Windows 10: Just built a new pc and my second nvme drive is not working properly?

Just built my new pc:Motherboard- MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFiStorage - Samsung 990 Pro 1TB M.2 NVME and Samsung 990 Evo 2TB M.2 NVMEPSU - 850W ThermaltakeI noticed that after I initialized and formatted my second NVME drive the 2TB one for games it would just spontaneously disappear when I was using it. Not from BIOS but just from Windows and I hope it’s not the slot that is giving problems because I have tried everything else and I don’t know what to do.

:)

 

replacing C: with larger M.2 NVme drive and move programs installed on D: to the new M.2 drive

What I have decided to do to replace the existing Toshiba NVme 256GB drive (C with a new Samsung EVO 970 NVme 500GB drive (C. I also decided that I wanted only a single drive letter partition on this new drive.

Looking at the existing Toshiba NVme drive there were six different partitions on the drive which included the actual C: drive, an image partition and a couple of support tools partitions for Dell Support. I wanted to keep all partitions but to make the actual C: drive partition larger while keeping the other partitions the same size.

The procedure I used was to replace the 1TB hard disk with a new Western Digital 500GB Solid State Drive to use for the cloning operations. The procedure used was:

• clone the Toshiba NVme drive to the WD SSD, adjusting the partitions as needed
  
• replace the Toshiba NVme 256GB drive with the Samsung EVO 970 NVme 500GB drive
  
• clone the WD SSD to the Samsung EVO 970 NVme drive, adjusting partitions as needed
  

The first problem I ran into was finding cloning software that would work.

I first tried using the Acronis tool available from the Western Digital website. However that tool requires a restart of the computer after setting the cloning parameters and during the restart the actual cloning is done.

However during the restart and cloning step an error dialog displayed indicating that a drive was not ready. The result was I was unable to complete the cloning operation from the Toshiba NVme drive to the Western Digital SSD. I had the option to ignore the error and continue but I elected to cancel out to be on the safe side.

I believe the problem with the Acronis tool was due to the necessary drivers were not available to the tool. This leads me to think that the Acronis tool is best for applications involving SATA drives such as one hard disk to another, one SSD to another, or between a hard disk and an SSD.

Next I tried Samsung Magician which flatly refused to even start since neither the Toshiba NVme drive nor the WD SSD was a Samsung drive.

Next I tried using Macrium Reflex trial version and that worked just fine. The Macrium Reflex does not do a restart and clone but does the cloning while Windows is running and I think that this allows Macrium to work since the NVme device drivers are available.

I found both the Acronis and the Macrium Reflex user interface a bit unintuitive in modifying the partition size for the C: drive partition. The interface is a kind of drag and drop however it appears that you can modify a partition size only on the last partition you dragged over. Otherwise partitions are just put in one after the other and there will be unallocated space at the end.

My actual procedure was:

• install the Macrium Reflex application to C: drive, the Toshiba NVme drive
  
• shutdown the PC, move the SATA and power connectors from the 1TB hard disk to the new SSD
  
• power up the PC
  
• run the Macrium Reflex to clone from the Toshiba to the SSD
  
• shutdown the PC
  
• replace the existing Toshiba NVme drive with the Samsung EVO 970 NVme drive
  
• power up the PC which booted from the SSD since the NVme drive was uninitialized
  
• run the Macrium Reflex to clone from the SSD to the Samsung NVme drive
  
• shutdown the PC, move the SATA and power connectors from the SSD back to the 1TB hard disk
  
• power up the PC which booted from the Samsung NVme drive
  

At this point I have the new Samsung EVO 970 NVme as drive C: and the existing 1TB hard disk as drive D:. I plan to clone the 1TB hard disk to the 500GB Western Digital SSD in the next day or so.

Before I started this process, I took a look at where things were and discovered that Visual Studio was already installed on the Toshiba NVme C: drive rather than the 1TB hard disk. What is on the 1TB hard disk are the games and source code of Visual Studio projects.

I plan to try moving the World of Warcraft and Destiny 2 games from the D: drive (1TB hard disk) to the C: drive (Samsung NVme drive) to test how that works out.

Probably I will just then clone the 1TB hard disk to the Western Digital SSD and not worry about any other changes since the WD SSD is fairly fast anyway.

The result will be a C: drive in a partition of some 450GB on the Samsung NVme drive and a D: drive in a partition of similar size on the Western Digital SSD.

Other notes

The Samsung EVO 970 did not have a screw however I used the screw of the existing Toshiba NVme drive.

