Solved Installer Doesn't Locate SN750 M.2 SSD, but it DOES after installation

[casey7]

hello everyone, i am another person who has been fed up with the direction windows has headed and would like to return to a simple, pure OS.


Installation can detect my hard drive just fine, however it cannot find my NVME ssd which definitely is correctly installed as i've used it for installations before.


I have followed SIW2's Update your Win 7 installation media guide with the addition of simplix update pack and the additional "Large pack of drivers both x64 and x86" and the ISO works correctly for all I can tell, it just will not detect my SN750 500gb m.2 SSD, but it can detect it.


my only guess to the problem is that when I check windows' installed updates, I did not locate the nvme-specific drivers included in SIW2's signature, but I don't know if the updated win 7 installation media just only applies it to installation or if i need to add those myself as well because his tool doesn't (but i don't think theres any reason he wouldn't include it?)


I honestly don't know what to do from here and I thought I would ask for some advice first before trying to do anything, i've spent weeks trying to get windows 7 installed all the way and i'm determined to have no compromises in functionality yet.


attached images but in link form because i am unfamiliar with protocols here:


Diskpart CMD not showing my SSD (at the time i unplugged my hard drive as a trouble shooting measure, but instead of forcing it to detect SSD it just detects only my USB)


What Windows disk management program shows after installing to hard drive
I apologize if this is a frequently asked question or problem, i did try to search but the best i could find is the "Installed a NVMe SSD, but Win7 doesn't detect it." thread.

thank you in advance if anyone can help!

- - - Updated - - -

i just found out that this is the wrong sub-fourm to place this question in. i apologize

 

[Megahertz07]

If the modified Win 7 installation files can't find the NVMe it's because it did not find the proper driver.
You can:
- During installation add the driver (problem is that you probably don't know witch one is)
- Install on a SATA drive and then device manager will claim for the NVMe driver. Point to a folder with all NVMe drivers. If it finds the driver it will install on the SATA drive. Then use Macrium Reflect 8 Free or Diskgenius to clone the SATA drive into the NVMe drive.

Have a look Installed a NVMe SSD, but Win7 doesn't detect it.

 

[casey7]

hello, the issue with the SN750 is that there are NO drivers for it, and i believe the OEM drivers SIW2 includes in his update pack should work, but they do not.

i have looked at that thread and have not found a solution to my issue, as i tried the hotfix nvme updates and they did not work in installer.

 

[torchwood]

have a look at this allthough it relates to W10, the BIOS settings should have the same requirements

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...-m2-nvme/644be6f8-539e-4218-8d40-1c53283d9fc3

 

[SIW2]

You can borrow my boot media and check if it sees the nvme

17514x64v30.iso


extract the iso to usb using View attachment Usb7ice.zip

but it DOES after installation

The most likely explanation is that the nvme updates integrated properly into install.wim image. But either there was problem with integration of the nvme updates into boot.wim ( image 2), OR the updated setup files didnt copy correctly from boot.wim ( image 2) sources folder to the distribution sources folder.

 

[casey7]

hello SIW2, i have used your boot.wim in my 7up, and it did thankfully detect the ssd this time but then i got the 0x7b bsod which is really weird because i know i personally integrated the hotfixes (put updates into update folder) and 7up did detect them so im not sure why im still encountering this

 

[SIW2]

when did you get the bsod?

did you manage to apply the install image to the nvme ?

If so, how ?

Was it when attempting the first booot into the applied image that you got the bsod?

we dont know unless you tell us.

 

[casey7]

hi sorry for not clarifying, i get bsod after the installer runs and on the first restart (aka it never even finishes installation fully)

i dont know if it fully installed but it did unpack files for installation, installed updates and features, and bsods when needing to boot into it to finish installation

i applied image to install by using the windows installation setup

 

[SIW2]

boot up the media again.

Format the windows partition. Apply the image from an untouched install.wim using winntsetup.

(winntsetup shorcut should be under the start menu\install folder )

While still in winpe, use dism++ to integrate only the two nvme updates into the image you just applied.

( dism++ shortcut should be on the desktop.)

Then try booting into it.

