Nvme Driver  

Just before i go ahead and buy a nvme, will i see large difference in boot times with this than the existing Samsung 850 Evo sata ssd, i already use? And would the m.2 slot on the motherboard, (even though it is restricted) be faster than the 850 Evo ssd i have. As the only reason for the upgrade is that i'm now running out of space on the 850 Evo and if real world performance is neglible and not so much noticeable, would it be better to go with a sata ssd or m.2 than a nvme?

johnhoh said:

That is the method I used when I got my first m.2 nvme drive and it worked fine.

I'm unable to get my nvme drive to boot in to windows.



1. I installed the win7 nvme hotfix.
2. Cloned my original boot partition to the nvme disk.
3. Bios settings CSM enabled and Boot from PCI-E/Expansion devices set to UEFI driver first.
4. Can't find the nvme drive in Boot priority only my original win7 disk, but it is visible in win7 when booted from the original boot disk.


Please help, as i don't know if i've missed something or doing something wrong.

Some of these issues are motherboard dependent - some have different names for their settings and some have more settings than others. My board is two generations newer than yours and it worked pretty easily. Here's a thread with some ideas to check out. Most points may not apply, but maybe your fix is buried in there.
m2 SSD not detectable in BIOS | TechPowerUp Forums

Couple other things to check are:

- When you boot from your original win7 boot drive...
..... does the nvme drive show up as pci-e, or just sata attached. An m.2 nvme drive can run either way and you obviously want it to be pci-e.
.... Try replacing the microsoft nvme driver with the manufacturer's driver for your nvme. Mine is samsung, I do not use the windows nvme, but some nvme manufacturers do not have their own driver so you have to stick with microsoft.
..... are both drives the same partition type (both MBR or both GPT)

- The instant you finish a clone you need to shutdown and remove the original drive because if you boot again from the original drive, the boot sector of your nvme drive gets altered and may become unbootable. This means when you do things like I suggested above (e.g. check on sata vs pci-e mode with the nvme as the non-boot drive), you will need to re-clone afterward. Alternatively, you could use bootsec or other tool to repair the boot sector but I wont go into that. Easier to just re-clone.

- You mentioned the nvme does not appear on the bios boot menu but if it does not even appear in bios that's another story. The bios itself does not require a valid boot sector in order to detect a drive but the bios boot menu does require a boot sector. So next time you boot from the nvme look in bios to see if it detects the nvme (hopefully as pci-e, not as sata - check both places). If so set it as the boot drive within bios itself, then save the bios settings. Avoiding using the bios boot menu for now.

Thanks for reply and help.
1. When i boot to the original win7 the nvme shows up as a pci-e ssd
2. The pci-e that i gor was a pioneer brand no drivers came with it and am not even sure if there any, i will have a look.
3. Both partitions are MBR
4. I did not remove the original boot disk after cloning it to the partition, so maybe that was the issue, if so i can re-clone it and do it that way to see if it works.
5. If you press F8 at the splash screen it is there under Boot selection, but selecting on that seems to take me to the original win7 disk, it is not in bios under boot priority.


I will check the link you sent to see if there are any thing i have missed, possibly as you mentioned taking the original disk out after cloning may probably be the cause.


Thanks once again for your help, most appreciated.

johnhoh said:

Some of these issues are motherboard dependent - some have different names for their settings and some have more settings than others. My board is two generations newer than yours and it worked pretty easily. Here's a thread with some ideas to check out. Most points may not apply, but maybe your fix is buried in there.
m2 SSD not detectable in BIOS | TechPowerUp Forums

Couple other things to check are:

- When you boot from your original win7 boot drive...
..... does the nvme drive show up as pci-e, or just sata attached. An m.2 nvme drive can run either way and you obviously want it to be pci-e.
.... Try replacing the microsoft nvme driver with the manufacturer's driver for your nvme. Mine is samsung, I do not use the windows nvme, but some nvme manufacturers do not have their own driver so you have to stick with microsoft.
..... are both drives the same partition type (both MBR or both GPT)

- The instant you finish a clone you need to shutdown and remove the original drive because if you boot again from the original drive, the boot sector of your nvme drive gets altered and may become unbootable. This means when you do things like I suggested above (e.g. check on sata vs pci-e mode with the nvme as the non-boot drive), you will need to re-clone afterward. Alternatively, you could use bootsec or other tool to repair the boot sector but I wont go into that. Easier to just re-clone.

- You mentioned the nvme does not appear on the bios boot menu but if it does not even appear in bios that's another story. The bios itself does not require a valid boot sector in order to detect a drive but the bios boot menu does require a boot sector. So next time you boot from the nvme look in bios to see if it detects the nvme (hopefully as pci-e, not as sata - check both places). If so set it as the boot drive within bios itself, then save the bios settings. Avoiding using the bios boot menu for now.

Thanks, re-cloned the disk and restarted the pc, with the original disk disconnected, when into bios checked that boot from pci-e ssd was the 1st boot option and saved and it started in Win7. So that was the problem not disconnecting the original drive with the os for the 1st boot with the cloned drive and once it booted and got into os, i shut down connected the other original win7 disk and restarted and everything is working fine.


Once again thanks for your help.



I owe you a beer

Cool, glad you got it worked out

SIW2 said:

Attachment 406047

Attachment 406049

Thank you!
Finally got my Windows 7 professional working with nvme.
Attached Atto speeds for 2 Intel 660p 1 TB in Raid 0
And single Intel 660p 2 TB, Raid speed could be better...
OS Windows 7 64bit CPU Intel core I77700K Motherboard Msi Z270 sli plus Memory Corsair 32Gb Graphics Card(s) Msi gforce 1050ti 4gb