Win7x64 doesn't like SSD's , so it creates a BOOT dir on the next available HDD. Unplugging that creates issues, apparently f'd up issues that require reinstallation of the OS. Too drained mentally to go into more detail now, but there you have it.
Not exactly. I'm using Win 7 x64 with a Samsung SSD and everything works fine. Samsung SSD's are bundled with special software which clones your existing drive to the SSD, sets up the correct Windows boot sectors and partitions, and so forth. Then you just switch over to the cloned SSD and all is well.
In your case, I think a good part of the problem is due to the enormous SIZE of your SSD. You did say
10 TB, yes..? Also, your system BIOS may not be configured properly for a large SSD.
There was no such thing as a 10TB drive back when the Windows 7 kernel was developed... and while it should be possible for Win7 to read and write to a drive that size (after the proper drivers have been installed), it may not be able to actually BOOT from a drive as huge as 10TB. Keep in mind that until Windows finishes loading all of its AHCI drivers and so forth, it won't even recognize a drive of that size. Natively, the Windows 7 kernel doesn't recognize anything much larger than 512 GB.
By the way... did you go into the system BIOS and change your HD controller to AHCI mode, after installing the new SSD..? Because most SSD's... especially very large ones... won't work properly unless they run from an AHCI-enabled controller.
Also, Windows 7 always installs a 100 MB EFI system partition on whatever drive the OS is installed to. If that drive is larger than a certain size, then it looks for a different drive to install its EFI partition to. So once again, in your case, your SSD is simply too large for the Win 7 OS to boot from.
A workaround might be to create primary partitions on the drive, prior to placing any data on it. The first partition, which I presume will be for your Win7 OS, should be no larger than 512 gigabytes. Windows doesn't need a boot partition any larger than that -- I personally use a 256 GB boot partition in my rigs. Create the partitions, then quick format them, and the new SSD should be ready to go.
Samsung SSD's come bundled with excellent software (Samsung Magician; Samsung Data Migration Wizard) that make the process of moving your existing OS over to a new SSD almost painless. I don't know if other brands of SSD's come with similar software... I would hope so.
Like I said -- until Windows finishes loading all of its motherboard AHCI drivers, it doesn't even know what to do with a 10TB drive. You're trying to force Windows 7 to load from a drive that is 20 times larger than anything that was available back when Windows 7 was being developed. The system drivers that came with your motherboard will allow Windows to "see" those enormous drives, but those drivers don't even kick in until after Windows 7 has finished booting up.
So here's my advice:(1) Make sure your hard disk controller is set to AHCI operation in your system BIOS. Most large SSD's depend upon this.
(2) Create a 256 - 512 gigabyte primary partition on the SSD, prior to installing any data on it.
(3) Install (or clone, if your SSD came with the appropriate software) Windows 7 x64 to that partition.
(4) Hook everything up and the system should boot from the SSD. If not, then you might consider getting a smaller (~256 GB) SSD and using it for just the Windows boot drive, and your larger SSD can be used for everything else.
(5) All computers... regardless of what they are or how they are set up... will run more smoothly and efficiently if you partition very large hard drives into multiple, smaller partitions (as opposed to a single enormous partition). There are several reasons for why this is true -- feel free to research it, if you are curious.