lmao, this is so stupid. So, I bought all of my components and built them, and after difficult hours of troubleshooting (just to discover my RAM wasn't in correctly), I've gotten into the BIOS and the Windows 7 installation is underway. But...
I didn't have a CD drive to boot my W7 from. My external USB drive wasn't recognized by the motherboard. My stupid solution? Use the CD drive from my old computer. Another problem. I couldn't release it from the other computer. So... Here's what I did.
So yes, the computers are stuck with the SATA connectors adjoining them like an umbilical cord until Windows 7 is done installing. Fun, idint it?