Windows 10: M.2 SSD not being able to boot from it, windows doesn't recognise.

Good morning all

Think this is my first post here, I recently upgraded my pc and I am having trouble installing windows 10 home on an Evo 500gig ssd m.2, the motherboard etc supports the m.2 but when I go into boot drive etc and choose to boot from disk, windows lists my m.2 as a drive, but gives the error "this is not a bootable drive" so my question is how to fix this or bypass the error.

Ps: I have tried the following: On my motherboard clicked the setting to support wodows os, which according to the manual is for win 8 and up.
I did a clean build and install on all parts, all parts are listed and according to motherboard test works.
I tried it with the m.2 gene that the motherboard features, no luck.
After the normal ssd was placed in and the m.2 removed, it installed perfectly, pc running as it should, just slower then I'd like as I can't use my drive I want.
Oh, and I am not sure how to edit my system specs, so the ones listed in my profile is old, heres the new ones:

Intel core i9 7900x, msi gaming pro carbon x299 motherboard, 32gig 2400mhz crucial ram 8x4gigs, corsair 250gig ssd, but this is where I'd like the samsung evo 960 m.2 to be, and if relevant, it's a 970msi gfx, will be replaced.

Thank you, please excuse any stupid mistakes my made hehe

:)

 

Windows 10 education won't install boot manager on m.2 SSD

Hello there, I have recently purchased a sandisk z400s m.2 ssd. I am having lots of trouble trying to make it a Bootable disk. I am running a fresh install of windows 10 education to this device and for some reason the boot manager is not being transfered,
the OS will install, but will not boot from the m.2.

I have disconnected my two HDD for this also. I need assistance on bios settings needed to recognise and boot from the m.2 device. I can install windows 10 and its boot manager on the HDD, but it will not install the boot manager on the m.2

any and all help would be greatly appreciated as this is starting to cause some stress as yoy can imagine (I've been researching and tinkering for 5 hours now)

my motherboard set up is a z170 pro gaming, intel I5 6500 cpu, 8gb 2133mhz ddr4 ram, gtx 560 ti and a corsair 1000w psu. the drive I am currently trying to place the OS on is 256gb.

thanks

Barry

 

How can i move my settings to the m.2 and still acsess the programs on the hdd.

I just built a new pc and put in my old hdd ( 500 gb ) with windows 10 on it. I also put in a SSD m.2 and installed windows 10 on that to boot from ( 120 GB ).
How can i move my settings to the m.2 and still acsess the programs on the hdd.

I just want the m.2 to be my drive to boot windows from cause it's much faster but not big enough to move all my programs.

 

First, welcome to the Forums. As far as system specs:

Please fill out your System Specs


Information Your System Specs will help us to help you, and doing it in this manner will make them available to all helpers in every post and keep us from hunting for them. We ask that you fill them out in as much detail as possible including Desktop or Laptop, Model number if it is an OEM computer and all components with the Manufacturer and Model number if possible. If you will go to your last post and click the 'System Specs' in the bottom left of the post, you will find a link to update your system specs. Please fill those out in as much detail as possible, making sure to click save at the bottom of the page. If you would like to know what we would like, you can click 'My System Specs' at the bottom left of this post to see mine. If you do not know what your components are, this will help you accomplish this task. System Specs - Fill in at Ten Forums

You will need to install the Samsung M.2 driver first. Also, in your BIOS you have settings which will make the M.2 bootable. I'm not sure about the MSI bios. Maybe @Dude will be able to help there. It should be in the manual though.

 

You can download the NVMe driver here 960 EVO | Consumer SSD | Samsung V-NAND SSD

 

You could try this:
1.Install Macrium Reflect free(using normal SSD and without the NVMe SSD), create a full image backup in an external HDD, create a recovery disk(Rescue media)
2. Remove the normal SSD, install NVMe SSD, boot with the recovery disk created earlier, recover the image from the backup(external HDD)
Creating rescue media - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase
v5: How to create a disk image (Backup, Image, v5)

v5: How to restore a backup image (Restore, v5)

 

He still needs to make the drive bootable. I'm sure that is a BIOS setting. It was in mine.

 

Hi essenbe, I actually remember you from an old forum called sevenforums lol, my username was Alsisgevat years ago. But thanx I did update my system specs, and I did go through the manual, however it mearly states that I might need to do a bios flash update, which I never tried as it might go horribly wrong. But thought someone here might know of a quick fix or something I am missing. Thank you for your advice. In the link you provided it speaks of System Configuration WindowsOperating System shall successfully load the driver only when Samsung NVMe SSD 960 PRO, 960 EVO or 950 PRO is installed to PCIe slot directly connected to CPU or M.2 or PCIe slot connected to PCH. However, in the PCH case, Windows Operating System cannot load the driver under following BIOS configurations

where PCH Storage Configuration is set to Raid Mod, or NAND/Storage Remapping option is enabled

And I do remember I had an option on my MSI board that said m.2 gene raid/achi mode. But yeah, not so sure what to do.
.

Thanx Brummyfan I will use that assoon as I can install to the drive, will make it allot easier if I don't have to download all the win 10 updates again, I appreciate the answer.

 

Yes, I recall you very well from Sevenforums. I'm still there too. I'm not familiar with MSI Boards and not with the X299 chipset so am not sure how much help I can be. But, I would set the M.2 to AHCI mode and see what NVMe options you have in your BIOS. There should be one or 2 there for the M.2. The X299 boards should be very capable of booting from an M.2. Make sure the slot the M.2 is in is set to at least X4 mode.

I see you are still water cooling. I expect to see pictures of your rig in the Show Off Your PC thread too.

 

Thank you, no every comment or advise helps, only a fool rejects help, regardless of the weight it carries *Smile. And yeah, still running the watercooling, however these days I see the closed loops you buy as a unit is allot cheaper then custom loops. But thanx, hope someone here has a MSI board that can give me the name of the setting I am missing, I agree it is probably in the bios, as the drive is picked up etc, just cant install to it.

 

Use the MSI Windows 7 Smart Tool to create a bootable setup media that contains ALL drivers needed. Also make sure you haven't enabled RAID for your single M.2 drive. If I am not mistaken, you need the Intel RST drivers either way in order to make the M.2 drive Windows bootable.

And READ THE MANUAL from start to finish. There is a lot of useful information in there.

 

Thanx, I did read the manual, however I will try the MSI Windows 7 Smart Tool and make sure all drives are up to date before starting the process.

 

In your bios, look for this setting M2_1 or 2-RST Pcie Storage Remapping and set it to enable, it should allow you to install to the M.2




This vid is for a different board, but should be similar. About 17 seconds in shows where I am referring to

[youtube]VlcD9tjOV0Q[/youtube]

 

I found this on page 65 of your manual

 

PCIe M.2 drives, in order to boot, need to be installed in the UEFI configuration. The driver is in the Bios and no drivers are needed prior to installing. I will assume you have the latest Bios update.

On my older system, how the PCIe x4 slot is configured directly effects the M.2 slot since they use the same four lanes. I don't know about yours but you might check if it needs to be disabled.

Some Dell laptop systems use an M.2 port configured as PCH which means it will run an PCIe drive as SATA if the SATA controller is set to RAID. I don't think your Desktop system would have that configuration.