Hey, I just had to re-install windows onto a new hard drive because my SSD died on me and i had a 1TB hard drive on my old system and it didn't die but my computer wont recognize it without me completely re formatting it and I don't want to lose any of the stuff on it please help.
u might have to to drive manager and give your HDD a drive letter. It happens if you install Windows while you have 2 drives installed. Sometimes it doesn't load the drive during the installation process. It's quite simple, go to administrative tools>computer management>Storage>disk management, and check there if the drive is not given a letter, just right click the drive and click "Change Drive Letter and Paths"...Once given it will "install drivers" like a USB drive and a few seconds later it should show up. Hopefully that helps, if Windows doesn't see it, it may be a more deep rooted problem like bios or drive error.
This is the most common problem I find when people cannot see the drive. Follow his instructions and you will more than likely be good to go.