On the Dell XPS 8920 access to the NVme slot requires that the power supply cage be swung out and the installed graphics card be pulled. I required a second device to access the Dell support pages to refer to the procedure for these actions.

I did have a bad moment after replacing the Toshiba NVme drive with the unintialized Samsung NVme drive when on restarting the PC, I saw a text message about correcting the power connectors for the graphics card on the monitor. It turned out that the connector to the graphics connector was not properly seated as the connector from the motherboard was actually two pieces and the second smaller piece which was not integrated into the main connector block had not been fully seated. Once fixed, the PC booted and displayed the Windows sign-in prompt.

As I mentioned, the user interface for both the Acronis and the Macrium Reflex are somewhat unintuitive and I had to redo the clone settings several times in order to get what I wanted.

Also the Acronis tool from the Western Digital web site did not work with the Toshiba NVme drive.

My experience with Windows 10 was that Windows seemed to be able to automatically adjust to the change in the boot drive as well as the change of the drives such as going from hard disk to SSD as well as changing out the Toshiba NVme drive for the Samsung NVme drive.

What took the most time was working with the cloning software itself both when setting up the parameters for the cloning as well as having to download and install different cloning utilities.

 

NVME no longer detects the windows installation in the drive even though i can still see it in the drive

Hi

Welcome to Microsoft community.

It sounds like your Windows installation on the NVMe drive might be corrupted or the boot configuration might be messed up. Here are some steps you can take to try to resolve the issue:

1. Check BIOS/UEFI Settings:
   
   • Ensure that the NVMe drive is set as the primary boot device in your BIOS/UEFI settings.
     
   • Sometimes, the boot order might have been changed or reset.
     
   • Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.
     
     If you are going to modify BIOS Settings, please back up all your personal files first to ensure you do not lose data.
     
2. Use Windows Installation Media:
   
   • Create a bootable USB drive with Windows 10 installation media if you don't already have one. You can use the Windows Media Creation Tool to create it.
     
   • Boot from the USB drive by selecting it from the boot menu.
     
3. Repair Boot Configuration:
   
   • Once you are in the Windows Setup screen, select Repair your computer.
     
   • Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.
     
   • In the Command Prompt, type the following commands one by one and press Enter after each:
     
     
   • This will attempt to repair the Master Boot Record (MBR) and rebuild the Boot Configuration Data (BCD).
     
4. Check Disk for Errors:
   
   • While still in the Command Prompt, you can check the NVMe drive for errors:
     
     
   • Replace C: with the correct drive letter for your NVMe drive if it’s different.
     
   • Disclaimer: Running chkdsk can check the file system and file system metadata of a volume for logical and physical errors. To avoid any trouble for you, do not cancel or interrupt chkdsk, and back up important data.
     
     More information please refer to this chkdsk | Microsoft Learn.
     
5. Use Startup Repair:
   
   • From the Troubleshoot > Advanced options menu, select Startup Repair.
     
   • Follow the prompts and let Windows attempt to fix any issues related to startup.
     
6. Manually Repair BCD:
   
   • If the above steps don’t work, you can manually create a new BCD store:
     
     
   • Replace C:\Windows with the path to your Windows installation if it’s different.
     
7. Check for Hardware Issues:
   
   • Ensure that the NVMe drive is properly connected.
     
   • If possible, try connecting the drive to a different slot or using a different NVMe adapter.
     
8. Recover Data and Reinstall Windows:
   
   • If the above steps fail, it might be best to back up your data and perform a clean installation of Windows.
     
   • Boot from the Windows installation media, select Install now, and follow the prompts to install Windows on the NVMe drive.
     
   • During the installation process, you can format the NVMe drive to ensure a clean install.
     
9. Consult Professional Help:
   
   • If none of these steps work, it might be worthwhile to consult a professional technician who can diagnose potential hardware issues.
     

Go through these steps carefully and see if you can restore your Windows installation on the NVMe drive.

Let me know if you need further assistance.

Best regards

Derrick Qian | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

 

Installing new NvMe drive and using it as primary boot runnig windows 10

Hello,

I have a preinstalled windows 10 along with 30+ apps(both from manufacturer and third party) running on my desktop. I recently bought the Samsung 960 evo NvMe drive and would like to use it as my new boot drive. I know that I have to create a bootable usb
drive, disconnect all other SSD/HDD, leave only the NvMe drive, install windows on it and then reconnect all the drives back.

I would like to understand how I could create an ISO image of my preinstalled windows 10(along with all the updates, hardware drivers and apps) and make a bootable USB out of it. Is it possible? if so, could anyone list the steps needed or point me to a
thread or post online? Thank you.