside of the scope of this article)
Adding Special Drivers to Windows 7 Setup
At this point, your RAID1 array should show as one large drive of 2.7 TB.
Convert the RAID Array from MBR to GPT
Check to Make Sure the GPT Conversion Worked
Install Windows
Boot into Windows and Extend the Drive
When Windows first boots, it won't recognize the drive as a full 3 TB drive -- 760 GB will be left unallocated.
You now have a 3TB RAID1 array fully recognized in Windows 7 64-bit.
Other Recommended Actions
References