Cannot find OS, wont let me reinstall OS, possible missing drive?

My new M17x Alienware just arrived, and it apparently doesn't have an OS installed. I found this out after basically sitting there, watching the black screen after the POST test for about a half hour before it told me that it had no OS.

So, I put in the Windows 7 disc that came provided with the computer in order to boot from the disc and install it on the hard drive. It all goes fine until I hit the page where it asks me where it should be installed. The only drive that is displayed is "Disk 0 Unallocated Space / 465.8 GB / 465.8 GB", which it doesn't let me select because it "was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition."

I've heard of similar problems for people who are upgrading to Windows 7, but this computer should have been preinstalled from Dell! The details of the computer that I ordered are as follows:
-Intel Core2 Duo T9800 2.93GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
-6GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
-1GB Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
-SLI Enabled (NB10E-GT1)
-1TB (500GB x 2) 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) - RAID 0

Now, seeing that the hard drive is supposed to have two 500 GB hard drives, and only one shows up during the install, I'm thinking that the other drive is probably the one that has Windows 7 on it and is somehow disconnected. I haven't checked the internals for fear of risking the warranty, but what's your guy's opinion? (I'm currently also calling Dell, but I thought I might as well post here to see if I can get an answer.)

*Edit*
Alright, I tried creating a new Partition with about 32 GB worth of space. However, it still gave me the same message that it "was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition". I've read a couple of forum posts while waiting and have noticed that a couple people were blaming it on the RAID 0. Still no luck on my end, any other suggestions?
(No luck with Dell, they hung up.)

 

do your configuration is raid 0? that can be the problem

 

is just me or you did the same thread two times?

 

Yes, I accidentally posted the topic twice after the first attempt read Error 404. I've been looking for the delete button ever since, lol.

RAID 0, you say? How would I configure it so that I can bypass this problem?

 

no i asking you if you order the laptop with raid configuration because you have two drives right ?

 

i guess you have raid 0 all you have to do is log to your bios and enable raid save and boot again

 

I ordered for 1 TB of memory, which I assume, if I'm reading it correctly, is two 500 GB drives. There was an option for either a RAID 0 or RAID 1, where the RAID 1 would cost more. Therefore, i went with RAID 0.

Other than that, I have no idea what RAID 0 does.

 

mmk, let me see if that works. give me a sec...

 

I'm not seeing where I can configure the RAID save in the bios. Is it under advance or boot?

 

i guess advance i never have raid on mine

 

here man i found it http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...25maWd1cmF0aW9uIG9uIG0xN3g*&p_li=&p_topview=1 all you have to do is enable it because dell already install the os. on them

 

Found the RAID enabler and turned it on. Fixed the problem. Thank you so much, witcher4360!

 

GJ Witcher woot!