It will be easier if you copy these highlighted in blue from the 17514x64v30.iso and the two nvme updates onto your usb stick first. That is because winntsetup and dism++ run off the usb stick, and if you have the two nvme updates on there it is easy to browse to them.



screenshots here show how to use dism++

But you dont need to mount the image because dism++ will find the applied image and list it in the top pane.

Click on the windows image you just applied to highlight it in blue.

click open session

click updates, then click add and browse to the updates

 

[casey7]

hello SIW2, i booted into the media again with your boot.wim from before, used device manager to format my ssd, used winntsetup to apply a vanilla install.wim to the ssd (selecting the same SSD for both boot and installation), then using dism++ to apply the 2 hotfix updates to it.

upon booting to the ssd after that, i get the same BSOD (i even took a image of it!)

it is possible i did something wrong but i dont think so as i followed your instructions word for word, however on winntsetup the "EFI PART" was red instead of green. i dont know if that could point toward the issue or if that was a quirk of winnt.

 

[SIW2]

on winntsetup the "EFI PART" was red instead of green.

If it is not green, you should click search button and browse to the efi partition.

I dont think it mattered in your case becuase the boot files on the efi part created by your earlier installation seem to point at the windows partition.

There is a different issue in your case.

Does win7 work fine on a sata ssd or a mechanical hd on that same machine?

 

[casey7]

i dont have a sata ssd to try but im am using windows 7 right now on a mechanical drive!

 

[SIW2]

Did you try installing something else to your new nvme, win10 for example ?

checking if there is problem with your new nvme

I have come across a bsod recently.

diskgenius warned of damaged efi partition and offered to fix it, and it worked fine after fixing, no more bsod.

Worth having a look at the nvme disk with diskgenius just in case

https://www.diskgenius.com/download.php

 

[casey7]

i can install windows 8.1/10/11 onto it just fine, i have been using the ssd for about a year now, but ill try diskgenius!


diskgenius did not find anything wrong

- - - Updated - - -

what should i do next?

 

[SIW2]

If your win7 on the mechanical hd has the nvme updates and can see the nvme disk - you could try migrating the os from there onto the nvme.

The mechanical disk will have to be gpt partition style to do it this way.

Click os migration in diskgenius top pane , select the target disk (the nvme) , select "hot migration"

it is quite obvious, screenshots here

select os migration



select target disk



accept the existing partition sizes, or optionally change them



click "hot migration"

 

[casey7]

it has failed, i dont really know why.

 

[SIW2]

Neither do I. It happens when using win7 bcdboot.exe across modes (e.g. bios>efi) , but it shouldnt happen in the same mode.

You can try and update the boot parameters manually

there is no /f uefi switch in win7 bcdboot.exe , so use the one below

View attachment bcdboot-10586.zip

copy the device path of the esp partition



admin cmd prompt:
bcdboot winpartitionletter:\windows /s device path /f uefi

example:

bcdboot m:\windows /s \Device\HarddiskVolume6 /f uefi

that creates the boot critical files and the boot menu entry for windows on partition m on the esp partition \Device\HarddiskVolume6

 

[casey7]

hello, i redid the migration while in PE and this time it completed it successfully but still didnt make a entry to boot into, so i will use your tutorial to add one myself

 

[SIW2]

i will use your tutorial to add one myself

hopefully that will do it.

I dont know why you have had that difficulty. I havent got the same hardware to test it here, closest thing I have is a 365 motherboard. Never had any problems with win7 on it.

 

[casey7]

hi SIW2,

great news! it worked! it was hard to tell if it booted into the SSD but i was able to figure it out

my only issue is the user profile it loads into seems to be the one from the hard drive instead of the SSD, so everything points toward the hard drive. I would like to have my hard drive clean a nd im afraid of breaking the SSD installation, i am not sure what to do.

one idea is to swap the drive letters so when it points to C which is the hard drive, it actually points to the SSD then, leaving the hard drive unused. i am currently in the winPE but i dont actually know how to swap drive letters or if this is the correct solution, please advise and thank you very much.

as for why it bsod' before, my only guess is that maybe because installation wasn't finished yet that it wouldnt load the updates in therefore it couldn't apply the hotfix, but i honestly don't know. im just happy to have win7 on modern hardware finally.